Google’s “platform properties” turn search data into an asset for creators

Google is sitting on a treasure trove of statistical data, and it’s putting those data points to work. Creators can now use the Google Search Console to analyze “platform properties,” a term that encompasses profiles on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X.

The Google Search Console lets users track the search terms that bring the most traffic to their webpages. The platform properties option applies the same approach to social media channels. By adding their accounts to their Search Console hubs, creators can measure their overall Google Search traffic while also identifying the videos that show up most often on results pages.

“Content creators and publishers use many channels beyond their own websites to reach their audiences,” reads Google’s explanation of platform properties. “As people gravitate toward firsthand perspectives and different content formats, we want to make it easier for site owners and creators—even those without their own website—to get a consolidated view of how all of their content is getting discovered on Search.”

Creators can see both impression and click data for content that appears in results pages. Impressions measure the number of times a particular piece of content shows up on Google Search, while clicks measure the number of times that content is accessed via search.

The arrival of platform properties is the latest step in the slow, steady mission to turn Google Search into a creator-friendly hub. As TikTok started challenging Google’s supremacy in the world of search, the team in Mountain View made its results pages more dynamic and filled them with creator content. Search profiles, introduced a month ago, give creators a strong presence on the results pages that are most relevant to their work.

Those initiatives have equipped Google with a deep reserve of search data that is now being passed on to the creators who benefit from it. Google is hardly the first platform to mine creator-related queries in search of insights. Famous Birthdays turned itself into a database of Gen Z culture by analyzing its internal search engine and using those data points to determine the creators who generate the most search demand from their fans.

Even if TikTok now rivals Google as a search engine among Gen Z, the latter company isn’t squandering its strong market position. Google Search is still full of insightful data, and creators can easily get their hands on those findings.