Google Lowers Search Profile Threshold to 10,000 Followers, Adds Multi-Brand Management

Google has lowered the eligibility threshold for Search profiles to 10,000 followers and added two features aimed at publishers: managing multiple brand profiles from one login, and a refreshed article view. “More U.S. publishers and creators are now eligible for Search profiles. We’ve lowered the eligibility threshold to 10,000 followers across YouTube, Instagram, X, or TikTok,” Search product manager Ibrahim Badr wrote in a Google blog post.

Third threshold in 15 weeks

The count is per account, so 10,000 followers on any one of those platforms qualifies, Search Engine Journal noted. When Search profiles launched on June 4, they required 100,000 followers on YouTube, Instagram or X, or 300,000 on TikTok. Google said Aug. 12 it was lowering the bar, and as of the morning of Sept. 16 its help page listed 35,000 for all four platforms. Profiles remain US-only. Google Search VP Robby Stein said in August that Google would “expand them to more countries soon,” but the new announcement doesn’t mention other countries.

One login for many brands

Until now, Google’s help page required a separate Google Account for each profile. “With new multi-account support, you can now claim and manage Search profiles for all of your sub-brands from a single login,” Badr wrote. The post describes this for media companies with sub-brands and doesn’t say whether solo creators with several profiles get the same option.

Articles shown on a profile now have optimized image thumbnails and longer headlines. Google didn’t give specific sizes or lengths.

What it means for publishers

Search profiles are claimable, verified pages that pull a source’s articles, social accounts and links into one shareable spot. Google’s documentation says creating one “doesn’t directly affect your content’s ranking on Google Search.” The payoff is in Discover, where people who follow a profile may see more of that source’s content. Because the threshold has moved twice since June, publishers that didn’t qualify before should check Google’s help page for the current number.