From PC Mag: In a bid to keep people inside its ecosystem as long as possible, Google is testing a mobile feature that surfaces TikTok and Instagram videos in a dedicated carousel, according to TechCrunch.
The "Short Videos" carousel aggregates clips from other platforms, namely Tangi, Indian TikTok competitor Trell, and YouTube. (OK, that last one is a Google subsidiary.) It's reportedly different from the Google Discover feed and Web Stories function—the latter of which launched in October and focuses more on content created by Google's online publishing partners.
The addition of Instagram and TikTok posts was first spotted over the weekend by Brian Freiesleben, who was searching for the Green Bay Packers. TechCrunch replicated the experience, finding the Short Videos carousel below the Google Knowledge Base box.
"When clicked, you're taken to the web version of the social platform—not the native mobile app, even if it's installed on your device," TC writer Sarah Perez explains. "The end result is that Google users are more likely to remain on Google, as all it takes is a tap on the back arrow to return to the search results after watching a video."
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