Is TikTok more popular than Google?

TikTok has more visits than Google!

2021 saw the continuation of the meteoric rise of TikTok where the analytic data from Cloudflare tells us the platform stole the crown from Google making it the most popular site of the year.

TikTok which began life as a Chinese platform called Douyin in 2016 was introduced to the rest of the world a year later by Bytedance after merging with Musical.ly. Originally a short-form video sharing platform that was predominantly dancing and lip-syncing the past few years has seen its record braking rise to become one of the most influential platforms in the mix today.

The amazing growth of TikTok can be partially attributed to the overall rise in internet usage which has seen an expansion in many areas, but we can also see that the Global pandemic has also led to a significant uptake. The platform itself also leverages its tools to bear on users with a top-secret algorithm designed to keep people engaged with a smorgasbord of fast-paced eclectic content that is collated to keep interest. Unlike some of the other video-sharing platforms, the way it is set up with the For You page means the user is presented with a single video at a time and the user does not have a choice in this. It is also a platform for doing and taking part with a raft of trends and challenges that creators can participate in and then share. In fact, it is that very shareability that has helped its success as even if you have never been on the platform yourself you have almost certainly seen a TikTok shared across the other social media channels.

This format has worked so well that other platforms have cloned the model and are pushing their versions including Instagram reels and YouTube shorts. Even Facebook is now launching its own version of short-form content. This seems to be a clear indicator of the power of this medium as all of the main players are now establishing a short-form video platform which lends to the credibility of this style of content and the need for businesses and marketers to master it. None of these copycats seem to be slowing down the rise of TikTok however as of the end of 2021 they were the most popular site on the internet according to Cloudflare.

The data they have collected tells us that TikTok first took the top spot from Google on February 17th of this year for just one day, but from August onward they dominated the position even holding it on the notorious Black Friday. This is an amazing achievement considering the age of the platform and the fact that during similar times last year it sat at number seven in the same rankings.

To see that growth in perspective (Statistica) tell us the platform has seen a 180% rise in usage meaning that 18% of all internet users now access TikTok (Global web index). Combine this with the findings of (Sensor Tower) who tell us the average user in the UK will be in the app for around sixty minutes per day.

There is little doubt as to the incredible growth of the platform and its increasing popularity. The questions that do fight to be heard are how much bigger will the platform become, and how that will affect our interaction with it??

Join the 30-day TikTok for business community build here.