A new TikTok feature aims to make its e-commerce functionality even more compelling. The video-sharing platform has launched a visual search tool that is available to users in the United States and Southeast Asia, TechCrunch reported earlier this week. Instead of using the search bar to find products, users can now take or upload a photo of an item, and the app will show similar products for consumers to purchase on TikTok Shop .
Visual search features aren't new in the e-commerce world. Google has enabled shopping through its visual search feature, Google Lens, since 2018. Bing Image Search, Yahoo Image Search, and Pinterest Visual Search Tool are also popular tools that help consumers find products.
This feature stands to help TikTok compete as a search engine. In 2021, the platform overtook Google as the most-visited domain in the world, and according to a 2024 report by Adobe , more than two in five Americans use TikTok as a search engine; one in 10 Gen Zers are more likely to turn to the popular app over Google. Of course, now is still a tenuous time for TikTok, as the U.
S. Senate passed a bill in April requiring ByteDance, the app's China-based owner, to divest its U.S.
assets by January 19 or otherwise face a nationwide ban. In May, the company filed a petition against the potential ban in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; the court will hear oral arguments in September. The prospect of a ban has concerned small businesses that have found success .