We are in the middle of earnings season in America and are getting a great view on how particular companies are going and building a picture of the overall economy. This article has taken a look at Alphabet’s (aka Google) results and it gives us a good look at where the search giant is focused.
One interesting trend that TikTok and Instagram are driving is visual search. Google is working to catch up. As they noted in their earnings call, “People are using Google to do visual searches more than 8 billion times per month”. And they are building that capability to keep up with the social giants. Google will soon allow companies to submit 3D images of their products which will improve their visual search capabilities.
They are working to catch up to TikTok in other areas as well. As Meta builds out Instagram Reels to take on TikTok, Alphabet is building YouTube Shorts. They reported that “YouTube Shorts are watched by over 1.5 billion signed-in users every month with more than 30 billion daily views.” And they are building out YouTube TV to take on the streaming giants of Netflix and Disney as well. “In Q2, YouTube TV surpassed 5 million subscribers, including trials.”
It is fascinating to see how much the tech giants are being rattled by TikTok. Meta is focusing much of their energy on catching up on video (to some backlash including from Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian). And Google is seeing the challenge in visual search. For investors in big tech companies, the TikTok challenge is an important one to watch.
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