Google now displays social media follower counts in search results

Imagine your friend mentions a celebrity, and you wonder how popular they are on social media. Maybe you want to compare the social media presence of a football player or figure out which platform your competitor has more of a following on. Instead of manually checking each platform’s follower count, you can now search on Google, which displays the number of followers for various accounts.

Google now displays social media account follower counts in search results. This feature is available on desktop and mobile devices and supports various social media platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Google trialling on mobile the showing of the follower count for social media sites, with the username (or display name) also being shown in the site name line.

The follower count appears in the URL line, but this isn’t the first time the URL is hidden for social media listings pic.twitter.com/cHb80tPVoF

— Alex Greenland (@ajrgd) April 25, 2023

The follower count is displayed in the site name line, directly below the search result’s title. This makes it easy for users to quickly compare different individuals’ or brands’ social media presence.

Some users have expressed concern that follower counts can be manipulated and do not always reflect an account’s popularity or influence accurately.

Overall, the new Google feature could be a convenient and informative addition to the search results page. Do you think this would be of any use?