Google is suggesting dupes now

Years ago, just a look from Jennifer Lopez spawned Google Images, and today the search platform takes inspiration from TikTok for its new updates. It's not as you think: Google won't just show you scrolling videos on its site, allow you to like links, or do a duet. In the platform's latest update, dupes have landed, a form of imitation that, in the world of fashion and beauty, helps save on viral products that are more expensive on the market. Forget about Clinique Black Honey, which costs up to €30, and get the Lip Shine by Elf for €7; don't buy the classic Balenciaga City Bag, invest in one at the price of a lipstick. The effect is the same, and no one will come to check your beauty case or label. With the addition of the dupe button among the search tools, Google provides users with an extra reason to prefer their page to TikTok, the Gen Z's favorite social media for shopping. According to a company spokesperson mentioned on BoF, the option was added in response to user demand.

For some time now, Google automatically adds keywords based on popular searches. A function created to help the user find an answer in the shortest time possible, increases in clicks on dupe have led to the new button below the search bar. The update, innocuous in itself, could have serious legal consequences. Despite Google's policy preventing the sale of counterfeit items, brands selling dupes - even if not openly declaring to produce replicas - may benefit from this new tool. Until now, launching a product recognized on social media as a replica didn't entail serious risks - except when reproducing the brand's label itself - but now that it could appear in the same searches as the original, competition between brands will increase, especially if the same criterion is applied to clothing and accessory dupes. A user on X encountered the "dupe" option while searching for a necklace designed by Elsa Peretti. Without typing the keyword in the search bar, the platform suggested various brands to the user.

In the past year, dupes have gained formidable fame. Inflation and consumer concerns about the cost of living are prompting even shopping fanatics to save. Already in 2022, the Think with Google search platform reported a 40% increase in searches for dupes, a figure that has reached +123.5% in recent months, justifying the addition of the keyword to Google's search tools. Despite these findings, a NIQ study published last November shows that both brands producing imitations and "original" brands have reported revenue growth in 2023, at +42.1% and +53.5%, respectively. Dupe or not, the fashion and beauty market does not surrender.