A Bath business can serve customers well beyond Bath. A hotel may attract people planning a visit from overseas; an online shop may deliver to several countries; a consultancy may work with clients abroad. Google has made a small change to Search Console that could make their search reporting easier: selected countries can now be viewed together.
For an organisation serving only nearby customers, this may make little difference. For one with several overseas markets, it offers a simpler way to check a useful group without losing sight of what each country contributes.
What has changed?
Google Search Central has announced updated country and device filters in the Search Console Performance report. Google’s current help explains that selecting several countries shows their combined data. The same option applies to devices, such as mobile and tablet.
There are two different jobs here. Filter brings selected countries into one view. Compare still lets you examine two countries side by side. A combined total answers “how is this group doing?”; a comparison helps answer “which of these two is doing better?” Google says only one comparison can be active at a time.
This changes how you view search data. Selecting a group does not alter your website, target customers or improve rankings.
When might it help locally?
Imagine a Bath guesthouse whose website is used by prospective visitors searching from France, Germany and the Netherlands. Its team could select those countries together to follow that particular audience over time, while keeping UK searches in a separate view. Those are example markets, not a claim about where any guesthouse’s bookings come from.
A Somerset maker selling abroad could choose the countries it actually ships to. A Wiltshire business offering remote services could group places where it can genuinely support customers. Start with a business question rather than combining countries simply because the option exists.
Country means where the search originated. It does not establish someone’s nationality, home address or eventual destination. Nor does a UK filter isolate Bath or the South West. That distinction matters if you are using the report to inform your local search marketing.
A practical first check
- Choose the right website and period. Open its Search Console property and the Performance report for Search results. Record the date range and search type before adding a country filter, so you can reproduce the view later.
- Select a meaningful group. Use + Add filter, choose Country, then select the countries you want in the Filter view and apply it. Keep a note of the exact list. “Overseas markets” is an unclear report label unless readers know which places it includes.
- Look inside the total. Check the Countries table as well as the headline figures. An increase across the group can hide a fall in one important country. Use Compare when a direct comparison between two countries would answer the question more clearly.
- Check the pages involved. Look at which pages receive clicks from the chosen group. Do their delivery information, booking details or service descriptions make sense for those visitors? Follow a relevant page through the customer’s next step before deciding it needs changing.
- Keep comparisons consistent. Use the same country list, search type and other filters, with comparable date periods, when reviewing progress. Adding a device or query filter changes the question. Google’s guidance recommends weekly or monthly views to reduce misleading day-of-the-week comparisons.
Keep the figures in perspective
Search Console’s clicks and impressions describe search activity. They do not prove that a booking, sale or worthwhile enquiry followed. Check business outcomes separately alongside your website analytics; do not expect those systems to produce identical totals. This is where a wider marketing and measurement plan remains useful.
There are reporting limits too. Google’s help warns that query and URL filters can change totals because of omitted anonymous queries and data limits. The newest figures can also be preliminary. A short-lived change or a handful of clicks is a reason to investigate, rather than a firm verdict on a market.
The sensible next step is modest: choose one country group that reflects real customers, record its filters, and check the individual countries and destination pages. If all your work is local, keep using the views that answer your existing questions. There is no need to build an international reporting routine just to use a new control.