WebProNews

Tag: Not Provided

  • ‘Not Provided’ To Expand As Bing Encrypts Search Data

    ‘Not Provided’ To Expand As Bing Encrypts Search Data

    Microsoft announced that Bing will start encrypting search traffic by default meaning that like much of your Google traffic in Google Analytics, you’ll start seeing “not provided” for query data from Bing.

    Google started doing this back in 2011. It’s a little surprising that Bing has taken this long to follow suit, but they’re doing so now nevertheless. Bing’s Duane Forrester says in a blog post:

    At Microsoft, we’re committed to helping users keep their data safe and secure. That’s why we support the industry’s move to use of TLS protocols as part of our effort to expand encryption across our networks and services. Bing has already been offering users the option to encrypt search traffic for about a year and a half now. Beginning this summer, we will begin the process of encrypting search traffic by default. This means that traffic originating from Bing will increasingly come from https://www.bing.com as opposed to http://www.bing.com.

    With the move to encrypted search by default we will continue to pass along a referrer string so that marketers and webmasters will be able to identify traffic as coming from Bing. However, to further protect our users’ privacy, we will not include the used query terms.

    Unless you get the majority of your search traffic from Bing, this probably won’t affect you too badly as you’re probably already used to it from Google. If you do get most of your search traffic from Bing, have fun.

    Microsoft says it will still provide some limited query term data through its Search Query Terms Report, Universal Event Tracking, and Bing Webmaster Tools.

    Image via Bing

  • Is Google’s Paid Search Query Removal Worth Panicking About?

    Google announced that it is extending its secure search efforts to paid search, and that it will remove queries from referers on ad clicks originating from SSL searches on Google.com. In other words, the reason you’ve been seeing keywords “not provided” in Google Analytics now applies to Google ads.

    What do you think of Google’s decision to extend this to paid search? Let us know in the comments.

    A previous report had indicated that Google would eliminate data for third-parties, but as Larry Kim of Wordstream points out, paid seach query data “is not dead.”

    “Stop panicking,” he writes. “Google has been cracking down on who can access search query data for several years now in a few ways – enforcing terms of service on how the data may be used, and limiting access to a smaller number of third-party vendors who implement a required minimum functionality (RMF). Basically, in order to have access to the query data, you need to be a legit software company that has built a functioning AdWords management platform. If you were an SEO agency that used to have an AdWords API token, it’s probably been shut down over the last few years, and if it hasn’t already been shut down, it won’t last long. If Google was going to stop providing this data to all 3rd parties, then that would be new/surprising.”

    “Legit third-party AdWords management platforms (like WordStream, Marin, etc.) will continue to function as normal,” he adds. “Also, if you just use AdWords and no third-party platform, nothing has changed there either. Let’s not overstate the impact of this announcement.”

    So what did Google actually announce?

    “Advertisers will continue to have access to useful data to optimize and improve their campaigns and landing pages,” writes AdWords product management director Paul Feng. “For example, you can access detailed information in the AdWords search terms report and the Google Webmaster Tools Search Queries report.”

    “The AdWords search terms report (previously known as the search query performance report) lets you see search queries that generated ad clicks along with key performance data,” he adds. “And the Search Queries report available in Google Webmaster Tools provides aggregate information about the top 2000 queries, each day, that generated organic clicks.”

    For those using the query in the referer for generating reports or automated keyword management, Google now suggests using the AdWords API Search Query Performance Report or the AdWords Scripts Report Service.

    For those using the query in the referer for customizing landing pages, Google is suggesting using the keyword that generated the ad click rather than the query. The Keyword and match type, it notes, can be passed to your web server by using a ValueTrack parameter in your destination URLs.

    “We understand that some partners may need to make changes to their systems and operations, but we think that this is the right path forward for the security of our users searching on Google.com,” says Feng.

    It’s interesting that it has taken this long for Google to determine that this was the right path considering that Google started doing this with organic search like three years ago. Back in 2011, when Google rolled out secure search as the default for signed-in users, product manager Evelyn Kao wrote:

    What does this mean for sites that receive clicks from Google search results? When you search from https://www.google.com, websites you visit from our organic search listings will still know that you came from Google, but won’t receive information about each individual query. They can also receive an aggregated list of the top 1,000 search queries that drove traffic to their site for each of the past 30 days through Google Webmaster Tools. This information helps webmasters keep more accurate statistics about their user traffic. If you choose to click on an ad appearing on our search results page, your browser will continue to send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and to improve the ads and offers they present to you.

    The company has often been criticized for an apparent double standard when it comes to secure search. It has always maintained that the changes were made to protect the privacy of users, but when people were paying for that information, well, that was different.

    Google actually hinted that such a change was on the horizon last month when Amit Singhal spoke at the Search Marketing Expo:

    He didn’t really help us to understand why Google has changed its mind, but he did acknowledge that the search ands ads teams had been talking to one another about the subject.

    Back in the fall, we looked at data from NotProvidedCount.com, which saw the rise of “not provided” queries for sixty sites at about 74%, on a steady increase:

    It’s risen even further since then. As of the time of this writing, it’s at over 80%.

    As far as paid search goes, it sounds like marketers, for the most part, aren’t panicking too much.

    “This impacts mostly those who don’t use those tools [those suggested by Google above] or who relied on basic Google Analytics and/or old fashion technology,” writes Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable.

    “It just means that people will have to start doing what they should have been doing all along,” writes Ryan Jones in a comment on a Search Engine Land post.

    Do you agree? Is Google making the right move by removing queries from referers on ad clicks? Let us know in the comments.

    Note: This article has been updated in light of further discussion.

    Image via NotProvidedCount.com

  • Google Reportedly Expanding ‘Not Provided’ To 3rd-Party Paid Search

    Update: OK, this just happened.

    Last month at the Search Engine Marketing Expo (West), Google’s Singhal said there would soon be an announcement related to changes with the controversial “not provided” issue.

    Google implemented secure search a few years ago, and by doing so, stopped providing publishers with keywords searchers use to find pages on their sites. It has, however, continued to show such data to advertisers, which is one of the controversial parts. The apparent double standard has often been brought up by members of the SEO industry, but historically Google has pretty much brushed it off.

    Singhal didn’t specify what Google would be announcing, but his words seemed to suggest that getting rid of the data for advertisers may have been the news.

    Now, reports are coming out that Google is taking the paid search data away from third-parties. A.J. Ghergich (via Search Engine Journal) says Google will cease supplying 3rd parties with paid search query data, but that reports within AdWords will remain unaffected.

    “This will also have an affect on website analytics packages but we’ve not yet heard about anything with Google Analytics,” he writes. “Services that use this query data may have no way to access it anymore.”

    He says that his sources received a notice about the change directly from Google, and that he has read the document himself. The change, he says, is expected in the next few weeks.

    If this is really all Singhal was talking about, it’s not going to do much to curb criticism over the double standard accusations. Google has maintained that the switch to not provided is about user privacy, but has continued to give it to those willing to pay.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google: Expect Announcement Related To ‘Not Provided’

    Google’s Amit Singhal had a discussion with Danny Sullivan on stage at SMX West on Tuesday evening. Danny has now shared a section of that (above) in which the controversial “not provided” subject comes up. Singhal says there may soon be an announcement related to some changes with that – specifically with how Google is currently handling this for organic vs. paid search.

    In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, Google implemented secure search a few years ago, and by doing so, it no longer provided publishers with the keywords searchers were using to find pages for those using it. It has, however, continued to show this data to advertisers.

    This fact has been brought up repeatedly (often by Sullivan), but Google hasn’t had a lot to say for itself, which is why these new comments from Singhal are pretty interesting. He said (via Sullivan):

    Over a period of time, we [Google’s search and ad sides] have been looking at this issue…. we’re also hearing from our users that they would want their searches to be secure … it’s really important to the users. We really like the way things have gone on the organic side of search.

    I have nothing to announce right now, but in the coming weeks and months as [we] find the right solution, expect something to come out.

    Just what “comes out” remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely that publishers will be getting those keywords back. More likely is that advertisers will lose the data.

    Image via YouTube

  • Yahoo Search Is Now Encrypted By Default

    Yahoo Search Is Now Encrypted By Default

    Yahoo has switched to secure search by default, meaning that the search traffic your analytics program is painting for you is even less complete than it already was.

    As you may recall, Google made this move a couple years ago for signed in users, and expanded it to even those who aren’t signed in last year. While good for consumers in that it makes their searching habits more private, it’s not so good for marketers, as the bulk of their Google referrals started being displayed with keywords “not provided”. It is no longer clear what search terms your visitors are using to find your pages, at least through Analytics. Google has continued to provide this information to advertisers and through Webmaster Tools.

    According to Danny Sullivan at MarketingLand, Yahoo’s version, doesn’t only hide the actual keywords searchers are using, but it disguises the referrals you get from Yahoo searches as “direct” traffic. In other words, you don’t even know that you’re getting Yahoo traffic.

    CEO Marissa Mayer announced in November that Yahoo would encrypt all information that moves between its data centers by the end of Q1. It turned on SSL/HTTPS encryption for Yahoo Mail earlier this month.

    Bing has also been messing around with secure search, though not to the extent of Google or Yahoo. Last week, news came out that Bing has made the option available, but has not enabled it as the default.

    Yahoo’s default secure search is apparently still in the process of rolling out.

    Image via Yahoo

  • Google Cranks Up ‘Not Provided’ Keywords, Says Ads Aren’t The Reason

    It looks like the percentage of keywords that are listed as “not provided” in your Google Analytics account is going to keep going up, as Google is reportedly moving to switch all users to secure search regardless of whether or not they’re signed in.

    Have you noticed an increase in the amount of keywords that are labeled as not provided? Let us know in the comments.

    As I’m sure you’ll recall, Google launched SSL Search on Google.com as the default for signed in users about two years ago, claiming it was a move to protect user privacy. This had an unfortunate side effect for webmasters, as it means that those searching with this experience do not have any keyword data to contribute. Google masks the search terms these people use under the “Not Provided” label, and for a lot of sites, this tends to account for the majority of their search traffic.

    Google still provides this kind of data in AdWords, however, and is often criticized for doing so. Some don’t believe Google’s more honorable sounding privacy reasoning, but rather that Google is simply doing this to increase its own revenue.

    In the early days of the feature, the percentage of queries labeled not provided was supposed to be somewhere around 1%. Reports shortly thereafter had it closer to 8%, with more recent accounts having the number ranging from 40% to 80%. Everyone pretty much seems to agree that the number has been increasing, and it looks like it may increase even more.

    Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land reports that Google is making secure search the default for all Google users, sharing this statement from the company:

    We added SSL encryption for our signed-in search users in 2011, as well as searches from the Chrome omnibox earlier this year. We’re now working to bring this extra protection to more users who are not signed in.

    …

    We want to provide SSL protection to as many users as we can, in as many regions as we can — we added non-signed-in Chrome omnibox searches earlier this year, and more recently other users who aren’t signed in. We’re going to continue expanding our use of SSL in our services because we believe it’s a good thing for users….The motivation here is not to drive the ads side — it’s for our search users.

    ClickConsult has a site called NotProvidedCount.com, which tracks the rise of “not provided” queries for sixty sites, and graphs the average (via Sullivan). There’s also a live counter, which as of the time of this writing is floating around 74%.

    Not Provided Count

    “Grouping a large number of keywords under the banner of (not provided) denies site owners fundamental information about how their site is performing in organic search,” the site says. “The percentage of (not provided) traffic Google is sending your site is steadily rising, and will one day hit 100%.”

    It certainly looks that way based on Google’s statement and the obvious trending increase.

    Google does still provide search terms in Webmaster Central, but as Sullivan noted in a recent article, it’s not great for historical data, though Google is increasing the timeframe. Historical data is not an issue in AdWords.

    Regardless of Google’s motive for moving to a full-on encrypted search experience for all users, it’s going to mean that keyword data in Google Analytics is going to become obsolete at worst, and much less helpful at best.

    This also comes after Google killed its popular Keyword Tool to get people to use its newer Keyword Planner product. A lot of webmasters/SEOs have been pretty perturbed by that too.

    A recent report from MarketLive found that merchants saw “significant changes” in the mix of paid/organic traffic. Paid search visits made up about a third of total search engine visits (up from 26% the previous year). Search visit growth slowed in the first six months of the year, but paid was up 30% while organic was down 3%.

    Do you think the “not provided” percentages will hit 100%? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Image: NotProvidedCount.com

  • The Google ‘Not Provided’ Problem Isn’t Getting Any Better

    About two years ago, Google launched SSL Search on Google.com as the default for signed in users, as a measure to protect user privacy. This encrypted search meant not providing keyword search data through analytics to websites that these users visited. As a webmaster, you would see that you were getting this traffic from Google, but the keywords would be unknown, as Google would label this traffic “Not Provided”.

    Yes, the dreaded “not provided” continues to this day to be a hot button issue in the SEO and online marketing community. It’s complicated by the fact that you can still see such data in AdWords. People have been accusing Google of doing this to increase its own revenue since the move was made that October of 2011.

    Do you think Google is doing this to increase its own revenue or is it really about privacy? Share your thoughts.

    Search industry vet Danny Sullivan has brought the discussion back to the forefront with an article about what he believes Google’s intentions to be, but what it looks like to everyone else.

    It seems to pretty much an industry consensus that the “not provided” percentages are increasing. They had already increased significantly a month after Google made the changes. Initially, the percentage was supposedly around less than 1%, before jumping to something like 8% the following month. More recently, it’s looking like above 40% for some industries and over 50% for tech sites.

    As I write this, about 80% of our own real-time Google traffic is coming from keywords that are “not provided”.

    Sullivan reminds us that Google provides search terms to publishers through Webmaster Central, and of course to advertisers, and that Google recently announced the Paid & Organic report for AdWords.

    We talked about this here. This was aimed at helping businesses get more out of their paid and organic search campaigns by offering new comparison options.

    “Previously, most search reports showed paid and organic performance separately, without any insights on user behavior when they overlap,” says AdWords product manager Dan Friedman. “The new paid & organic report is the first to let you see and compare your performance for a query when you have either an ad, an organic listing, or both appearing on the search results page.”

    Google suggests using the report to discover potential keywords to add to your AdWords accounts.

    “You’ll see your top terms, sortable by clicks, queries and other ways,” Sullivan writes. “The good news is that you don’t have to be a paying AdWords customer to do this. You just need an AdWords account. The bad news is that feels wrong that Google is forcing publishers into its ad interface to get information about their ‘non-paid’ listings. It also suggests an attempt to upsell people on the idea of buying AdWords, if they aren’t already.”

    “I don’t believe things were orchestrated this way, with terms being withheld to push AdWords. I really don’t,” he adds. “I think the search team that wanted to encrypt and strip referrer information had the best intentions, that it really did believe sensitive information could be in referrer data (and it can) and sought to protect this. I think AdWords continued to transmit it because ultimately, the search team couldn’t veto that department’s decision. But regardless of the intentions, the end result looks bad.”

    It does look bad, and a lot of webmasters are not buying it. If they weren’t buying it in the first place, they’re certainly not buying it at this point as the “not provided” percentages have increased, and Google has made it harder and harder for webmasters to use keyword data to their advantage. They recently killed the Keyword Tool, which was also a disappointment to many.

    If this has all been about increasing Google’s revenue, it might be working. We recently looked at a MarketLive report finding that its merchants saw “significant changes” in the mix of paid/organic traffic. Paid search visits made up about a third of total search engine visits (up from 26% the previous year). Search visit growth slowed in the first six months of the year, but paid was up 30% while organic was down 3%.

    We know that Google is clearly trying to move further away from keywords in terms of how it delivers its results, and more and more of what Google is showing users is coming from its own results (Knowledge Graph, Maps, etc.).

    Matt Cutts recently had some interesting things to say about Google trying to extract the “gist” of queries. He was specifically responding to a question about voice search, but Google clearly wants to get to the root of what people are searching for regardless of what input method they’re using, and that means exact keywords will continue to decrease in significance, at least for certain types of queries.

    As Sullivan notes, some fear we’re headed for a “100% not provided” future, but as Google itself moves away from keyword dependence, how much will it matter in the long run?

    Have you noticed the “not provided” percentage increase for your own site? Has it affected your organic/paid search mix? Let us know in the comments.

    Image: Google Analytics