Platform Diversification: How Search is Evolving

Google and “Traditional” Search

The widely accepted action of a “traditional” search is to open a web browser, navigate to a search engine (usually Google) and type in a question. You’re then presented with a list of websites, carefully selected based on your query, the website and the page content.

Of course, even traditional search has developed and advanced over the years. Once, websites were listed based on whether they included the exact search phrase, whereas now there’s a much more complex calculation at play, and search engines better understand nuances in language.

Playing a big part in the development of traditional search is, of course, Google. After its initial company registration in 1997, it grew quickly and was already considered the best search engine of its day by the end of the following year. By the early 2000s, to Google something was synonymous with using traditional search. At the same time, the company also became the biggest search engine and one of the world’s biggest media companies.

And Google has dominated traditional search ever since, as well as leading alternative search such as voice and image. Although there are and have always been competitors – Bing, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves (remember that?), and so on – Google’s hold on traditional search has been strong.

Platform Diversification: Where Users Search

Despite its dominance up to now, in 2024 Google’s market share dropped below 90% for the first time in nearly 10 years. And, while retaining such a high market share even after a dip is hardly a worry for the tech giant, the dip is an indication that search continues to evolve. And it’s a clue that people are finding alternative ways of searching the web. 

But where are they going instead?

Pinterest, TikTok and Social Search

Socials are often a go-to search option for product discovery, recommendations and reviews. A visuals-first approach often puts them ahead of traditional search when imagery and video is important.

Though it has always been a social site, Pinterest was perhaps the first big social platform that  was well known for being used as an alternative search engine. The visual layout of the platform helped establish it in several industry niches such as weddings, fashion and home décor. Even in 2025 it’s reported that a third of consumers use Pinterest instead of Google, including 4 in 10 Gen-Z users.

Then, with the explosion of TikTok onto the scene, it was well documented how many younger internet users preferred search on that platform to more traditional search engine sites. In fact, in 2024 Adobe reported that over 2 in 5 Americans were using TikTok as a search engine, including 64% of Gen-Zers and 49% of millennials. They were looking for recipes, tutorials and new music, amongst other things, and often cited the easily-digestible short-form video as a key reason for choosing the platform over Google.

Other social platforms, too, have seen a boost in search. Most notably, Reddit has become more mainstream in recent years. 

While only a couple of years ago, Reddit pages rarely shared up in Google search, now it’s hard to do an information search without seeing the site. Not only is Google including Reddit in its own searches, users are going to the platform directly to look for user-generated content and opinions.

Aside from these three, platforms like Instagram and YouTube also see significant search activity.

Chatbots and AI

The biggest shake-up in search in recent years is, of course, the rapid improvements in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Although traditional search platforms (and others) have, to some extent, been incorporating AI for many years, it hasn’t been front and centre until more recently.

AI tools are often used instead of traditional search when queries are more complex and where a user wants to be educated on a topic. They’re also used for more creative tasks, such as brainstorming ideas and developing content, something that can’t be as easily and effectively done through traditional search.

Chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity take traditional search up a notch by filtering out the noise of multiple results, answering queries more specifically, and anticipating future questions. All this makes for a smoother, more engaging user experience. 

Almost all generations of searchers have seen a strong uptake in AI searches in recent years, with 71% of people stating that they make daily use of AI platforms for search. Unlike other alternative search platforms, it’s Gen-Z and Gen-X aged people who are using the most AI. Millennials fall behind slightly with their uptake while, as you would expect, Baby Boomers still generally prefer traditional search.

On-Site Searching

Of course, with other big-name businesses out there, searchers will often go directly to another site to search. Popular options are Wikipedia, Amazon and Etsy. If users are already familiar with these sites, they may skip Google altogether and look for products and information on an already-trusted site. 

Amazon is one of the biggest search engines in the world, even though you may not consider it a traditional search engine. In fact, almost half of all online shopping searches start on Amazon rather than Google. Other shopping and informational sites perhaps don’t have such a strong market share, but there are definite preferences for these over traditional search in a lot of use-cases.

Why Users are Changing Platforms

Change is natural, but change in search seems to have accelerated in the last few years. And many of the features that are lauded in alternative platforms – such as AI and visual search – are also available on traditional platforms like Google. So why are people still looking elsewhere?

More and Better Choice

There has always been choice out there when it comes to search, but Google has, for many years, been the clear leader. It started off well, with better results and user experience, and that helped catapult it into the lead, where it has steadily held its position for decades.

However, as a new generation has grown up – a generation that has never known a life without the internet – Google no longer seems so stand-out and no longer has the built-in loyalty of those generations who witnessed its conception. These younger generations are more willing to explore different platforms.

Also feeding into this is the quality of the alternative platforms. They’re not general platforms that do the same thing in a not-quite-as-good way. They’re bringing something (relatively) new and they’re doing it well – two things that have assured their success.

Trust

Google has been fighting lawsuits for many years, but more recently these have been especially prominent, particularly around anti-trust laws and monopolisation. As searchers become more literate around these topics, overall trust for Google has dropped and people naturally seek other options.

There is also a perception that alternative search platforms provide a more rounded view on a topic than Google, though whether or not this is true is up for debate. After all, social sites use algorithms that tend to show users what they want to see, which is often content that reinforces their own views. Regardless, perception is important, and Google is sometimes considered less trustworthy than other options.

Results Quality

There is also a perception amongst certain searchers that Google’s results are getting worse: that low-quality AI results are taking over, spam sites are more prevalent, and sites with genuine and helpful information are getting buried. Whether or not it is true, such opinions lead to fewer users.

Format and Visual Appeal

For years, a visually appealing internet has been the growing norm. Video and image formats are shown to encourage more engagement and are both easier and quicker to process than just text. And, while Google and other traditional search engines have made attempts to provide a more visual experience, it just doesn’t seem to have the same appeal as other platforms like TikTok.

Personalised Content

Again, Google has made steps to produce more personalised content, but alternative socials and AI got there first and are arguably doing a better job of it. Users, naturally, like finding content that they want more quickly. If a hyper-personalised social search or Chatbot conversation gives you the information you want without you having to manually filter what you don’t want to see, then you enjoy a better user experience.

How to Adapt Your SEO for Search Platform Diversification

If traditional search is decreasing, does that also mean that traditional SEO is changing, too?

Well, yes and no.

Traditional Search is Still Popular

Despite the change in where users are searching, Google and other search engines still remain part of our daily lives. Remember, Google still holds 90% of the market share – that’s not a number to be sniffed at.

It’s also worth noting that, while searchers are utilising other platforms, they tend to do so in collaboration with traditional search. They take a blended approach to their search, often looking in multiple places to find a rounded picture of what they need. It’s also worth noting that ChatGPT uses Bing for its results, and research is showing that it uses Google’s results as a fallback, so visibility in these places has influence.

So, despite the popularity of other sites, and the changing places people search, traditional search still dominates.

How to Adapt to Changing Search

The title of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is somewhat misleading in the current search landscape because it suggests that you are optimising for traditional search only. But the truth is that good SEO practices also work for other types of search, such as on Chatbots. You can safely continue optimising your website in these ways: I have lots of SEO guides to help with this.

But, if you want to take advantage of other search platforms, then you should look at your strategy in more detail and decide what will work best for you as a business. How you adapt will depend on your industry, your resources, and your business goals.

For example, if you want to take advantage of social search, consider how. What age is your audience  and what can you offer them on their preferred platforms? Start with my guide to SEO and social media.  

Or, if you are an e-commerce business, will it be advantageous to sell on sites like Amazon and Etsy? You’ll need to consider the balance between their significant search share and the additional costs and competition of selling on external platforms.

And, for AI and Chatbots, think closely about the kinds of questions people are asking that are relevant to your business. Get into the detail when you write your content and use good page and site structures to ensure your website is searchable. In any guides or product descriptions, anticipate user needs and questions and how you can answer them before they’ve even thought of them.

Conclusion

Search is evolving, but it doesn’t mean you have to completely throw out your existing SEO strategy (as long as it follows good practices). Yes, you will have to adapt somewhat, but that has always been – and always will be – the case for SEO.

Find out where your target audience is searching – it will likely be on traditional search engines alongside other platforms – and adjust your strategy accordingly.

For support on building and implementing your SEO strategy, don’t forget that you can always get in touch for support.