Search advertising now accounts for close to a quarter, 22 per cent, of all media budgets.The way people seek information and find – or are guided through – their path to purchase is changing rapidly. People are currently leaning into social and video platforms far more than traditional search engines at a time when search advertising now accounts for close to a quarter, 22 per cent, of all media budgets, and global search advertising spend is projected to reach $248.6bn in 2025 and rise to $265.5bn in 2026.
These are some of the findings from a new research conducted by WARC in partnership with TikTok and behavioural scientist Richard Shotton, to offer marketers insights into how search is evolving, and what this means for the future of marketing.
The research, based on a quantitative survey of consumers fielded during March 2025, together with a series of behavioural science experiments and qualitative interviews with marketers, identified key opportunities for marketers:
- Search users are 1.2 times more likely to believe a claim when it comes from a creator versus when it comes from the brand itself. Findings from the research also highlight how almost half of all Gen Z consumers, 48 per cent, have begun searching far more frequently on social and video platforms than in the last three years.
- Searching is as much about discovery and curiosity as it is about information: More than one-third (35 per cent) of TikTok users are inspired to search based on content they see on the platform.
- As a cue to marketers to follow the mix-align-prime (MAP) framework, the report also proves that searching on social and video platforms has a full-funnel impact.
- The research also revealed that searchers have seven types of intent: inspiration, experiential, relational, learning, research, solution and purchase. On social and video platforms, searchers regularly search to satisfy all of these intent.
Alexis Wolf, Head of Advisory, Americas, WARC, said, “Search is no longer a destination for finding an answer. It’s a doorway that starts a digital journey. From text to image to video to AI, the tools are evolving, and with them, audiences have increasingly dynamic expectations of what searching can do. By rethinking what search is, we unlock new ways of connecting with consumers – earlier, deeper, and more meaningfully.”
Richard Shotton, behavioral scientist and author, added, “We often assume that searching behavior is driven by logic. But behavioral science tells a more interesting – and frankly, more realistic – story. Behavioral science helps us understand this reality. It doesn’t just explain what people do—it reveals why they do it. And in a world obsessed with what’s changing, it gives us an unfair advantage: insight into what isn’t.”
Social and video platforms offer an appealing cultural and community-driven layer to search across nearly every category, led by beauty, fashion, and lifestyle, which traditional platforms lack.
The survey also found that 86 per cent of Gen Z internet users said they search on TikTok weekly, making them nearly as likely to search there as on the leading traditional search engine (90 per cent) and ahead of online marketplaces (75 per cent) or the leading AI platform (60 per cent).
Sissi Xu, Product Lead, Search & Discovery, TikTok, said, “Today, people are searching for more than answers. They are searching for perspectives. This research tells us that people drift from inspiration to research to purchase, whilst gathering perspectives along the way. Users scan a chorus of creators, friends, experts, and brands before deciding what resonates. Meet them there. Design for curiosity. Share something worth finding. Treat every search as a chance to connect. Look beyond views and give people a point of view.”
Additionally, a little more than one-third (35 per cent) of TikTok users are inspired to search based on content they see on the platform, while previous TikTok / WARC research found that seven in ten social and video platform users have bought a product or brand they had never purchased before after seeing content on TikTok.
While traditional search is typically valued for its performance focus and lower-funnel impact, searching on social and video platforms has a full-funnel impact, as it can catch people at earlier stages of discovery as well as inspiring action and purchase behaviour.
To plan for intent-led search, brands are advised to follow the MAP framework:
Mix: The future of search is multi-platform. To align searching strategies with diverse consumer searching habits, marketers should balance traditional and emerging platforms, such as social and video, to optimise each channel’s strengths whilst creating demand.
Searching is often siloed from other types of media, budgets and teams. For success, marketers and their agencies should build more agile and flexible search advertising strategies.
Align: Searchers often have more than one intent when they are searching on social and video platforms – from research, to learning or inspiration. And searching intentions can vary depending on the product category.
When planning for search on social and video platforms, marketers should lead with inspiration, relational, and experiential intents; layer on research, learning, and solutions; and prime for purchase.
Prime: platforms that provide quick access to search functions (such as intentional search in the search bar or suggested searches on video pages) can inspire more consumers to start a search.
Exploratory searching offers an opportunity for brands to be discovered before consumers’ bias has set in. It is exceedingly hard to change people’s opinions once they are set. To combat preconceptions about their brand, marketers should capitalise on discovery.
