With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Its huge userbase means there is an abundance of content being created and shared every second. This has led some to wonder if TikTok’s search capabilities rival those of the reigning search engine king Google.
The short answer is no, Google’s search functionality is far superior to TikTok’s current search offering. However, TikTok search has been steadily improving and does have some strengths when it comes to discovering entertaining short-form videos.
Google’s search strengths
Google has over two decades worth of experience in developing, honing and perfecting its web search algorithm. It crawls and indexes trillions of webpages from across the internet in real-time. Google search utilises a complex set of ranking factors including page content, keywords, backlinks, site speed and more to determine the most relevant pages for any given search query.
Some of the key advantages Google search has over TikTok include:
- Breadth of search index – Google indexes tens of billions of webpages from all over the internet. TikTok is limited to videos within its own app.
- Page ranking sophistication – Google’s algorithm examines hundreds of signals to rank pages. TikTok search is still basic in comparison.
- Relevance – Google almost always surfaces the most useful and informative pages for search queries. TikTok results can be more random.
- Customisation – Google provides advanced search operators to tailor results. TikTok has minimal search modifiers.
In summary, Google search is simply in another league when it comes to understanding search intent and retrieving the most relevant information on virtually any topic imaginable. It will take years for TikTok to reach that level of search competence.
When TikTok search excels
While TikTok’s overall search capabilities are lacking compared to Google, there are some particular use cases where it delivers great results:
- Fun videost – TikTok is built for entertainment. Searching trending challenges, hashtags and sounds makes discovering fun videos a breeze.
- Viral content – TikTok surfaces videos with engagement rapidly, letting users jump on viral content.
- Influencer discovery – Searching for names of popular creators brings up their profiles and content quickly.
- Niche interests – TikTok communities around hobbies like cooking or dance mean searching these topics yields very relevant results.
Essentially, if you know what sorts of videos you want to find on TikTok already, its search works very effectively. It just lacks the sophistication needed for researching unfamiliar topics efficiently.
TikTok search basics
TikTok’s search functionality centres around its “Discover” page. Here users can search for:
- Keywords – searching a term like “cake” returns videos using that keyword.
- Sounds – discover videos using a particular sound clip.
- Hashtags – explore videos tagged with a specific hashtag.
- Users – look up creators by their username.
Results are ranked based on a mix of factors like engagement, keywords in captions, etc. TikTok offers some basic filters, letting you sort by video category or limit results by duration.
In general, TikTok search works best for casual exploration and entertainment. The algorithm picks up on your interests quickly and starts recommending appealing content. But conducting in-depth research is better left to Google.
Ways TikTok search can improve
If TikTok wants to make its search functionality more competitive, here are some areas they should focus on improving:
- Indexing – Expanding the volume of content indexed to include text from captions and hashtags.
- Ranking sophistication – Evolving the algorithm to parse search intent and weigh ranking factors accordingly.
- Relevance – Ensuring the top results closely match the search query, not just related videos.
- Personalisation – Develop user profiles to deliver customised results aligned to interests.
- Filters – Add more advanced filters like sort by view count, duration, hashtags etc.
Significant engineering effort would be needed to upgrade TikTok search to this level. Given its meteoric growth however, investing in improving search should be a priority for TikTok.
Verdict
In most cases, Google remains the superior option for search – offering unparalleled relevance, customisation and the ability to research any topic in-depth. However, for discovering entertaining viral videos around trending memes, challenges or audios, TikTok’s focused strengths make search highly effective.
Power users will always gravitate to Google for researching unfamiliar topics efficiently. But for casual browsing fun video content linked to pop culture and social trends, TikTok’s burgeoning search capabilities hit the spot.
