BWMagic’s Internet Marketing Newsletter
Why Is Google “Encrypting” Some Keyword Search Data?
Is This Google’s Boldest Move Against SEO Yet?
Years ago, when I first started with my online websites I
had no clue “whatsoever” about SEO or even keywords for that
matter. But it didn’t take me long before I was daily checking
my traffic logs to find out what “specific” keywords searchers
were using to find my site and webpages.
Naturally, most of my then modest traffic was coming from
Google, so I concentrated all my time on those keywords. I
soon found that visitors using certain keyword phrases clicked
my affiliate links more often than regular traffic… and a
large percentage of those clicks resulted in a sale or lead
for my promoted company.
This one technique is how I have earned my money from the web.
I took those targeted keyword phrases and wrote articles/blog
posts around those keywords to make sure my site or webpage
rank in the top 5 in Google for that phrase – the higher the
better. For long-tail (3 or 4 words) keyword phrases this is
quite easy because usually, no one else is taking the time and
effort to rank for these keywords.
But the “key” to all this working is the search data in my
traffic logs coming from Google. What if Google suddenly
encrypted or kept this data secret? It would be game over
right?
Well, Google has done exactly that – started encrypting
certain keyword search data. At the moment, this encryption
is only being applied to around 10% to 12% of search data –
from those logged in members of Google search.
However, is this just the start of Google eliminating all
keyword tracking and referrer data returned to webmasters?
Google says no, this is just a “privacy issue” related
to their logged-in members. They want to keep those
searches private.
Webmasters, SEOs and marketers are not so sure and doubt
Google will stop at just 10%… mainly because Google
usually rolls out stuff to test the waters before they
dive in completely. Is the same scenario happening here
– could we see the end of keyword tracking?
Even more alarming, Google has stated that their Adwords
customers will still get this keyword data. Now we can
see a much more viable reason Google is eliminating this
data. If marketers/webmasters can’t get this information
from free organic search, paying for this information
via Adwords can be more than economically feasible.
It also makes the Google Adwords program much more
valuable and attractive – remember, this is Google’s
bread and butter flagship. This ship has just become
much more golden.
There is an ongoing debate in the SEO community about
all of this and Google’s true attentions. One of those
places is Neil Shearing’s blog here:
www.neilshearing.com
If you want to find out more about this issue, just
click the link. You can also add your own opinions
and/or views on this topic – which has the possibility
of changing the web forever.
Helping People Succeed Online Since 2002!
Kind Regards,
Titus Hoskins
Did you find the above information helpful? If so, why not
help spread the word – recommend this content by using
the social bookmark sites below. The SEO Gods will Thank You!