Google Encrypted Search and Keyword Data [LNIM062 Transcript]

Google is taking away one of your most powerful free tools for understanding how people find your website. In this episode transcript, Mark breaks down Google's decision to encrypt search queries, explains why the “not provided” keyword data in your analytics is growing, and walks through what this means for niche site builders and affiliate marketers who depend on organic keyword data to guide their content strategy.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why Google is encrypting search queries and what that means for your analytics
• How the “not provided” keyword problem works technically
• Why Google might be doing this — from user privacy to NSA pushback to paid search revenue
• What workarounds exist for getting keyword data going forward
• How to use Bing data as a proxy for understanding search behavior
• Why just-in-time learning and tools like Evernote help you manage information overload

Episode Summary

Mark opens with listener feedback, including a voicemail from Brian, a new listener who binged the entire LNIM catalog in a week and already had a website with three articles live. Mark uses Brian's feedback to talk about the tension every podcast faces between serving new listeners and keeping longtime followers engaged — and compliments Brian's positive mindset as a key indicator of future success.

Mark also shares a recommendation for just-in-time learning, a concept from Jeremy Frandsen at Internet Business Mastery. The idea is to resist the urge to consume every piece of information you encounter. Instead, file things away in a tool like Evernote and retrieve them when they become relevant to where you are in your business journey.

The main segment digs into Google's encryption of search queries. Since 2011, Google had been gradually encrypting the URLs used in search by switching from http to https for logged-in users. The change means that when someone clicks through from Google to your website, the keyword they searched for is no longer passed along in the URL. Your analytics tools — whether Google Analytics, WordPress Stats, AWstats, or JetPack — show that visitor as coming from search, but the specific keyword shows up as “not provided” or “unavailable.”

At the time of this recording, Google announced it would extend encryption to all users, not just those logged in. This means Firefox users with Google as their default search engine, mobile users, and essentially everyone using Google would be affected. The keyword data that marketers relied on for content strategy, SEO optimization, and opportunity identification was about to disappear.

Mark explores three possible reasons for Google's decision. First, user security — though Mark admits he does not fully understand what security threat is being addressed. Second, pushback against the NSA, since encrypted data cannot be demanded or surrendered. Third, and most cynically, increasing the value of paid search — because Google Ads still provides keyword data, making it the only reliable source of keyword intelligence.

For workarounds, Mark offers a realistic assessment. Bing and Yahoo data would still be available since those search engines had not yet followed suit. While Bing's market share was small, statistically you could still infer patterns from a 10% sample. However, Mark cautions that Bing users may have different demographics than Google users, so the data may not be perfectly representative.

Mark also mentions paid keyword experiments as a way to test which keywords drive traffic to a site. By running a small paid search campaign and analyzing which keywords people actually click on, you can reverse-engineer the organic keyword landscape. But he acknowledges most niche marketers will not take this approach due to cost.

The episode also includes mentions of Mark's appearances on Cliff Ravenscraft's Podcast Answer Man show and his upcoming appearance at Podcamp Dallas.

Key Takeaways

• Google's encryption of search queries removes keyword data from your analytics — “not provided” will become 100% of organic keywords
• This affects every analytics tool that reads keyword data from referral URLs
• Possible motivations include user privacy, NSA resistance, and boosting paid search revenue
• Bing and Yahoo data can serve as a partial proxy, but demographics may differ from Google users
• Paid keyword experiments can reveal organic keyword opportunities, but at a cost
• Practice just-in-time learning: file information for when you need it rather than trying to absorb everything now

What's Changed Since This Episode

Mark recorded this in October 2013, and everything he predicted about the trajectory of encrypted search has come true — and then some.

Google completed the transition to 100% encrypted search years ago. The “not provided” keyword data that Mark was concerned about losing is now completely gone from standard analytics. Every organic Google visitor arrives with their keyword hidden. This is no longer a developing story — it is the permanent reality of SEO.

Google Search Console has become the primary source for keyword data. While your analytics tool cannot see which keywords visitors used, Google Search Console (the successor to Google Webmaster Tools that Mark mentions) shows you which queries your pages appear for, along with impressions, clicks, click-through rates, and average position. It is not the same as having keyword data in your analytics on a per-visit basis, but it provides enough intelligence to guide your content and SEO strategy. Every site owner should have Search Console connected and should be reviewing keyword performance data regularly.

Google Analytics itself has undergone a major transition. Universal Analytics, which was the standard in 2013, was fully sunset in 2024 and replaced by GA4 (Google Analytics 4). GA4 operates on a fundamentally different data model based on events rather than sessions, and it handles keyword data differently. If you are still referencing old Universal Analytics reports, that data is no longer being collected.

The industry adapted. The concerns Mark expressed were valid and widely shared, but the SEO community developed new workflows. Keyword research now relies more heavily on tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google's own Keyword Planner rather than on organic referral data from analytics. Content strategy is increasingly guided by search intent analysis, topical authority mapping, and competitor research rather than by mining your own traffic logs.

Feedburner, the RSS tool Mark mentions as being essentially dead in 2013, was finally shut down by Google in its original form and redirected to a minimal service. Most podcasters have long since migrated to dedicated podcast hosting platforms.

Resources Mentioned

• Google Search Console — the primary source for organic keyword data
• Ahrefs — keyword research and SEO analysis
• SEMrush — competitive keyword research
• Evernote — note-taking and information management
• Learn How to Podcast — Cliff Ravenscraft's free podcasting course
• LNIM Podcast

Related Episodes

If you found this episode helpful, you might also enjoy:

• LNIM062 — Google Encrypted Search Show Notes
• LNIM064 — Niche Site Building: Strategy and Challenges
• LNIM102 — How to Perform a Site Content Audit

Listen and Subscribe

Listen to Late Night Internet Marketing on Apple Podcasts or subscribe at latenightim.com/internet-marketing-podcast/. Have a question for Mark? Call the digital recorder at 214-444-8655 or drop a comment below.