Search
Close this search box.

The demise of the keyword

Google killed the keyword. They’ve finally put the nail in the keyword coffin, rendering both your Natural and Paid Search reports (keywords and engines) largely useless.

Google has finally put the nail in the keyword coffin, rendering both your Natural and Paid Search reports (keywords and engines) largely useless.  Irrespective of your analytics platform, you will no longer get any keyword data coming from Google – and the other search engines are likely to follow suit.

The latest announcement from Google confirms that the search giant will no longer be sharing search data with marketers.  Last September they stopped sharing Natural search terms for “security reasons” and as of April this year they’re no longer sharing your Paid Search terms.

So, you will now have a gaping hole in your conversion analysis capability.

Brent Dykes, from Adobe, recently published an interesting article about the demise of the keyword, and likens it to “play­ing bas­ket­ball against another team that calls all the fouls and time­outs, con­trols the score­board, and always forces you to play skins”.  I’ll add to that by saying “and then taking their ball with them when they’re losing”.

A frustrating part of all of this in my opinion is the absolute apathy that marketers seem to have towards the changes.  Google wants revenue.  They want you to use Paid Search.  They want you to use their tools.  If marketers did a rolling blackout on their AdWords for a day per month, I wonder if Google would open it up again – because it has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with revenue.

But anyway, there’s my rant.

For Paid Search though, it’s not the end of the world.  You can still get some data coming through if you use the AdWords TrackValue parameters. We’ve been using them for quite some time now, simply put them onto your links and use your s_code to look for those parameters and save the values into eVars.  At least you’ll continue to have some visibility on things.  But, it’s probably only a matter of time before the 5th Estate removes that capability too.

So, best to just ignore your search-based reports now; even to the point of hiding them in your menus.

 

The content and advice contained in this post may be out of date. Last updated on May 1, 2014.

Contact us

to discuss a range of services and support to suit your business needs and goals.

* Required field

Latest Blog Posts

VWO Test

Chief Marking Officers are in a perpetual balancing act, demonstrating ROI from marketing activities under the scrutiny of the Chief Financial Officer.

Read More »

Need Some Help?

We can work onsite or remotely with you and your team to provide capacity uplift or ongoing support as you need.

Need additional MarTech resources to supplement your team for special projects or to provide given expertise?

Data quality and integrity is key to any data strategy. We undertake audits and health checks that can give you peace of mind.

If you know your data could be working harder, but you’re not sure where to start, we can help.

We can help you build dynamic dashboards based on important metrics to fully inform the business.

Is it a CDP or a DMP that is right for your organisation? Let us help you work through the pros and cons.

Let us show you how to bring your online and offline data together to create a best picture of your customers.

Free assessments

Martech Talks: The Four Stages Of Attribution Excellence

This webinar was recorded in October 2023.

Note that the information contained in this presentation should not be taken as legal advice. Digital Balance and its partners recommend that you undertake your own legal investigation.

Martech Talks: Privacy and Data Governance

This webinar was recorded in August 2023.

Note that the information contained in this presentation should not be taken as legal advice. Digital Balance and its partners recommend that you undertake your own legal investigation.

Martech Talks: Privacy Changes and Data Security

This webinar was recorded in July 2023.

 

Note that the information contained in this presentation should not be taken as legal advice. Digital Balance and its partners recommend that you undertake your own legal investigation.