TikTok is testing an AI chatbot in select markets. Called Tako, the AI-powered tool is meant to help TikTok users with search and discovery.
Why we care Google has acknowledged that TikTok is a threat. So we’re closely watching how TikTok makes moves to improve search on its platform, as well as testing search ads.
how it looks Here’s how TechCrunch described it:
“It will appear on the right side of the TikTok interface, above the user’s profile and other buttons for likes, comments and bookmarks. When tapped, users can ask Tako various questions about video using natural language queries or discover new content by asking for recommendations.
Here is a screenshot:
Image source: TechCrunch
What TikTok says. TikTok confirmed that the AI chatbot is being tested with select users in the Philippines Twitter:
“We are in the early stages of exploring chatbot tools with a limited trial of Tako with selected users in the Philippines. Tako is an AI-powered tool to help with search and discovery on TikTok. Tako is powered by a third-party chat assistant and is designed to help make it easier to discover entertaining and inspiring content on TikTok. There are no current plans for this beyond these early tests, but we’re excited to hear your feedback!”
from Google TikTok threat. Google revealed a amazing statistic last year: that 40% of young people go to TikTok or Instagram (not Google Maps of Search) when looking for a place to eat. That was according to Google senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan, citing internal research of US users aged 18-24. He also noted that these new Internet users search differently.
TikTok is not a search engine like Google, which crawls the entire web. TikTok is basically an internal search engine, like YouTube, which is often called the second largest search engine. And this new AI chatbot, if deployed globally, could allow TikTok users to discover content through chat instead of typing in a search box.
