
Adwords’ Keyword Tool replacement story - lauren_redgrave
http://growthhacker.am/post/59670896552/the-big-g-is-hiding-data-again-adwords-keyword-tool
======
costapopescu
Well its not that bad, as I first thought. Here is what I know from playing
with new tool for some time:

1\. How can I see the exact match search volume? - The search number you see
is actually exact match.

2\. But why are the exact match search volumes higher/lower than those in the
old keyword tool? - Because KW Tool was showing the search volumes in the
current month. KW Planner calculates the average per year, so that's why the
numbers are different.

3\. Well, but it doesn't show the local search volume! - It does show ONLY
local search volume of the country you selected in targeting. If you want to
see global search statistics, then change targeting to all countries.

4\. But but... it doesn't show search trends! - Yeah it does, just hover your
mouse over that small graph icon right of the keyword. These new search trends
are actually far more better, cause you can see exact names of the months.

~~~
rockdiesel
Regarding #2, I don't ever recall Google giving current month's search volume
data in the old keyword tool. As far as I know, they showed a rolling 12-month
average which was usually 1-2 months behind. If you wanted numbers at the
monthly level, then you would have to export your results to get the monthly
breakdown. Even then, the export didn't include the current month's data. For
example, if I exported some keyword data in July it would only show me up to
May.

Also, the reason I found search volume data differing between old KW tool and
new KW planner is because Google now lumps all device types into one number.
Previously, they defaulted to Desktop and Laptop only, so you'd have to change
your filters to get Mobile. Now they lump Desktop, Laptop, and Mobile into one
number which accounts for the higher search volumes in the current tool.

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andrenotgiant
Anyone complaining about how the tool got worse is not using it to improve
their AdWords Paid Search campaigns, they are using it to scrape out keyword
demand data for SEO.

Don't try and lump this in with legitimate Google complaints.

~~~
JDDunn9
Why do you think paid search campaigns don't need more detailed data? Why do
you seem to think SEOs shouldn't get data?

~~~
krelian
>Why do you seem to think SEOs shouldn't get data?

Because they pollute the real results. If you write your content for search
engines and not for users then it's bad content.

~~~
JDDunn9
You've been drinking the Google kool-aid. Google has always been the primary
financier of web spam on the Internet. They knowingly profit from Adsense on
spam sites. If they wanted to, they could end web-spam over night by banning
Adsense accounts for spamming.

SEO is just another form of marketing. It is no more/less legitimate than PPC
campaigns. In fact, PPC ads are far worse because Google does little to police
them. As long as Google makes money, they don't care if you scam users. That's
why they paid half a billion dollars in a settlement to the FTC for knowingly
selling illegal pharmaceutical ads.

~~~
elorant
Like it is that simple. There are millions of adsense accounts. You can't hand
pick everyone. Penguin 2.0 was supposed to hurt spam sites and judging by the
fuss it created in Blackhat SEO sites it succeeded a lot.

~~~
JDDunn9
They hand pick spam sites and remove them every day... There is an entire
department dedicated to detecting spam.

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pkorzeniewski
I'm quite confused with the new Planner - when I searched for a specific
keyword in the old Keywords Tool it gave me around 40k global searches, but
when I searched for the same keyword in the new Planner, it shows 10 (ten)
global searches. I don't get it, there is some new algorithm or maybe the new
Planner just doesn't have all the data yet?

~~~
andrenotgiant
The old tool defaulted to BROAD match, meaning you might get something like
this:

phone - 1,200,000 home phone - 36,000

you would get really high numbers because people are searching for smart
phone, mobile phone, landline phone, phone bill, et cetera and those are all
counted under phone. Also, if you SUMMED the two keywords, you were actually
double counting because home phone is already included in phone's count.

Google decided that this defaulting to BROAD match was causing confusion and
double counting for people who didn't understand match types, so now when you
get something like:

phone - 10,000 home phone - 12,000

because a lot less people just type phone or home phone.

More Detail:
[https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3141229](https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3141229)

------
luscious
"Growth Hacking": It's not SEO sliminess, we swear.

------
prawn
And where before it was public, now it's only viewable when logged into an
AdWords account. I used to refer clients to it for keyword inspiration when
writing content for SEO purposes, but this is no longer an option.

~~~
lauren_redgrave
Sadly. I also liked this option. I wonder how much it will affect people
dealing with SEO.

~~~
edfryed
It's irritating for losing query volume, but it became harder and harder to
generate good ideas in the past few years.

Using tools like UberSuggest (ubersuggest.org) which runs off Google Suggest,
or pulling from Google itself
([http://clients1.google.com/complete/search?hl=en&output=tool...](http://clients1.google.com/complete/search?hl=en&output=toolbar&q=keyword%20research))
is better.

Since Suggest is for users, and it shows the most popular, you can cream off
suggested queries which _may_ be based on query volumes. It's relative, but
it'll do for now :)

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dylukes
So, on the topic of the (not provided) "data hiding" and now this... if it's
just because of users using secure search, is this really as big of a travesty
or a problem as its made out to be?

To me it looks like SEO/Marketing folk acting like it's the end of the world
that 50% of clickthroughs are (not provided). And for them, it may be bad as
they like having that data (which they certainly didn't have a little over a
decade ago).

On the other hand though, if I'm using Google secure search, as a user, this
seems like behavior that benefits me privacy-wise.

Am I missing some aspect here?

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bengrunfeld
The search button says it all - "Get Ideas", not "Get Info". You can't even
choose Broad, Phrase, or Exact. This is a shocking tool. I feel that in
addition to its philandering with the NSA, Google is abandoning every
principle it once stood for.

~~~
Karunamon
Oh, look. Google changed a service and now they're "abandoning every principle
it once stood for".

Which has been said by someone, somewhere, (or some variation) for literally
every service change Google has ever done. Stop it. You're adding nothing.

And they are not "philandering" with the NSA. They are subject to NSL's just
like everyone else.

~~~
bengrunfeld
Couldn't disagree more.

Google won over developers in the beginning because they provided information
on search, essentially making the SEO business possible.

Hiding information is a increasingly popular trend that SysAdmin's, above
other people, should be wary and distrustful of.

If you vehemently demand that Google (or any other company) has absolutely no
obligation to its community, then don't be surprised when you're left with
absolutely nothing.

What next? You're going to demand that banks increase fees for the fun of it?

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Killah911
What are the alternative? We couldn't have all been so complacent that there
aren't any good keyword tool alternative is there? Perhaps, it's time for a
google scrapper? If google won't give you the data, maybe it can be inferred?

~~~
eli
scrape it from where? That tool is the only real souce for how many local
people are searching for a keyword

~~~
carlospox
Exactly. Twas the only place I know to scrape from.

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bengrunfeld
Google's post on the issue:
[https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3141229](https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3141229)

It reads like "We're screwing you, so deal with it."

------
coin
-1 for disabling zoom on mobile devices

