Unveiling the hidden data of Google Search Console

👋 In this document, I will go through the dimensions of search appearance in Google through the search console bulk export to BigQuery, these hidden dimensions should be used to leverage the potential of your website on the web.

While many SEO professionals focus on surface-level metrics, the true goldmine of insights lies within the bulk data exports of the Search Console on BigQuery. This guide aims to uncover the hidden dimensions within these exports and explain why they are crucial for comprehensive SEO analysis.

The Significance of Bulk Data Export Dimensions

Google Search Console's bulk data exports offer a granular view of search performance beyond basic metrics. In this article, I will not go over the classic dimensions such as URL pages, queries, search types, devices, and countries, instead, I will explain in detail the different dimensions of the search appearance that are often overlooked, provide crucial insights into how Google interprets and displays your content in search results.

You can find these dimensions if you activated the bulk data export of your search console to BigQuery in the table "yourdatasetname.searchdata_url_impression"

Understanding the Dimensions and Their Importance

AMP related dimensions

1. AMP Articles (is_amp_top_stories)

• Column name: AMP_TOP_STORIES
• What it means: This dimension represents Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) that appear in prominent positions, such as the Top Stories carousel.
• Why it is important in SEO: Tracking this metric is important because it indicates how well your content performs in high-visibility areas of search results. A strong presence here can significantly impact your mobile traffic and visibility for news-related queries. Publishers and news sites need to monitor this dimension to ensure their AMP implementation is effective and their content is being featured prominently.

                                               Screenshot of Google Search Results



2. Unenriched AMP Results (is_amp_blue_link)

• Column name: AMP_BLUE_LINK
• What it means: These are AMP pages that appear as standard blue links in search results, without enhanced features.
• Why is it important in SEO: This metric helps you understand how your AMP pages are performing in standard search results. It's important to monitor because it shows whether your AMP implementation is benefiting your overall search presence, even when not appearing in enhanced features. A high number here with low numbers in other AMP categories might indicate that your pages are fast but lack the necessary markup for rich results.

3. AMP in Image Results (is_amp_image_result)

• Column name: AMP_IMAGE_RESULT
• What it means: This dimension tracks when images from your AMP pages appear in image search results.
• Why is it important in SEO: This metric is vital for understanding how your visual content performs in mobile search. It's particularly crucial for e-commerce sites, publishers with image-heavy content, or any site where images play a key role in attracting users. Monitoring this can help you optimize your image strategy for AMP pages and improve visibility in image search.

4. Web Stories (is_amp_story)

• Column name: AMP_STORY
• What it means: Web Stories are immersive, full-screen experiences built with AMP. They appear in various places in Google Search and Discover.
• Why it is important in SEO: This dimension is important for understanding the performance of your Web Stories. As a relatively new format, Web Stories can drive significant engagement and visibility. Monitoring this metric helps you gauge the effectiveness of your visual storytelling efforts and can inform decisions about investing more resources in this format.

Rich Results and Enhanced Search Appearances

1. Frequently Asked Questions (is_tpf_faq)

• Column name: TPF_FAQ
• What it means: This dimension represents FAQ-style content that appears directly in search results, allowing users to expand and collapse answers to questions.
• Why it is important in SEO: Tracking this metric is crucial for understanding how well your FAQ content is performing in search. It can provide insights into whether your content is effectively answering user queries. High visibility here can increase your search presence without necessarily driving clicks, so it's important to balance this with other metrics to ensure you're not cannibalizing your own traffic.

                                           Screenshot of Google Search Results



2. Q&A Rich Results

• Column name: TPF_QA
• What it means: Similar to FAQ results, but typically representing single question-and-answer pairs.
• Why it is important in SEO: This metric helps you understand how well your content answers specific user questions. It's particularly important for sites focused on providing expert answers or advice. Monitoring this can help you identify opportunities to create more targeted, question-answering content that Google considers authoritative.

3. Educational Q&A (is_edu_q_and_a)

• Column name: EDU_Q_AND_A
• What it means: This dimension is specific to educational content, particularly in STEM fields.
• Why it is important in SEO: For educational websites or those providing academic content, this metric is crucial. It helps you understand how well your content is performing for educational queries, which can be highly competitive. A strong performance here indicates that Google considers your content valuable for learners, which can be a significant trust signal.

                                               Screenshot of my Google Search Results



4. Training Videos

• Column name: is_learning_videos
• What it means: Your educational videos appeared as rich results in search.
• Why it matters in SEO: Helps you understand the performance of your video content in educational contexts.

5. Mathematical Problem Solvers

• Column name:is_math_solvers
• What it means: Your math problem-solving content appeared as a rich result.
• Why it matters in SEO: Crucial for educational sites focusing on mathematics to track their visibility in specific math-related queries.

6. Exercises to Practice

• Column name: is_practice_problems
• What it means: Your practice exercises or problems appeared in search results.
• Why it matters in SEO: Helps educational sites understand how their interactive content performs in search.

Product and Shopping Dimensions

1. Product Results

• Column name: is_organic_shopping
• What it means: Your product appeared in enhanced shopping results.
• Why it matters: Crucial for e-commerce sites to track product visibility in search.

2. Product Fragments

• Column name: is_product_snippets
• What it means: Parts of your product information appeared as rich snippets in search.
• Why it matters in SEO: Helps you understand how your product data is being displayed in search results.

3. Business Cards

• Column name: is_merchant_listings
• What it means: Your business information appeared in rich business listings.
• Why it matters in SEO: Important for local SEO and tracking visibility of your business information.

Multimedia Dimensions

1. Multimedia Actions

• Column name: is_action
• What it means: Your audio or video content appeared with playable actions in search results.
• Why it matters: Helps you understand how your multimedia content performs in search and its potential for direct engagement.

2. Videos

• Column name: is_video
• What it means: Your video content appeared in video features or carousels in search results.
• Why it matters in SEO: Crucial for tracking the visibility and performance of your video content in search.

                 Screenshot of Google Search Results



Miscellaneous Dimensions

1. Android Application

• Column name: is_search_appearance_android_app
• What it means: Your Android app appeared in mobile search results.
• Why it matters in SEO: Important for your ASO strategy to track the visibility of your apps in search.

2. Recipe Galleries

• Column name: is_recipe_feature
• What it means: Your recipes appeared in recipe collections or carousels.
• Why it matters in SEO: Crucial for food blogs or recipe sites to understand their visibility in recipe-specific search features.

                 Screenshot of Google Search Results



3. Rich Recipe Results

• Column name: is_recipe_rich_snippet
• What it means: Your recipe appeared as a rich result with additional information.
• Why it matters in SEO: Helps food-related sites track how their recipes perform with enhanced visibility in search.

4. Special Notices

• Column name: is_special_announcement
• What it means: Your special announcements (like COVID-19 information) appeared in search results.
• Why it matters in SEO: Important for tracking the visibility of critical, time-sensitive information.

5. Content Available for Subscribers

• Column name: is_subscribed_content
• What it means: Your subscriber-only content appeared in "From your subscription" rich results - only subscribers from Google.
• Why it matters in SEO: Crucial for sites with subscription models to understand how their exclusive content performs in search.

6. Translated Results

• Column name: is_translated_result
• What it means: Your content appeared as a translated result for queries in other languages.
• Why it matters in SEO: Important for understanding your content's reach across language barriers and the potential for international SEO.

These dimensions in Google Search Console's bulk data exports are not just extra data points - they're important indicators of your website's performance across the diverse landscape of Google's search features. By understanding and regularly analyzing these metrics, not only you can get insights but you can also optimize your strategies to achieve your business goals.