The way people consume news has changed drastically over the past two decades. Traditionally, most people got their news from the newspapers, TV, and radio.
With the digitization of news, most people now get their news online, which offers real-time news from every part of the world instead of waiting until it’s news time as it was with traditional media outlets.
According to a recent study, Google is the go-to platform for most people seeking to catch up on the news online, and it has been so for some time now. Over 5 billion searches are conducted daily on the platform, many of which are news-related.
Shifting Tides
In a 2021 survey conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 35% of the respondents claimed they rely on Google for their news. However, the dominance of Google as a news source may need to be assured as younger generations seem more inclined to use TikTok as their go-to news platform.
“For publishers, TikTok is what Facebook was in its first years before it squeezed the life out of its referral traffic and engagement. There is no telling if TikTok will form the same path as Facebook, but as it is, it may be the legitimate path for publishers whose target audience is Generation Z,” says Seth Price, founder of MedShark Digital, a medically focused digital marketing agency.
What the Numbers Show
According to a report published on Search Engine Land, the preference for Google as a news source decreases from generation to generation, with baby boomers seemingly having a much higher preference for Google as a news source than other generations at 48 percent. This was followed by Gen X at 48 percent, millennials at 45 percent, and Gen Z at 39 percent.
Things start shifting in Generation Z regarding TikTok usage and preference as a news source. According to the study, 14 percent of Gen Z respondents began searching for news events on TikTok, compared to one percent for all other generations.
Major Publishers are Inactive on TikTok
Major publishers, like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, barely have active accounts, while others, such as Axios and Financial Times, still need an account on the platform.
Interestingly, TikTok has, in recent years, proven to be the only channel with a relatively high engagement rate of 5.69 percent, with the other social media platforms having engagement rates of less than 1.0 percent. What all this goes to show is that news outlets need to start being active on TikTok, as it is becoming a go to place for younger generations to receive news.
Impact of AI on News Consumption
The entry of AI into search could be a game changer in how different generations approach news. It will likely help search engines reclaim some of the time spent on social media platforms, including TikTok, but it is still relatively early to predict.
The leader in the AI race at the moment is ChatGPT, which has gained quite some traction in the past few months since its launch in late 2022, reaching approximately 100 million users per month as of January 2023.
Google is also working on Bard, its ChatGPT equivalent. Still, it doesn’t seem keen on taking the lead in this frontier at the moment, a move many see as intentional by letting others make early mistakes while weighing the effect AI will have on organic traffic.
Need to Adapt
One thing is true, though. Engine referrals will continue to shrink, and as they do, publishers will need to be less conservative and avoid restricting their most compelling news coverage to their websites.
Instead, they may need to channel more resources into repurposing portions of their pay-walled news content on social media platforms such as TikTok to conform to changing trends and attract younger subscribers.
