Annotations in Search Console help you understand changes in your data by providing context on your charts. There are two types of annotations:
- System annotations: Automatically generated by Search Console to show issues with data processing and reporting.
- Custom annotations: Notes you create yourself to mark important events specific to your property, such as when you launch a new feature, or fix a bug on your website.
Annotations appear directly on your charts for a specific date. You'll see them regardless of what filters you apply, but they won't show up in comparison mode or 24-hour views.
How to add, view, and delete custom annotations
You can add and delete annotations to track your most important events. Annotations are shared across your property, which means any owner or full user of the property can add, view, or delete any annotation. A restricted user will be able to view, but not to add or delete annotations.
To add an annotation
You can have up to 200 annotations on a single property.
- Open the Performance report.
- Right-click the chart on the specific date you want to annotate.
- Select a date using the date picker.
- Type your note in the text field (up to 120 characters).
- Click Add.
To view and/or delete an annotation
Annotations older than 500 days are automatically deleted.
- Click the annotation marker on the chart to see the note.
- Select DELETE in the annotation pop-up window.
- Select Cancel or Delete on the following screen to cancel/confirm.
Editing annotations isn’t currently available.
Best practices to avoid including personally identifiable information in annotations
Annotations are considered identifiable business data and are shared with other users on your property. For this reason, avoid including personally identifiable information like names, phone numbers, or addresses in your annotations.