Google Adwords Keyword Suggestion Tool is Wrong

Secret Behind AdWords KW Suggestion Tool That Google Does NOT Want You to Know

A few months back Google released search volume as part of their Keyword Suggestion Tool. SEOs and Online Marketers were very excited about this development. Not since Yahoo’s Overture tool have we been able to see the search volume for the major search engines. Sure there are services like Wordtracker, but lets face it their data has nothing in comparison to what the big G can give.

The problem is what most people do not realize is that Google is flat out misleading you about the search volume.  Any SEO who has finally attained that first position and does not get even 1/10 of the traffic promised by this tool knows exactly what I am talking about.

Here is the secret behind the Keyword Suggestion Tool

Lets back up and remember what Google Keyword Suggestion Tool was designed for. It was never designed for SEO, it was a tool designed for advertisers interested in Adwords.

Back in the day a simple volume graph was enough to suffice most marketers. The level of competition was not nearly at the level it is now. People used to search with one or two keyword phrases.

Now, competition is very high. More and more agencies are starting to run the PPC campaigns for different advertisers. Bid management solutions and other small business solutions are letting more people promote their products. All of this shift did is increase the demand for volume data, so agencies, business, and other advertisers could better evaluate volume and ROI.

The secret behing the AdWords Tool is that it does not show user Search Volume. What it really shows is the number of times your ad would appear for that keyword. In other words, if someone was to bid on Blue Widget (Broad) the search volume that you see in the tool is for every possible variation of the keyword along with words inserted in the middle of the phrase and anything else the Google deems relevent.

You’re probably telling yourself well can’t you just use Exact or Phrase match to get a better idea of search volume?

The answer is NO! Here are the reasons why neither will give you a good SEO volume.

• Google will trigger ads based on past searches. For example, if you search “photography” and right after “wedding” you will get “wedding photography” ads, and my bet is most of those people are not bidding broad on photography or wedding.
• Local Search can also have a huge impact. Doctors in San Francisco will still trigger phrase match ad, and unless you are optimizing for Geo you will never see that click.
• Exact match isn’t accurate because of things like personal search. And the fact that results can vary drastically depending on where you are in the country. Plus, if you do a good job of optimizing you will usually rank for more than just the exact phrase, so don’t sell yourself short.

My Theory:  Google is trying to stop the long tail growth to increase bid prices for the head terms and generate more revenue.

FACT: 25% of keywords are completely unique(help me find the article) AND people are using more words in their searches …. meaning the long tail is getting well, longer.

All of this is of course based on mine and others observations. My theory is that Google is watching the long tail get longer, and is trying to push more volume towards the top. This would explain why they force possible searches on you both when you first type in your keyword, and even after with their “recommended searches”. They even killed a huge part of the long tail off by “correcting” your spelling.

I wonder what they will do next in their goal for internet domination?