# Compare Web, Image, Video and News search performance

> Tier: recipe. Operating recipe: real tool sequence, core rules, known traps.

The per-surface comparison: Web against Image against Video, with the surprises named.

**Intent.** Which search surfaces carry the site, and which are untapped.

## When to use

- Quarterly.
- Visual-inventory sites wondering about Image.

## When not to use

- No specific contraindication beyond the preconditions below.

## Sources

Required: Search Console

## Preconditions

- The account is ticked in the dashboard, confirmed via list_accounts.

## Inputs

- `window`: Analysis window. Default: last 30 days.

## Procedure

1. Compare search types over the window. — tools: `gsc_compare_search_types`
2. Rank surfaces by clicks and note anomalies.

## Decision rules

- **When** Image search carries real clicks for a commerce site → **conclude** Image optimisation is a channel, not a chore: size it.

## Evidence requirements

- Every figure carries its account, metric and window.
- Anything below a readable sample size is reported as unjudged, not as zero.

## Human approval boundary

- The readout changes nothing. Any change it motivates goes through Safe Writes: preview, human confirmation, then apply.

## Failure modes

- Surfaces have different freshness lags: compare like windows.

## Output

- **Readout**: The figures, with windows and accounts named.
- **Flags**: What deserves a deeper skill or a human decision.