While much attention is focused on Google’s launch of AI-powered SERP features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode that threaten to erode the SERP visibility of news publishers, there’s another concerning trend that is already proving to be a Google visibility disrupter: social media platforms.

While AI features on the Google SERP continue to evolve and the immediate impact for news publishers is limited for now, the rapid rise of social media platforms like Reddit and Instagram in Google search visibility is a current threat that’s growing and should not be overlooked. If your newsroom has historically siloed search and social teams apart from one another, it may be time to reassess and join forces. When it comes to Google visibility, search and social are more intertwined than ever before.

The data insights from the Trisolute News Dashboard are not all doom and gloom for news publishers, however. When it comes to Top Stories News Box rankings, news publishers remain the top source for Google visibility rankings. We’re also seeing a leveling off trend over the last few months in News Box visibility rankings for YouTube, Reddit, and Instagram. 

We continue to monitor the Trisolute News Dashboard to see if the June Core Update from Google that completed on July 17, 2025 has any impact on the visibility of social media platforms on the mobile and desktop SERPs. So far the update doesn’t seem to have had a major impact on news publisher visibility. Search Engine Land reported incidents of at least partial recovery for sites hit by the 2023 helpful content update and prior core updates.

Share of Voice Impact

We analyzed the Trisolute News Dashboard’s Share of Voice report for Mobile and Desktop News Boxes to document the growing visibility of the major social media platforms. You can see how in 2023, the top 5 were all news publishers. By 2024, YouTube and Instagram had entered the top 5 in the Share of Voice report. The trend has continued in 2025, with YouTube and Instagram taking over the top 2 slots, pushing down CNN and The New York Times.

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Overview of Visibility by Ranking Type and Social Media Platform

We used the Trisolute News Dashboard to capture the social media platform performance by SERP ranking type in the US. News publishers continue to dominate the Top Stories News Box while  X/Twitter remains relevant during breaking news events and latest developments of ongoing news topics. Instagram is seeing increased visibility in ranking types such as “What people are saying”, and in the entertainment, health, and science news categories. Google gives its own video platform, YouTube, a great deal of visibility across SERP ranking types.

Country comparison: Germany vs. US

We analyzed 2024 data as well as 2025 data from Q1 to conduct this country-level SERP ranking analysis. In Germany, YouTube dominated the rankings, followed by Instagram and Facebook. In the US, YouTube also led in rankings, but overall there was a greater diversity of social media platform ranking performance.

German SERP

US SERP

Social Media Platforms: Mobile News Box Visibility by News Category

The Google visibility performance of social media platforms was heavily dependent upon news category. For news publishers focused on specific verticals, you’ll want to take a closer look at the charts below to see which social media platform poses the biggest threat in search visibility.

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News Publisher Visibility Impact

While the decline in news publisher visibility on the Google SERPs cannot be attributed to any single factor, there’s no doubt that social media’s growing presence on search is having an impact. In the Mobile News Box, top news publishers like CNN and The New York Times have seen a visibility decline after May 2024, which is around the time YouTube began to grow in visibility.

Recommendations for news publishers

While it may be alarming to see social media platforms consume so much visibility on the Google SERP, there’s also opportunities for news publishers who are active on these platforms. Pay special attention to your search optimization strategy for visual elements. Make sure you are following best practices for optimizing images and videos for search. 

If your newsroom’s social media and search teams work separately, consider bringing them together for a strategy session. Each team can share their knowledge about what works for their distribution platform and from that, a unified optimization strategy can be developed.

Niche publishers should review the Google visibility impact of social media platforms on their content. In our data analysis, we found that the entertainment, sports, technology, health, and science news categories had the greatest rise in social media platform visibility.

Revisit your YouTube strategy:  Video content should be considered a key part of  a publisher’s SEO strategy. As Pat Reinhart, VP of Services & Thought Leadership at Conductor noted, “Video is dominating search results. If you’re not thinking about how to integrate it into your content strategy, you’re already behind. And make sure you host it on YouTube—not your website or Vimeo. Google prioritizes YouTube above all other platforms.”

YouTube has evolved over time to attract a larger news audience. According to the Digital News Report 2025 from the Reuters Institute, around a third of their global sample uses YouTube for news consumption weekly. While this may seem like a positive development, another data point from the Digital News Report should not be ignored, as YouTube users aren’t necessarily tuning into traditional news publisher channels. An insight from the report: “People using YouTube for news still pay more attention to traditional news media and journalists than to creators and personalities. However, it is a close race (43% vs 40% respectively).”

Also cited in the Digital News Report is the growing popularity of Instagram and TikTok for news consumption by video, two platforms which are especially popular with younger demographics. 

Instagram may grow in SERP visibility even more: Now that public accounts are visible in Google search whether or not the user has an Instagram account or is logged in, Instagram may experience even greater growth in search visibility. News publishers in verticals that are popular on Instagram, especially entertainment and sports, will want to make sure their publisher Instagram accounts are optimized for this growth opportunity on search.

Reddit is a treasure trove of user generated content, product reviews and recommendations. News publishers need to tread carefully when trying to leverage Reddit as it’s easy to get banned for being too blatant in promoting one’s own content. For major news events, Reddit can be mined to uncover questions that readers may have, which can help newsrooms in crafting follow-up content that is relevant and will perform well in search.

What about other social media platforms? We reviewed the data for TikTok and Threads and found that most of their Google visibility was coming from the “What people are saying” ranking type. In Video Box visibility rankings on the Mobile SERP, TikTok edged out Instagram for 2025 YTD, but neither platform threatens YouTube’s dominant visibility.

Be prepared to adapt: One trend we noticed over the past year is how Perspectives, which once was a popular SERP ranking type, has greatly declined in visibility rankings over the past year, and has mostly been replaced by the “What people are saying” ranking type. The Google SERP is always evolving, so don’t take visibility rankings from any one ranking type for granted. That’s why it’s important to monitor such trends with a news SEO tool like the Trisolute News Dashboard. We will soon be adding a filter feature within the Trisolute News Dashboard that allows users to analyze News Box data with and without the social media platforms so publishers can better understand the impact on their overall visibility.

More insights from Trisolute News Dashboard

Top Stories News Box Trends Impacting News Publishers Right Now
How a News SEO Tool Differs from Traditional SEO Tools

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