Firefox 14 Will Mean More [not provided] Data

Written by Dylan Thomas

• Posted on July 24, 2012
• • News
• 1 Comment »

Firefox 14 launched last week, with the biggest change being that Google searches made in the browser now utilise Google SSL (secret socket layer). This essentially means that search queries typed into the new Firefox browser won’t show up in Analytics or other website tracking software for organic clicks. The end result – more [not provided] data.

Not everything is secure though. What’s called ‘referrer data’ still gets sent on to websites who advertise in search engines. That means that if you input a query then click on a sponsored PPC ad for information, your search will be provided to that advertiser.

What does this mean for Australian businesses?

Google, with the support of Firefox’s new browser, are rewarding those who pay money to advertise, providing them with rich data for analysis and improvement. Those who are striving to rank naturally in search engines – the SEOs of the world – are left with a smaller pool of information to work with.

For your DIY SEO business owner, this is a potentially disastrous situation and a severe drain of resources. For businesses who have hired SEO companies that have a raft of other resources at their disposal – including PPC data – the situation isn’t as dire.

Posted on July 24, 2012