Google Is Reportedly Planning to Index Instagram and TikTok Videos

Google is working on a potential deal with Byte Dance and Facebook to bring TikTok and Instagram videos respectively in Google Search results. At the moment, reuploads of Instagram or TikTok videos on YouTube or any third-party platform can be seen on Google. However, Google is trying a big change. If the deal goes well, Instagram and  TikTok videos can be seen on the Search using the keywords. The tech giant is negotiating a deal to get data to rank and index the Instagram and TikTok videos on Search.

Regarding the deal talks, a Google spokesperson provided the below quote to The Information,

We help sites make their content discoverable and benefit from being found on Google, and they can choose how or whether their content appears in Search

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A Similar Deal  With Twitter

In 2015, a similar deal was formed between Google and Twitter. As per the deal, Google pays a licensing fee to access the tweet data for indexing. Prior to the partnership with Twitter, Google did not rank and index individual tweets in search results like today. However, it is now easy to find Twitter content with a simple search. 

If the said deal pans out, then it will be easy to find short-format video content as common as tweets in the search results. But the big question is will Instagram and TikTok hand over data to Google? Their reluctance is understandable, as Google owns YouTube and competes for the same short-format videos audience. Therefore it will be interesting to know if the deal turns into a formal agreement.

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Win-Win For All!

If the internet giants agree then it will be a win-win situation for all. The Instagram and TikTok content will be discoverable on Google and receive an annual compensation similar to Twitter. In the long-term, Google will have billions of new videos to an index which will make the search engine a destination for articles and videos. This will also increase the search volume on Google which means more opportunities for publishers.

Presently, the terms of the agreement are not available between Google and Facebook as well as Byte Dance. We will keep you posted on the progress of the deal. Stay Tuned!

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