Too Many [Not Provided] Keywords in Google Analytics

[Planet13]

Hi everyone:

When I look at Google Analytics, it says that the most popular keyword people use to find my site is a * symbol. The third most popular is (not provided).

What do these things mean? Are they coming from Adwords clicks?

I have my Adwords and Analytics accounts linked and I have Auto-tagging turned ON in Adwords. Is there something else I need to be doing?

[RhinoFish]

first, check if these are ppc or organic...

look in adwords section under: Traffic Sources | Adwords | Keywords

once you figure out if it's on ppc or organic, you can chase down whether your adwords-analytics setup is off, or if you're seeing something on organic (privacy blocking keyword data) or if a source of traffic you run (facebook, msn, email) are not properly tagged by your staff so that Analytics can track them.

[Planet13]

@ RhinoFish:

first, check if these are ppc or organic...

Actually, the most popular keyword listed is just a * symbol, and when I look at the medium for that keyword, it is cpc, so I guess that is adwords traffic.

Isn't Adwords traffic supposed to show the keywords used by the visitor?

The 3rd most popular keyword is listed as (not provided) and it is 100% organic. Is that because google is now hiding the keywords for organic traffic when a user is logged into their google account?

So I guess my real question is this:

Why for my adwords traffic is the keyword listed as a * symbol instead of listing the actual keywords?

I am starting to think that it must be from the product listing ads that google was sending, since when I look at the landing pages, they are all over the place - lots of products I didn't target with adwords. Plus the bounce rate is nearly 90%. Man, product listing ads totally suck...

In fact, with google hiding the keywords in visits from users who are logged into their user accounts, google analytics is pretty much useless, too...

[RhinoFish]

yes, if your AW and GA are properly configured, you'll see the keywords. but many traffic sources can be tagged as "cpc", not just AW. correlate to the campaign first, to verify this is actually AW traffic.

[Planet13]

@ RhinFish

Thanks again for your comments.

correlate to the campaign first, to verify this is actually AW traffic.

Yes, i see the medium listed as cpc AND the Campaign is the name of my Adwords campaign (and i am NOT doing ANY other than adwords). I also see the Source listed as google.

so do I not have my Adwords and Analtyics accounts properly configured? Because for keywords it just shows a * instead of any words.

On the other hand, if I go into Adwords and click on the Keywords tab of a campaing, and then click on the Search Terms Used menu, I see all sorts of "search terms" listed there that I don't see in Analytics.

For example, in Adwords, one of the search terms someone used contained the words "marie antoinette" but when i search my keywords in Analytics then I don't see anyone using this term.

Thanks in advance.

[RhinoFish]

sounds like you've confirmed it's adwords traffic.

are the "*" showing in campaigns (dig down into ad groups too) coming in only on those places where you had Product Listing Ads?

in order for your Analytics to track your ppc properly, you need to:
+have url auto-tagging turned on in your AdWords account.
+link your AdWords and Analytics accounts together.
+apply your AdWords cost data to that Analytics profile.

it helps troubleshoot if you're an admin, using the same email, in both AdWords and Analytics.
if you are admins in both, from within AdWords, when you go to the "Tools & Analysis | Google Analytics" menu, and if it takes you into your Analytics account, then you know you're an admin of both, and the accounts are linked. can you jump from within AdWords in Analytics using the AdWords menu?