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Has Google Keyword Tool now gone down the pan ??

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spiritusuk

First Yahoo Site Explorer and now I'm getting nil returns on some previously popular keywords.

One of the keywords I had been tracking was getting 40,000 exact searches a month locally but data is now coming up as "-".

Likewise with another keyword getting 12,000 searches only last month but now is also showing as "-". I have tried logged into the tool and logging out.

I read somewhere that the keyword tool doesn't display organic search numbers any longer-is this true ?
 
spiritusuk said:
I read somewhere that the keyword tool doesn't display organic search numbers any longer-is this true ?
Click to expand...
It never displayed organic search numbers.

It's the Google ADWORDS tool
 
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Interesting. I noticed that today for a keyword I checked last week. 8,000 exacts local. I even purchased the EMD for it.

Today keyword tool is showing -

There are commercial indicators for this keyword in serps. Additionally SEM Rush backs up my assertation.

How strange.
 
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Same with me.

I purchased a domain and already built the site on the back of data from Google Keyword Tool (or Adwords Tool) to satisfy the pedants :)

Just doing random searches for what should be popular keywords is producing -

Are Google hiding the data ?
 
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I wouldn't have mentioned it had it not been to the OP.

Doesn't Google throw up a Capture image if you aren't logged in? I hate filling those things in, I'm certain I must have been logged in!

I didn't know about different results for different browsers though.

I'm normally pretty careful to make sure I tick the exact box too, and always double check figures against stuff like SEM Rush and other other competitive analysis reports; especially if I'm buying an EMD.


Looking at associated phrases ie.

mykeyword + blah blah
etc,etc

Most of these additional phrases are showing as 200, 300 local searches. It just doesn't make sense

Event the plural of my keyword is showing as 1000.

I can only conclude that I messed up this time! :(
 
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OldWelshGuy said:
You guys are aware that google shows different results in different browsers and also logged in or not logged in right?

best bet is log into your adwords account then run the KW research.
Click to expand...

Google shows different results in different browsers, yes I knew that. Are you saying that Google keyword/adword tool shows different results depending on what browser I use ? If so, then I didn't know that.

I have run Google keyword both logged in and logged out and on different browsers. I have also run the same kw search on Micro Niche Finder and the results don't look right there either.

I have found a generic example that maybe we can all look at just so I know I'm not hallucinating.

keyword based on UK searches in English language and based on EXACT search.

Keyword phrase is "mens jewellery"

Results are

Competition -
Global Monthly Searches -
Local Monthly Searches -

At this moment I am not assuming that "-" means zero. It may just mean there is a figure for this search query that Google are not revealing to us.

Please can someone check this out and tell me if they're seeing the same result ?
 
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Or it could just be that the tool is broken. These things do happen.

Or perhaps google is filtering those people who just use the tool for kw research but don't spend on adwords.
 
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RevaxMedia said:
Yeah this is only for PPC impressions and not organic searches....use it as a very primitive indicator.
Click to expand...

From the adwords help centre:-

"You can find search statistics in the Keyword Tool's Local Monthly Searches and Global Monthly Searches columns. These statistics show the approximate number of search queries matching your keywords that were performed on Google for a month (this is an approximate 12-month average)."

Okay, so the figures are approximate. It does not say these are only impressions.

Please correct me if I am misinterpretIng this.
 
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upnorthal said:
Can we not work on 40% for first place and so on. That's what I tend to use, based on that AOL report that was leaked.
Click to expand...

Every industry will have a ctr that naturally fluctuates however, by all means use adwords keyword tool as a rough indicator but with a pinch of salt.
 
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Rather than use the figures, use the tool for trend analysis. If you use the tool properly you can work out if groups of keyword combinations have a larger search volume than the generic keywords.

BUT. These results are only based on the keywords that people bid for. If you bid for 'long red woolly scarf' you will see zero monthly searches. This means is that nobody had bid on the phrase so it's not in the adwords index. It does not mean that nobody searches for the phrase.
 
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Thanks guys but I don't think I'm alone in using Google Keyword Tool as a measure as to the approximate (very approximate) amount of traffic a certain keyword gets in Google.

The point I'm trying to make is that it's stopped providing data for certain keywords.

It appears only one person on this thread has actually checked the tool for themselves and that person has discovered the same issue that I have.

Another example:

"theatre breaks London"
"London Gatwick"
"london theatres"
"kindle case"

All of the above on an EXACT search focused on UK results are coming up with "-".

Now that ain't right.
 
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Nice post here which I think covers our situation.


Also, I don't tend to make keyword choices until I've compared multiple data sources, i.e Google adwords tool, SEM Rush, Word Tracker, MS Adsense. You can report on each of these data sources and kinda triangulate your figures.

In my case, the exact 8,000 that Google keywords tool was reporting on is reflected for paying ad customers.

I'ts just that I had never seen an adwords figure drop from 8,000 to nil. Buy if you read that blog post I link to, you will see we are not alone.
 
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Google Keyword Tool (or Adwords Tool) never go down. And its more useful then Yahoo Site Explorer.
 
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Are there any good, FREE or low-cost, alternatives to SEMRush and Word Tracker that give better search volume reporting than the Google Keyword Tool for the SEO enthusiast (rather than the professional)? The paid tools amount to several hundred pounds a year each...
 
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SCArt said:
Are there any good, FREE or low-cost, alternatives to SEMRush and Word Tracker that give better search volume reporting than the Google Keyword Tool for the SEO enthusiast (rather than the professional)? The paid tools amount to several hundred pounds a year each...
Click to expand...

I understand what you mean but do you use these to research information for your business? If so then say you spend a thousand a year that's less than £100 a month for competitive research, surely your business can sustain this? They should really be paying for themselves?
 
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I know for SEM Rush and Wordtracker, both have a free intro period (SEM rush 14 days and Word tracker 7 days).

SEO Book has a free keyword tool linked to Wordtracker, but I think the result set is capped.

Unfortunately, SEO does require some investment in my opinion. You don't need to sign up for a full year. You could just purchase a month here and there as and when you need it.

MS Adsense tool in MS Excel is free.

I'm not sure which data sources other SEO's are using, but certainly Word Tracker and SEM Rush get favourable write ups.

At the end of the day, the more data sets I have for cross analysing, the more comfortable I feel.
 
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OldWelshGuy said:
Did you check the search quries listed? have you read this thread, or did you just hit a search and say 'yep works for me :) '
Click to expand...

What do you think is the reason behind this missing data ?

I know for a fact that some keywords were coming back with thousands of "searches" a month and now it's "-".
 
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It is probably just google being google. The bigger problem here is that people will have placed advertising on the strength of those circulation stats. Google is just digging a deeper and deeper hole for itself in the EU with these issues. It 'could' be argued that they have provided flawed data in order to secure advertising spend. which of course is illegal :)
 
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