• by Colin Kirkland , May 6, 2024

Despite U.S. Senators voting for a forced sell-off of TikTok from its parent company ByteDance, the popular social media app is continuing to highlight the ways in which it helps the American economy as a hub for small business influencers and brands.

According to a new TikTok-commissioned study conducted by Material, a provider of market research, finds the platform is the leading product-discovery app in the social media landscape, with 61% of TikTok users discovering new brands and products on the app –– 1.5 times more than other platform users.

Half of Tiktok users say they went to the app to research or learn more about new products or brands, while 91% of people who were inspired to do something because of search on TikTok followed through and performed the action.

Notably for marketers, the study states that TikTok users are 1.5 times more likely to discover something on the platform and immediately go out and buy it.

“People don't just watch content on TikTok; they also actively choose to continue viewing more content related to what was just served to them,” the company writes in a blog post.

TikTok’s internal search feature is a major driver of product discovery, with 66% of products found via Search.

Material’s findings show 41% of people believing TikTok search is entertaining, compared to 32% of social platforms and 16% traditional search platforms like Google, which in 2022 admitted to losing up to 40% of younger users to TikTok when searching for a place to eat and visit.

In addition, 28% of people find TikTok search to be “authentic,” compared to 25% of social media and video platforms and 21% of traditional search platforms. While 25% think TikTok search is “concise,” compared to 19% of social media and videos platforms and 15% of traditional search platforms.

TikTok has garnered a consistent reputation among users and marketers for having a powerfully precise algorithm. This will likely make the platform highly desirable during the sell-off bid in the U.S., if the company includes its algorithm in the sale.

Still, the sell-off is far from definite, as TikTok says it will challenge the measure in court on First Amendment grounds.