7

Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google's core products...

 2 years ago
source link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-exec-suggests-instagram-tiktok-215731564.html
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
neoserver,ios ssh client

Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google's core products, Search and Maps

Sarah Perez
Wed, July 13, 2022, 6:57 AM·5 min read

The TikTok threat to Google's business isn't just limited to YouTube, as it turns out. Core Google services, including Search and Maps, are also being impacted by a growing preference for social media and videos as the first stop on younger users' path to discovery, a Google exec acknowledged today, speaking at an industry event.

Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google's Knowledge & Information organization, referenced the popular social apps in a broader conversation at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference about the future of Google's products and its use of AI.

In a discussion about the evolution of search, he somewhat offhandedly noted that younger users were now often turning to apps like Instagram and TikTok instead of Google Search or Maps for discovery purposes.

"We keep learning, over and over again, that new internet users don't have the expectations and the mindset that we have become accustomed to." Raghavan said, adding, "the queries they ask are completely different."

These users don't tend to type in keywords but rather look to discover content in new, more immersive ways, he said.

"In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they're looking for a place for lunch, they don't go to Google Maps or Search," he continued. "They go to TikTok or Instagram."

The figure sounds a bit shocking, we have to admit. Google confirmed to us his comments were based on internal research that involved a survey of U.S. users, ages 18 to 24. The data has not yet been made public, we're told, but may later be added to Google's competition site, alongside other stats -- like how 55% of product searches now begin on Amazon, for example.

While older internet users may not be able to wrap their minds around turning to a social video app to find a restaurant, this trend could cut into Google's core business of search and discovery over time -- not to mention the ads sold against those sorts of queries. While younger users may eventually launch some sort of maps app for navigation purposes, this data indicates they don't necessarily start their journey on Google anymore. That means all the work Google did over the years to organize, curate and recommend various businesses -- such as local restaurants --  or its creation of discovery tools inside Google Maps -- could be lost on these younger internet users.


About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK