Unlock Hidden Traffic Insights: Google Search Console’s New Social and Video Reports Revealed!
Ever wondered how your Instagram photos or TikTok videos fare beyond likes and shares — right there in Google Search and Discover? Well, Google just flipped the game board with their new platform properties in Search Console, handing marketers a crystal-clear peek into how social and video content actually performs in the wild world of Google’s ecosystem. Imagine getting legit, first-party data on clicks, impressions, and search position for your favorite platforms like Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube, all wrapped up in one place. It’s a game-changer, especially since until now we’ve been flying blind, relying mostly on platform-native stats that don’t tell the whole story about your content’s true search footprint. This move screams one thing loud and clear — social and video are no longer just engagement playgrounds; they’re rankable assets in the battlefield of discoverability. Ready to turn your social posts into a search powerhouse? Dive in and see what this new tool can do for you. LEARN MORE
Google Search Console’s new platform properties now let you see how your social and video content performs in Google Search and Discover. The new reporting feature provides marketers with first-party performance data for their Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube accounts.
Google Search Central announced the rollout on LinkedIn on July 7, 2026.
What platform properties include
Platform properties give publishers and creators a dedicated space in Search Console with three types of reports for each connected account. Here’s what each report covers:
- Performance report: Shows clicks, impressions, average CTR, and average search position for the selected property. You can filter by search type, such as Web, Image, Video, or News, to see which specific posts are driving traffic.
- Insights report: Gives a high-level overview of recent traffic trends, top-performing content, and how people are finding your platform content on Google.
- Achievements: Tracks growth milestones and click-based accomplishments, such as hitting a new threshold for total clicks from Search in the last 28 days.
How to set up platform properties in Google Search Console
- Open Google Search Console and sign in
- Click the property selector dropdown in the top left
- Select “Add property”
- Choose “Platform property” from the available options and select your platform (Instagram, TikTok, X, or YouTube)
- Verify ownership by following the prompts to connect your account
- Once verified, navigate to the new property to access your Performance, Insights, and Achievements reports
Note that it can take up to 48 hours for your data to become available. Google is rolling platform properties out gradually over the coming weeks, so the option may not show up in your account right away.
Why platform properties matter
Until now, there was no native way to see whether a brand’s social content was surfacing in Search or Discover. Brands relied on platform-native analytics, which don’t show Google performance at all. Platform properties are the first time Google has reported search performance for properties marketers don’t own outright.
The bigger signal is that Google is treating social and video as search surfaces. YouTube videos and social posts are indexable and rankable, competing for visibility alongside webpages. The move for marketers is to treat social content as rankable content, not just engagement, and build it with search intent in mind.
Keep the scope in mind: these reports cover Google Search and Discover only, not on-platform reach, so they complement your native analytics. The practical step is to verify your accounts now so data starts collecting, then watch which formats and topics earn search visibility to build on what works.
Go beyond platform properties with Semrush
Platform properties give you a clearer picture of your own social search performance, but understanding the competitive landscape requires going deeper.
The Social Tracker lets you monitor competitors’ social activity and benchmark it against your platform properties report.
And the Traffic & Market Toolkit lets you go deeper on competitor traffic, analyzing which channels drive their results, how audiences behave, and where your domain stands in the market.
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