Instagram and TikTok stats are now inside Search Console: a shop owner's guide to Platform Properties

TL;DR — Search Console now has a new property type, Platform Properties: it tracks how your Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube posts surface on Google Search, Discover, and Google News — even if you don't have a website. Global rollout completed July 29, 2026.

What it is

Google introduced Platform Properties on July 7, 2026 (posted by Moshe Samet, Product Manager Lead for Search Console) and announced global availability on July 29 (posted by Daniel Waisberg and Lizzi Sassman, Search relations team). The idea: publishers increasingly reach audiences outside their own websites, and until now there was no consolidated view of how that content gets discovered on Google Search.

Four platforms are supported: Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. Data covers Search, Discover, and Google News.

Setup — 4 steps

Per the official announcement:

• [ ] Open Search Console and click Add property in the property selector (or go straight to the verification page).
• [ ] Pick one of the four platforms: Instagram, TikTok, X, or YouTube.
• [ ] Follow the on-screen verification steps to securely authorize the connection.
• [ ] Reports become available gradually over the coming weeks. If you already set up a Search profile, your data for the same platform shows up automatically.

The three reports

| Report | What it shows | When to use it | | --- | --- | --- | | Performance | Clicks, impressions, and the exact queries — filterable and sortable per post | Finding which posts actually earn search clicks | | Insights | Traffic trend overview, top posts, and how people discover your account on Google | Weekly review without drowning in data | | Achievements | Milestones like reaching a new threshold of clicks from Search in the last 28 days | Team motivation and reporting upward |

Turning reports into sales moves

The rollout post is unusually tactical. Direct from Google's guide:

1. Know your search audience: use the Insights report to identify top, trending-up, and trending-down query groups. Google explicitly frames this as "data-driven inspiration for your next video topic, caption, or hashtag strategy."
2. Catch trending content early: the 24-hour filter reveals sudden traffic spikes to recent posts — cross-promote those on other platforms while the wave is live.
3. Compare platforms: export performance data from multiple properties into one spreadsheet and see how the same content does on YouTube vs TikTok vs Instagram.
4. Revive old posts: find older videos regaining search traction; Google suggests pinning them to your feed or building a part two.
5. Track your edits: use Search Console annotations to mark when you rewrote a YouTube title or TikTok caption, then see the effect over time.
6. Compare formats: apply page filters or comparison mode to contrast short-form vs full-length videos, or how playlists perform.

What this means for shops

If you sell on Instagram (or YouTube), this gives you something you never had: the actual search queries that lead people to your posts. Practical angles:

• Check whether brand searches (your product names) land on your Instagram profile or your website. If the profile wins, strengthen the bio and pinned posts.
• A 24-hour spike means Google just discovered a post — push stories and follow-ups immediately.
• Old product videos regaining search traffic are exactly the assets your product pages should link to and embed.

And if you do run a site alongside your social channels, pair this with your site's own Search Console data — start with the technical SEO for Next.js guide and the index coverage fix walkthrough.

Q: Does this work for Telegram?

No. Only four platforms are supported: Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. Telegram isn't included — getting Telegram content found on Google still depends on indexing of the channel page and your own website.

Q: I don't have a website — can I still use it?

Yes. That's the explicit point of the announcement: creators "even those without their own website" can create a platform property and see how their content performs on Search. An account on one of the four platforms plus verification is enough.

Q: How is this different from Instagram's own Insights?

Completely. Instagram's Insights show how people find your posts inside Instagram. Platform Properties show who reached your posts from Google Search and with which queries. Different data, complementary.

Sources

• See how content from social and video platforms performs on Google Search — developers.google.com
• Platform properties roll out globally, plus a new social and video performance guide — developers.google.com
• Analyze social and video platform content (documentation) — developers.google.com
• Search Central blog archive — developers.google.com/search/blog