It's become a reflex for Linda. A user of TikTok since 2022 for fun, she has gradually seen the platform become a search engine in her habits, to the point of taking the place of the tools she used previously. "I use TikTok first; Google and YouTube have become complements," the woman in her 40s admitted. The same goes for Marjorie, 38, who doesn't use Google's video platform as much as she used to: "On YouTube, the videos are long and cut up by ads. When I search on TikTok, I avoid them and often manage to find the content I want."

They're far from the only ones. According to an Adobe Express study published in January 2024 and carried out in the US, more than two out of five people online use TikTok's search engine. And this is particularly true of Generation Z, that is, people born after the mid-1990s: Among them, almost one in 10 now prefers the Chinese app's search engine to Google's.

The TikTok search engine is easy to access and always visible during navigation. The social media platform offers personalized recommendations, as well as real-time search trends. For Linda, the tool is useful for very specific subjects: "When I want to repair something, or look for makeup or skincare products, I use TikTok. It's also very handy for looking up recipes from other countries, or finding restaurants when I'm abroad." TikTok is also fast: while its videos can last 10 minutes, they rarely exceed 60 seconds. "In just a few seconds, I know if the video is suitable for my search," Linda said.

For Thibault, a high school junior, search also works thanks to the proximity between creators and users. "There's more authenticity on TikTok than on Google or YouTube. There are thousands of people sharing their experiences without expecting anything in return," he said. "But you still have to distance yourself from what's being said. I watch several videos to make sure a product or recommendation is good. I'll also always check whether the content is sponsored or not," Linda qualified. "On YouTube and other platforms, sponsorships are quite common."

This change in user habits is largely encouraged by TikTok. After orchestrating ads to extol the merits of its search engine and allowing it to be added directly to the home page of smartphones, just like Google, the platform recently went even further: on March 18, it announced a rewards program for creators and unveiled a new formula to "reward high-quality, original content." Among the four main criteria, the social media platform values search. "Content that aligns with in-demand search topics increases its value for searchers," the site explains in its press release.

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