Google Analytics Keyword (Not Provided)

The great thing about running an internet business is the amount of data that can be collected and analysed. The significant amount of data that you can gather on your customers helps targeting your content easier than ever. This leads to a much bigger ROI.

If you are using Google Analytics then you might have noticed the keyword (not provided). Obviously this is not ideal as for a website business. For years, this has been the foundation of marketing campaigns and developing content.

How it works

Google has made several announcements, with the aim being to try and help make search more secure.

Around 10% of searchers were likely to have their keyword data shielded. Of course, since these announcements, the popularity surrounding Google’s services has increased, meaning that for most, it will be much higher than 10%. The percentage is likely to be much higher for those websites that have technically savvy visitors as they are more likely to use Google’s services.

Essentially, any time a user is logged into Google’s services, the search results will appear in Analytics as (not provided). Any visitor using an https connection will also show as (not provided); through the FireFox browser for instance.

Google’s services include, but are not limited to:

• Gmail
• AdWords
• Google+
• Reader
• Analytics

Searches now utilise SSL encryption, which means that no data can be stored. You can learn more about the change here.

Obviously this is not something that marketing companies or their clients are pleased about. The move was designed to improve security; however, AdWords users will still have full access to their data.

What can you do?

If your Google Analytics keyword (not provided) is particularly high, then you might be struggling to re-organise your marketing efforts. After all, how can you improve your content without know who is coming from where and what they want?

Avinash Kaushik Wrote a great post here that is certainly worth reading; it goes hand in hand with this post here.