We ditched Google and spent a week searching for everything on TikTok. Turns out, you can find anything, but you definitely need to be cautious.
Remember the last time you Googled for a spaghetti Bolognese recipe? Or where to eat tapas in Barcelona without getting ripped off? Or how to survive the first week of intermittent fasting? Bet a thirty-second video showing exactly what you want was way more satisfying than a blue link to a 2014 blog.
That's what TikTok is all about.
According to an internal Google survey from 2022, about 40% of Gen Z looks for food or places primarily on TikTok or Instagram, not Google. And that number is only growing. Google is taking this trend so seriously that they launched a trial TikTok-style video feature directly in search results. The synonym for searching the web
is no longer automatically Google.
So we thought: how well can you actually live without Google? And what should you watch out for? We spent a week looking everything up on TikTok first. Gotta say, in many cases, it was better. But we also came across things that reminded us to be really cautious.
Why does it work?
The basic thing that sets TikTok apart as a search engine from Google is: you don't get a list of links. You get people. You see someone cooking, traveling, exercising, or explaining – and you immediately see the context and emotion. It's a fundamental difference in how the brain receives information.
When you type how to cook risotto
into Google, you get a text-based recipe. Type the same into TikTok and you get ten videos showing you the rice consistency, the sound of stirring, and an explanation of the Italian vs the Czech version. It's info you just can’t extract from text.
Plus, TikTok handles trust differently than Google. On Google, paid ads and SEO-optimized websites come first. On TikTok, videos flagged as useful by other people do. It’s not a perfect system – we’ll get to that – but for many queries, it works more naturally.
Recipes: TikTok beats Google here
Super practical. Finding recipes via TikTok is often easier than Google – and the results are different too.
Try searching pasta recipe
or healthy food recipe
. You instantly get authentic home cooks, food bloggers, and pros cooking right in front of you. You see every step, the result, and mainly – how the dish actually looks, not professionally styled for a cookbook.
Phenomena like feta pasta or the famous smash burger wave? Both came from TikTok, not Google. People simply trust recipes they've seen work with their own eyes – even if it’s through a screen. I’ve stopped counting how many divine cheesecakes or brownies I’ve baked thanks to TikTok.
Watch out for: The TikTok algorithm shows you what's popular, not necessarily what's correct. Viral recipes might not be good recipes. We’ve seen videos with kitchen tech mistakes that had hundreds of thousands of likes and comments like just cooked this, awesome!
without anyone saying the basic method was wrong.
Travel: Google Maps vs. TikTok Maps
This might be the most convincing use case. Try searching Barcelona tips
or Lisbon things to do
. Instead of the same tourist guides everyone knows, you’ll find videos from people who were just there – showing you places TripAdvisor doesn’t know about.
A big bonus is that TikTok videos have context. You don’t just see restaurant XY in Barcelona has 4.3 stars
, but you see people who sat there, hear the atmosphere, see the line (or lack of it), and find out what to order. It’s a qualitatively different piece of info. My personal combo of TikTok swipes and map pins has led me through half of Europe.
For hidden travel tips or cheap flights, TikTok is more straightforward than searching various comparators and blogs. Results are current, and the feature
filter is done by the algorithm for you.
Watch out for: Virality isn’t a mark of quality. We saw videos where a creator recommended a specific hotel saying it’s the best place in Prague
– and the comments were full of people saying it’s tourist-packed and overpriced. TikTok doesn’t have a sponsored content
tag as reliably as Google. Luckily, a quick scan of comments usually suffices to get the picture.
Weight loss and health: it gets risky here
When we searched how to lose weight fast, or tips for intermittent fasting, we got a mix – from solid advice to things a dietitian would call questionable at best.
In recent years, TikTok has spawned trends spread as viral health hacks
– with some being real issues:
Internal shower – the 2022 trend where people drank chia seeds soaked in water as a colon detox
. The hashtag went viral with over 600 million views. The result? Many ended up with digestive issues because the amounts and consumption speed in those videos were over the top.
Dry scooping – swallowing pre-workout powder without water. The 2021 trend ended with teens rushing to hospitals with heart arrhythmias. It was a viral challenge, not a doctor’s advice – yet on TikTok, it looked the same.
Chocolate diet and metabolism hacks
– for that metabolism boost, TikTok offers dozens of videos promising quick results with one food or trick. Most lack scientific backing, but the videos have millions of views.
The problem isn’t TikTok itself. The issue is that the algorithm doesn’t distinguish between advice from a certified nutritionist and an influencer who read one blog post. Both look the same.
Where TikTok hides the lie
The biggest weakness of TikTok as a search engine is that it doesn’t leave room for critical thinking. Google shows you ten results, and you choose. TikTok shows you one video, then another, then another, all confirming what you began thinking after the first.
It’s called confirmation bias on steroids. The algorithm doesn’t teach you to seek the truth but to consume content that keeps you on the platform as long as possible.
A few specific examples of things spread on TikTok as facts that weren’t true:
- The
olive oil cleanse
trend claimed drinking olive oil cleanses the liver. Hepatologists repeatedly explained it doesn't work that way. - A viral claim about a specific breathing technique putting you to sleep in 60 seconds – based on Dr. Weil’s method but lacking clinical data in the form TikTok presents.
- Many videos on how to tell if you have a
leaky gut syndrome
– a diagnosis not recognized by traditional medicine.
So, what to do?
TikTok as a search tool is real. It works. In many cases, it’s quicker, more intuitive, and more honest than Google. For recipes, travel inspiration, or lifestyle tips, it’s a great tool. But it’s just a tool without authority. And that’s a crucial difference.
If you’re looking for the best seafood in Seville, TikTok can help. If you’re figuring out how to adjust your diet for a health issue or how to safely combine supplements – TikTok could actively harm you.
A good approach is this: TikTok as a first look, Google (or an expert) for verification. The video network gives you inspiration and context, the search engine gives you resources. The combination works better than relying on just one.
Gen Z probably gets this – at least the part growing up critical with digital media. But numbers show many people don’t practice this. They just trust the first video TikTok throws at them. And that could be a bigger issue than we think.
