Google is piloting a new feature for its mobile Search apps, a Short Videos carousel that would surface Instagram and TikTok videos relevant to the user’s searches. The goal of the feature is to keep users inside the Search app on Android and iPhone for a longer time.
In its bid to keep people as much as possible on its search pages rather than other places, such as addictive apps like Instagram and TikTok with their infinite scrolls, Google has come up with a new trick for Search that it’s currently testing. Results might soon feature a row of videos taken directly from Instagram and TikTok, which might seem contrary to what Google is looking to achieve here. But click on any of those results, and you’ll be taken to the web version of the respective app, not the actual app, where there’s a risk you’ll be sucked down the rabbit hole again. That way, Google might keep you on its search pages instead while still offering a quick, viral, social media fix.
