TikTok has grown by leaps and is becoming Gen Z’s favorite virtual dwelling and preferred search engine that crowdsources well-tailored immersive recommendations; vis-à-vis walls of text-heavy reviews on Google.

The Silicone Valley giant is quite aware of what’s going on. To prevent TikTok from supplanting its throne, Google is embarking on new features. 

The first one, ‘Exploration‘, will show its app users a continuous scroll of audiovisual card-style blocks; mostly sourced from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. 

The second feature is coming to Google Maps, called ‘Neighborhood Vibe’. It will help internet surfers and young backpackers preview a neighborhood’s feel by highlighting the most popular landmarks, must-see locales, and even gentrified sections of cities based on local reviews. 

Google has also been teasing about its ‘Search with Live View’ Maps upgrade that uses photorealistic immersive panoramic city views to help you look for nearby places with a mere lift of your phone. 

TikTok is full of bizarre challenges and unusual content that cannot provide simple question-and-answer services (except for food searches and DIY queries). So, it’s probably YouTube that should be nervous about TikTok’s exponentially growing search prowess and addictive rabbit-hole binge scrolling.

Learn more here.