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Context.

At the end of 2011 Google announced that they would start encrypting searches for logged in users.

What does this mean for sites that receive clicks from Google search results? When you search from Google, websites you visit from our organic search listings will still know that you came from Google, but won't receive information about each individual query.

Reference : Making search more secure, October 18, 2011.

This had the effect of blocking Google Analytics from capturing any keyword data from queries resulting from an encrypted organic search on Google. This resulted in the '(not provided)' keyword being shown in place of the actual query.

Fast forward to the present day - Google have just announced that all search queries from Google Chrome will be sent over SSL.

Today, when users are signed in to Google, Chrome sends their searches from the Chrome address bar (“omnibox”) over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Starting with Chrome 25 (currently in the Dev and Beta channels), we’re doing the same thing for Chrome omnibox searches performed by users who aren’t signed in to Google.

Reference : Google Search in Chrome gets more secure, January 18, 2013.

Question.

Assuming these change progress out of development -- Would this mean that we will not be able to see any organic keyword data resulting from searches from Google in the Chrome browser in Google Analytics?

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  • Is this data not available to advertisers using the keyword tool?
    – Prasad Ajinkya
    Jan 22, 2013 at 16:38
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    @Prasad My question is about the avaliability of keyword information within Google Analytics not the adwords keyword tool.
    – webjames
    Jan 22, 2013 at 17:08

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I don't think there is enough information to know at this point. Simply sending the search queries over SSL does not strip the search query information out automatically (as evidenced by AdWords traffic still showing all referring data). Additionally if you create an advanced segment in google analytics for Google Organic traffic using Firefox browser (which as noted in the article sends via SSL by default) you'll find plenty of keyword info.

My guess is we won't lose it right away, however, long term it seems to be in Google's best interest to stop providing that data, so we'll probably see it quietly rolled out sometime in the future.

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  • Google provides keyword data via Webmaster Tools.
    – DisgruntledGoat
    Jan 23, 2013 at 13:05

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