Google no longer passes the search terms visitors used to get to your site…in some situations. So how can you know what’s working in your SEO efforts if the keywords are “not provided?” You’ll leave this session knowing the implications of this very recent Google change and tactics for coping.

1. Life in a [Not Provided] World
Nathan Safran
Director of Research
Conductor, Inc.

2. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL1
What is [Not Provided]?
For users who are logged-in to Google services
(search, Gmail, Youtube…), search on Google.com & click
on a search result, Google no longer passes the
search term to the destination site

3. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL2
The Result: Search Marketers Lose Keyword Data

4. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL3
Agenda
The Five Stages of [Not Provided] Grief
The [Not Provided] Landscape
Google ‘Logged-In’ User Behavior

5. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL4
The Goal for Today
• How Big of an Impact is [Not Provided] Having?
• What Can We Expect to See Going Forward?
• How do I Deal with [Not Provided] from a Tactical Perspective?

6. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL5
The Five Stages of [Not Provided] Grief
Google ‘Logged-In’ User Behavior
The [Not Provided] Landscape

7. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL6
The Five Stages of [Not Provided] Grief
Grief is a multi-
faceted response to
loss, particularly to
the loss of someone
or something to
which a bond was
formed
-Wikipedia

8. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL7
The Five Stages of [Not Provided] Grief

9. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL8
Denial
“HI, GOOGLE? SOMETHING APPEARS TO BE
WRONG WITH GOOGLE ANALYTICS”

10. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL9
Anger
“Be willing to feel your anger, even though it may seem endless.”
-Grief.com

11. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL10
Bargaining

12. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL11
Depression
Drowning our [not provided] sorrows….
Source: iruntheinternet.com

13. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL12
Acceptance

14. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL13
Survey Info

15. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL14
The [Not Provided] Landscape
The Five Stages of [Not Provided] Grief
Google ‘Logged-In’ User Behavior

16. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL15
[Not Provided] Q’s We Wanted to Address
• Given the Time Since the Landscape First Changed (End Oct ’11),
Where Are We Now?
• Are There Differences in [Not Provided] on an Industry Basis?
• Are There Differences in [Not Provided] Based on Site Traffic?
• Logged-In vs. Not Logged In Visitor Site Engagement?
• Logged-In vs. Not Logged In Conversion Rates?

17. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL16
[Not Provided] Traffic Analysis
• Week over Week Oct 19--Feb 7
• % of Google Organic Traffic That is [Not Provided]
• 25 Major Sites (5 per industry):
– Education
– Online Retail
– Banking
– Enterprise Technology
– Travel
• More than 51M Natural Search Visits Analyzed

18. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
[Not Provided] Averaging 14%-16% of Google Search
Traffic
CONFIDENTIAL17
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
[Not Provided] by Industry
Education
Online Retail
Banking
Enterprise Tech
Travel
Total
Last 4 Week Range
(Jan. 7- Feb 7)
Education: 15%-16%
Online Retail: 10%-13%
Banking: 22%-24%
Enterprise Tech: 18%
Travel: 14%-16%
Total (Avg): 16%-17%
Mostly leveled
out in mid-Nov.
25 Sites
51M Visits

19. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
Little Difference Between On-Site Behavior for Logged-In
vs. Not-Logged Visitors
CONFIDENTIAL18
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
November December January February
Time-on-Site
(not provided)
Google Natural
Search
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
November December January February
Bounce Rate
(not provided)
Google Natural
Search
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
November December January February
Conversion Rate
(not provided)
Google Natural
SearchLogged-in users
bouncing slightly
less

20. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL19
Google ‘Logged-In’ User Behavior
The [Not Provided] Landscape
The Five Stages of [Not Provided] Grief

21. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL20
Survey Info
• Data Gathered Feb 2012 via web-survey
• 750 Respondents
• 18+ Years Old
• Based in the USA

22. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
Even Gender Split
CONFIDENTIAL21
Male
50%
Female
50%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
“what is your gender?“

23. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL22
Survey Sample Demographics
• 55% of Respondents 29 or Younger
• 7 out of 10 Respondents Spend 20 or More Hours per Week
Online
• 7 out of 10 Respondents Make 16 or More Web Searches per
Week

24. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
1-2
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
41% of Respondents Make 3+ Online Purchases per Month
CONFIDENTIAL23
25%
3-4
9%
None
50%
6%
7+
10%
5-6
“How many online purchases do you make per month“

25. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
Yes
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
9 out of 10 Respondents Have a Google Account
CONFIDENTIAL24
3%
I Don’t
Know
90%
7%
No
“Do you have a Google account?“

26. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
Use Gmail
via the web
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
6 out of 10 Users Use Gmail.com as Their Primary e-mail
25
36%
Don’t Use
Gmail
7%
Use Gmail via
Other Program
57%
“When you access your email on your PC, what method
do you primarily use“

27. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
100% of
the time
Half of users logged-in to Google At Least 75% of the Time
They Spend Surfing the Web
26
25%
75% of
the time
Never
27%
25% of the
time
50% of the
time
15%
17% 17%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0
“What percentage of the time would you estimate you
spend surfing the web logged in to Google? “
Half of users logged-in
50% of the time or less
Half of users logged-in
75% of the time or more

28. How is it Trending?
Google publicly states that this change will impact ~ 10% of Users
Google US Searchers Jan
2012
Logged
In
Not
Logged
In
Google US Searches Jan
2012
Logged
In
Not
Logged
In
42%
58%
30%
70%

29. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
100
percent
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0
75
percent
50
percent
25
percent
Never
6 out of 10 Heavy Online Purchasers Logged-In 75%+ of
the Time
CONFIDENTIAL28
1-2
Purchases
per Month
3-4
Purchase
s per
Month
5 or more
Purchases
per Month
25%
28%
35%
25%
26%
25%
14%
18%
14%
19%
13%
16%
17%
15%
10%
“What percentage of the time would you estimate you
spend surfing the web logged in to Google? “
60% of users who make 5+
purchases per month logged-
in ¾ of the time or more
37% of users who make 1-2
purchases per month logged-
in ¼ of the time or less

30. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
100
percent
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0
75
percent
50
percent
25
percent
Never
Logged-In Behavior by Time Online
CONFIDENTIAL29
1-9 hours
per week
10-19
hours per
week
20 or more
hours per
week14%
23%
30%
23%
25%
28%
19%
13%
19%
21%
15%
9%
14%
18%
30%
“What percentage of the time would you estimate you
spend surfing the web logged in to Google? “
For many heavy
internet users, Google
is sticky… (55%)
…but other heavy users
might be avoiding it
(33%)

31. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
Not Impact
Me
“With their recent launch of Search Plus Your World, Google announced their intention to
merge user data across their products and services. How, if at all, will this change impact
your being logged in to Google services?”
CONFIDENTIAL30
19%
Reduce
10%
I Don’t have
a Google
Account
57%
14 %
Log Out
Completely
1/3rd of Users Intend to Reduce the Time They Spend
Logged-in Due to Privacy Concerns
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
33% intend to log-out
completely, or reduce the
time they spend logged in…
…OR…nearly 6 out of 10 will
NOT change their logged-in
behavior
The Google sticky
effect?

32. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL31
Conclusions
• Google Services Are Sticky; [Not Provided]=here for the Forseeable
Future
• Acceptance: Find out As Much As You Can About What You are Losing
• Leverage Best of Class Tactics to Make the Most of Imperfect
Information

33. Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest
CONFIDENTIAL32
Thank You!
Twitter:
@Conductor
@Nathan_Safran
Email: nsafran@conductor.com
Stay Tuned to the Conductor Blog for
More [Not Provided] Data:
conductor.com/blog
Download Today’s Slide Deck:
conductor.com/smxwest