The day many SEO professionals hoped would never approach but feared finally would, apparently has arrived today. It appears that Google has cut off keyword data altogether.
Almost two years after making one of the biggest changes to secure search that resulted in a steady rise in "(not provided)" data, Google has switched all searches over to encrypted searches using HTTPS. This means no more keyword data will be approved to site owners.
Encrypted Google searches don't pass the keyword data through to websites, thereby eliminating the capability to track users by their keyword searches. The biggest impact for many site owners has been not being able to section users by keywords within their web analytics software.
To publish any purpose of Google's motives for this move would be pure the
ory. Not wanting to feed the rumor mill or feed any false theory, Search Engine Watch has reached out to Google for a comment.
When encrypted search initially launched in May 2010, Google to begin with had encrypted search on a separate URL. A year soon, in late 2011, Google started redirecting all U.S. users who were signed into their Google Accounts to the encrypted version at https://google.com. This led to the now-infamous "(not provided)" row in keywords data in Google Analytics and other web traffic software packages.
When questioned, Cutts was quick to answer that it was estimated that the amount of "(not provided)" visits "even at full roll-out ... would still be in the single-digit percentages of all Google searchers on Google.com."
As time rolled on, the conversion to encrypted search extended globally to all signed-in users then even further to include default searching in Firefox
Just last month, BrightEdge released a study fining the proportion of "(not provided)" data was over 50% for some industries.
There are methods around determining "(not provided)" data via Webmaster Tools. While the method isn't foolproof, it can be useful to determine trends.
At this point, it seems even when you aren't logged in, using private browsing (or incognito mode) and by force type HTTP://www.google.com, you are being redirected to the HTTPS version, thereby encrypting your search and no doubt leading to a total removal of keyword data – at slightest from Google search visitors. Remember, keyword data from other search engines – like Bing, for example – still send keyword data through.
If you're a practitioner, how will you be adjusting your strategies and practices? How will you begin the chat with your clients? Sound off in the comments. We'll have reactions and more reporting as this story develops.
Almost two years after making one of the biggest changes to secure search that resulted in a steady rise in "(not provided)" data, Google has switched all searches over to encrypted searches using HTTPS. This means no more keyword data will be approved to site owners.
Encrypted Google searches don't pass the keyword data through to websites, thereby eliminating the capability to track users by their keyword searches. The biggest impact for many site owners has been not being able to section users by keywords within their web analytics software.
To publish any purpose of Google's motives for this move would be pure the
ory. Not wanting to feed the rumor mill or feed any false theory, Search Engine Watch has reached out to Google for a comment.
When encrypted search initially launched in May 2010, Google to begin with had encrypted search on a separate URL. A year soon, in late 2011, Google started redirecting all U.S. users who were signed into their Google Accounts to the encrypted version at https://google.com. This led to the now-infamous "(not provided)" row in keywords data in Google Analytics and other web traffic software packages.
When questioned, Cutts was quick to answer that it was estimated that the amount of "(not provided)" visits "even at full roll-out ... would still be in the single-digit percentages of all Google searchers on Google.com."
As time rolled on, the conversion to encrypted search extended globally to all signed-in users then even further to include default searching in Firefox
Just last month, BrightEdge released a study fining the proportion of "(not provided)" data was over 50% for some industries.
There are methods around determining "(not provided)" data via Webmaster Tools. While the method isn't foolproof, it can be useful to determine trends.
At this point, it seems even when you aren't logged in, using private browsing (or incognito mode) and by force type HTTP://www.google.com, you are being redirected to the HTTPS version, thereby encrypting your search and no doubt leading to a total removal of keyword data – at slightest from Google search visitors. Remember, keyword data from other search engines – like Bing, for example – still send keyword data through.
If you're a practitioner, how will you be adjusting your strategies and practices? How will you begin the chat with your clients? Sound off in the comments. We'll have reactions and more reporting as this story develops.
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