Over the past couple of years, internet marketers and website owners alike have been increasingly frustrated with the growth of (not provided) keywords in Analytics.
Today, that growth turned into a full-grown tumour. Google has completely switched it’s search protocol to https:// by default, meaning keywords will no longer available to track organically.
Conveniently enough, the only keywords you still have access to are those from AdWords.
“We added SSL encryption for our signed-in search users in 2011, as well as searches from the Chrome omnibox earlier this year,” a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Watch. “We’re now working to bring this extra protection to more users who are not signed in.“
The move has been slammed, with speculated motivations ranging from genuine security concerns to simply trying to drive more webmasters to use AdWords.
Marketers and webmasters alike are scrambling to find the next best solution for offering keyword-hungry clients accurate SEO results. Stay tuned for our follow up post on how we will personally be managing our client reporting in light of the new switch to secure search.
