Google Search Console Insights will no longer show and use data that comes from Google Analytics. It will continue to use data from Google Search Console and Google Search but not data from Google Analytics, the company announced this morning.
What Google said. Google posted on X:
Google says they “hope this makes it easier to look up details from Search Console Insights,” adding they are “focusing on data from Search Console.” Thus, this reporting tool “no longer include[es] metrics from Google Analytics.”
What is Search Console Insights. Search Console Insights is designed specifically for content creators and publishers and “can help them understand how audiences discover their site’s content and what resonates with their audiences,” according to Google. The Search Console Insights reporting is powered by data from both Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
When did it first launch. Google launched a beta of this last year and then opened limited access to some content creators to debug it and give Google feedback on the reports. Back then, Google said, “it’s a way to provide content creators with the data they need to make informed decisions and improve their content.”
Then in June 2021, Search Console Insights launched for all.
What it looks like. Here is a screenshot of some of the reports:
What does it answer? The reports in Search Console Insights aim to answer these questions:
What are your best-performing pieces of content?
How are your new pieces of content performing?
How do people discover your content across the web?
What do people search for on Google before they visit your content?
Which article refers users to your website and content?
How to access it. Google gives you a few ways to access the reports:
Select Search Console Insights from the top of Search Console’s Overview page.
Use this link to access it directly.
In the iOS Google App, select Search Console Insights in the account menu (tap your profile picture). This is coming soon and will also come soon to the Android app.
Why we care. I am hardly a fan of having access to less data but it seems that maybe the Google Analytics data was causing more confusion for users. Or maybe it was hard for Google to maintain that data in Search Console Insights.
That being said, Search Console Insights will no longer show data from Google Analytics going forward.