Google Steps Up "Security"

Google has made a major change to the way secure search works for signed-in users of its services. If a user is signed into a Google account, any search performed will now be done on a secure socket layer (SSL) and will no longer pass the search term referrer data.

This change means that individuals who utilize analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, will no longer have access to the keywords that drove the Google users to the website. 

However, Google has also said that search term referrer data will be passed to advertisers who use their pay-per-click product, which has caused some uproar from the SEO community.  

Here are the details of what has changed with this SSL update:

• All users who are signed into Google services will be redirected to the Google Secure Search site when performing searches.
• All users who are signed into Google services will have their search queries encrypted (via Google Secure Search)
• Secure site searches that lead to clicks to organic results will not pass the search query string via the referrer. According to the Google Analytics blog, the change will mean that:

The organic click will be identified as coming from Google.

The organic click will be identified as "organic" but will no longer display the query string  (example: “colleges in California”)

The organic click will be identified under the token "not provided" within Organic Search Traffic Keyword reporting.

• Secure site searches that lead to clicks via search ads, will still provide the search.

You can see why this has caused the SEO industry to feel uneasy and slightly outraged at Google once more.  PlattForm’s SEO department is heavily reliant on Google and what they decide to do day-in and day-out.  In the past, we have kept informed about the MayDay update, the numerous Panda updates and tweaks, but this new change in Google’s plan could affect the data and research phase of SEO specialists everywhere. 

Most SEO specialists are driven to uphold the security rights of online users, and work towards creating a more wholesome and safe user environment on the websites they manage. However, this change essentially creates two different rules, one for SEO specialists who use software to monitor and drive “free” traffic and one completely different rule for Paid Search Marketers who pass along a paycheck to Google for their service.

The ability to optimize a website and create targeted content for specific users is heavily reliant on a comprehensive keyword research process, a portion of that centered around seeing the performance of the keywords that are driving traffic to a site. The inability to analyze and assess these keywords creates an inconsistent method for proper keyword research among the SEO community, ergo possibly resulting in less targeted content for users.  The end goal for a search engine optimization campaign is to drive the targeted traffic based on specific content centered around the search habits of the internet population.  With this, albeit small, change, some individuals feel that Google is benefitting those who pay for their services.

However, there are always two sides to every story. The idea that this data can still be secured has been overlooked by some in the industry. As stated before, Google is pushing for a more secure internet experience.  In fact, it is worth noting that it may be simply for practical reasons that Google will only pass referrer data to AdWords advertisers.  SSL only strips referrer data when the traffic is sent to a non-secure connection, but that same data is kept intact between two secure connections.

"Analytics can already run over https if you tell it to in the JavaScript Code,” noted Thom Craver, Web and Database specialist for the Saunders College at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). “There's no reason why Google couldn't make this work, if the site owners cooperated by offering their entire site via HTTPS."

So it's possible that what we are really seeing is not a battle between SEO and PPC, or Google trying to place different rules for those who pay for their services, but an attempt by Google to barter web data in order to leverage security as a quality control factor. Although Google is not being completely transparent about how or why the referrer data is passed or not, it's feasible that if webmasters make their sites more secure via SSL, they will get to see referrer query data from signed in secure search users.  

As more information surfaces on this topic, it may become clear on the purpose and direction of Google.  It is estimated that this will affect 7% of searches. That said, as more people utilize Google search while being logged in for increased security, this number could increase in upcoming months.  

PlattForm will continue to monitor the impact this could have on our campaigns. Until then, the SEO industry will have to rely on the data Google does provide to drive relevant traffic to a website and provide targeted content to the users.

What's your view on this latest change from Google? Share your comment below.