Search engine giant Google is testing to add a new feature to show videos to users from Instagram and TikTok. The latest decision aims at retaining users on its platform. According to Google, the new tool will show videos from the two platforms in the dedicated carousel in the Google app. Reports say that the company has been indexing videos for the past few years. It remains unclear whether Google has entered into any agreement with Instagram and TikTok. Google said that the feature is being tested on mobile devices on a pilot basis. Google has made available the feature in a limited way for mobile devices and also on the mobile web.
Google said that the new dedicated carousel will be expanded for testing soon. It is exclusively for video content on Instagram and TikTok. While in the testing phase, the company has introduced a carousel of short videos. It is made available within Google Discover. Google Discover was previously called Google Feed. It is a personalized content feed. It focuses on aggregating videos from platforms like YouTube, Tangi, Trell, and others. The short videos are different from the Google Discover page’s Web Stories feature. It functions quite similarly to Instagram Stories and Snapchat. Google said that the stories carousel will enable users to look for the best content available online.
Google has not rolled out the feature for everyone. It is only testing it with limited users. When users click on the Instagram and TikTok videos in the short videos carousel, it directs them to the web version. This happens even when the app is installed on the device. It means that users will need not to switch apps to watch videos. In other words, Google wants users to come back to its page every time they wish to watch videos. Google’s announcement to test the feature is an indication that it has also some expansion plans in place. The company is likely to expand Web Stories to more countries. Besides, the new feature could also soon debut on more Google products.
