Research Website Turns Anti-Google Scholar Hooks Into 40M Views

A research website has crossed nearly 40M views by making one thing feel obvious: there has to be a faster way to do academic work than this.

Skolar AI, registered in June 2023, is now averaging around 10K daily organic visits.

Across 10 TikTok accounts, it has generated 39.9M views, with the main page alone accounting for 28.7M.

What makes the strategy interesting is how consistent the content logic is.

Each video begins with frustration, then positions the app as the solution.

One of the clearest examples came in January 2025, when the main account posted:

“I’m never using Google Scholar for Literature Review again after this” 3.3M views and 198K saves.

The video opens with a selfie clip to establish the pain point, then cuts to Google Scholar and a feed of dense, intimidating academic material.

Only after that does the solution arrive: Do this instead. From there, the video moves into a quick Skolar AI tutorial, showing how a topic can be entered and turned into a more usable literature workflow.

That sequence is what makes the format work. The first half creates the friction, and the second half removes it.

The same pattern shows up in the UGC wave too.

In February 2025, ambassador @alexi.skolar went viral with a faceless video titled:

“BEST WEBSITES FOR RESEARCH” 1.2M views and 45K bookmarks.

The hook suggests a broader ranking, but the actual video is entirely about Skolar AI.

The video holds attention by feeling like general advice, then focuses on only one tool.

Another creator, @ice.uni, later reached 1.7M views and 37K bookmarks with:

“how I finish my RRL under 5 mins?! (with real research articles)”

Again, the structure stays the same.

Promise a shortcut, name a painful academic task, and walk the viewer into the website as the answer.

That is the real system behind the 40M views.

People searching for research tools want proof that something tedious and painful can become easier. Skolar’s best videos understand that, so they lead with the academic burden and let the tutorial serve as proof.