Search behavior is evolving rapidly, with younger generations increasingly turning to social and video platforms to find information, according to new research from WARC and TikTok. The study shows that nearly half (48%) of Gen Z users now search more frequently on social and video platforms than they did three years ago, significantly outpacing adoption of AI-powered search, which stands at 19%.
Search remains one of the most common online activities, with 72% of U.S. weekly search users conducting at least one search per day. However, traditional search engines are no longer the default starting point. The report found that users search twice as often on social and video platforms (30%) as on AI platforms (14%), with TikTok emerging as a major destination: 86% of Gen Z internet users say they search on TikTok weekly, putting the platform nearly on par with the leading search engine (90%) and ahead of online marketplaces (75%).