Google is reportedly testing a mobile search feature that will give results from Instagram and TikTok videos. The company is developing the feature in response to the popularity of short form videos, giving the results their own carousel among the existing ones.
Google had begun testing the feature in its Google discover platform, offering short videos as an option in the personalized tab. Originally, the videos were aggregated from Google owned platforms YouTube and Tangi, but the new update will include TikTok and Instagram.
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The new feature will help users find videos from the platforms easily through the popular search engine. More users are also likely to stay on Google and watch short videos when browsing the net. When you search for the videos, they will be displayed on a web page as opposed to launching the app. This will make it easier for users to go back to search after viewing the video.
Google confirmed to Tech crunch, through a spokesperson, that the feature is currently being tested on mobile devices. They also said that it is still in the early stages and as such, does not appear alongside every search query.
The feature is different from the ‘stories feature’ that was unveiled by Google for Android and iOS in October 2020.
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