In July, Instagram quietly made a major change: it allowed Google to “crawl” and index all of Instagram’s content, not just what it could find through links. Starting in July 2025, millions of posts will now be visible in searches, opening up a whole new horizon for travel companies and content creators.
- Adido CEO Andy Headington gave ttgmedia. com some very useful information about this development. He says:
For the travel industry, this translates into greater visibility and awareness. Until now, some public reels and posts (mainly after 2020) were already appearing in Google results, but the new feature means that all content is now available to the general public – even to users who don’t have an Instagram account.
Google is looking to regain ground from the trend of users looking for information directly on social media. Instagram is looking for more views and interactions. This partnership seems like a win-win for both parties, while also acting as a bulwark against competition from large artificial intelligence models (LLMs), which currently do not have direct access to the platform’s content.
Impact on the travel industry
For travel brands, tourism organizations and influencers, the change brings new opportunities:
More content can appear in Google search results.
Users who do not use Instagram can see posts without having to log in.
Additional capabilities are created for targeted presentation of specialized terms (e.g. specific villas, destinations, experiences).
Next steps for brands
Experts recommend:
Update company pages and bios to align with other official digital channels.
Create posts with targeted descriptions and keywords for destinations and services.
Add alt text and correct file names to images for better readability.
Use SEO tools to monitor Instagram’s presence in searches.
Regularly review brand-related posts to limit negative content.
Conclusion
Instagram’s integration into Google’s search engine is changing the game for travel companies’ digital strategy. Whether Google will prioritize the competing medium’s content in the long term remains to be seen. However, for brands looking to gain greater visibility and inspire travelers, leveraging Instagram as an SEO tool now seems imperative.
