Over the last 18 months, Google has slowly been removing keyword data from webmasters’ Analytics. Opinions on the exact reason are all over the map. It started back in 2011 when Google added a feature for users to enable SSL during their searches. At that point, all keyword data was marked as “(not provided)” if a user searched Google while logged into a Google service (Gmail, Hangouts, Youtube, etc.). The volume of “not provided” data has continued to increase ever since. As of last week’s algorithm updates, industry discussions estimate that the amount of “not provided” data will reach 100% in the near future.
What does this mean for you? You will still be able to view all “Non-Paid” traffic volumes, but there will be no keyword details any more as to what keywords drove that volume. We highlighted this as “important” so clients would know that this is an update to Google’s Analytics and it is universal. Any “not provided” data is nothing specific to your website, so no need for alarm. If you’re interested in following a 3rd party site that tracks the “not provided” trend, visit www.notprovidedcount.com.
