Google Making Big Analytics Changes

by jamawebinc

Posted: 11 years ago 21 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Google has announced on its blog that they are making big changes to the data they send to analytics.

Here is what they are changing:

When a signed in user visits your site from an organic Google search, all web analytics services, including Google Analytics, will continue to recognize the visit as Google “organic” search, but will no longer report the query terms that the user searched on to reach your site.

They say they are doing it for privacy concerns of their signed in users, but they add: "This data will be available for non signed in users and CPC results in the search results."

Interesting that they want to protect the privacy of its signed in users, of course if they click a paid for listing, the privacy concern seems to go out the window.

#analytics #big #google #making

Michael Oksa 11 years ago

Why would anybody want to know what keywords a searcher was entering?

Who cares how a site is doing organically?

Is this really a big deal?

Google loves you and promises to only "do good".

Nothing to worry about here marketers.

</deep sarcasm>

This change would make the results from Analytics seriously skewed, if not completely useless.

All the best,
Michael
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Lee Glynn

11 years ago

I have been using Clicky for a long while now. Its a paid program but it allows one free account per email address. Much prefer it to Google analytics.

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squeezecpa

11 years ago

They say its to protect user privacy. If this is the case then why are they allowing pay per click customers to view this data? I can see why people are outraged by this. Makes you wonder what else they have planned.

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autumnsmith

11 years ago

Originally Posted by squeezecpa

I totally agree. Not many are happy with their surprises. perhaps, these changes would have a huge impact to GA users. But people who do not use their service would not really care

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UMS 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Lee Glynn

I have been using Clicky for a long while now. Its a paid program but it allows one free account per email address. Much prefer it to Google analytics.

Very nice, but completely irrelevant to this thread. Clicky will be affected just like any other analytics service/software.
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busybusinessman 11 years ago

This is definitely a bad move. The data that GA provides is very, very useful and tells you a lot of very valuable info about your sites.
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nicelife 11 years ago

This is just horrible ... WTF .... I ******* **** Google
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John Romaine 11 years ago

Google ....."We help protect your privacy, unless of course you're paying us. Then we know you've been searching for adult sex toys and flavoured underwear - and so does everyone else."
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Benjamin Ehinger

11 years ago

I wonder if this has anything to do with Google+ trying to compete with Facebook. Many people don't like the way Facebook handles privacy and this might be one way Google is trying to get an edge.

Benjamin Ehinger

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autumnsmith

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Benjamin Ehinger

We have the same perception towards their action. Organic long tail searches will definitely be affected

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nicelife

11 years ago

Can you imagine how many people are signed in and using e.g GMail?

I don't have any figures, but there must be a huge amount of people.

Thanks Google!!!

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StevenJones

11 years ago

Originally Posted by nicelife

Can you imagine how many people are signed in and using e.g GMail?

I don't have any figures, but there must be a huge amount of people.

Thanks Google!!!

But that's the case. We will lose a lot of important data! Seems like Google didn't think this one through.

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UMS

11 years ago

Originally Posted by StevenJones

But that's the case. We will lose a lot of important data! Seems like Google didn't think this one through.

Google knows full well what it's doing. This decision certainly isn't something they just plucked out of the air.

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Brandon Tanner

11 years ago

Wow... definitely one of the most important stats of an analytics program... and they're doing away with it? Crazy. Guess I'll be looking for another analytics provider now.

Edit: Do you think Google employees will notice their own analytics when the search term "Google Analytics alternative" goes through the roof during the next few months?

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Robert Bleach 11 years ago

This really isn't so much a Google Analytics issue as it is a move by Google to pass its searches through SSL. This means no third party analytics software will have access to the keywords, either.
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KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner

Wow... definitely one of the most important stats of an analytics program... and they're doing away with it? Crazy. Guess I'll be looking for another analytics provider now.

I've looked but haven't found anything else. Do you know of any good analytics alternatives?

Thanks
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Brandon Tanner 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe Ditzel

I've looked but haven't found anything else. Do you know of any good analytics alternatives?

I haven't used any other ones yet (other than Awstats), but this looks like a pretty thorough list...

25 Free Google Analytics Alternatives | Regular Geek
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Venturetothetop 11 years ago

Its simply a data protection compliance farse...

Here is how I see it. Data privacy has become a big issue recently, especially with the latest round of people requesting data from Facebook (by law in the UK/(think whole Europe) they have to send you a cd of all the info they hold on you within 4 weeks of your request) - I have seen many reports of people being suprised by what Facebook holds on them and the fact that nothing was evert deleted. (Many newspapers have commented on this recently)

I also know that a lot of corporate companies expresses a similar concern with Google and that they really know everything about them. So in order to keep their customers content, they no longer 'display' or 'HOLD' (debateable) information about your searches when you sign in.

So now when you request your 'freedom of Information' from Google it will have stopped reporting your every search .... The only people whose searches it does now 'register' are those who are not logged in (and thus apparently not linked to you), and thus no one will see those search stats on their requested reports.

Its simply a data protection compliance farse...
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AlexF 11 years ago

To summarize an important point:

Why "organic" users are being protected while "paid" users are not? Don't they need even more protection?

Ohh wait - protecting the "paid" traffic will cause Google to loose some $$ while protecting the "organic" will just incredibly hurt all the Analytics tool ; SEO industry ; webmasters ; and basically everyone who owns a website...
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kennykjtan 11 years ago

Google is the big brother. we just have to accept. they must be up to something. I just hate them!!!
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ONEWOLF 11 years ago

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