Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Keyword Research
    4. On Google Analytics under search queries, the most popular query is "(not set)", how do I find out what this is?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    On Google Analytics under search queries, the most popular query is "(not set)", how do I find out what this is?

    Keyword Research
    3
    6
    15189
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • Sable_Group
      Sable_Group last edited by

      I am trying to discover what users are searching for and what keywords drive traffic to our site.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Mobilio
        Mobilio @Sable_Group last edited by

        If you wish to see performance of KWs or pags you can see few tricks from today post in Moz:
        https://moz.com/blog/single-best-seo-tip-for-improved-web-traffic
        Yes - SearchConsole is heavy involved in process.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • Sable_Group
          Sable_Group @Mobilio last edited by

          Thanks so much!

          Mobilio 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Sable_Group
            Sable_Group @Alick300 last edited by

            Thank you

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Mobilio
              Mobilio last edited by

              Not set

              The ‘keyword’ (not set) simply identifies traffic that doesn’t arrive via a particular keyword and hence may not come via any search at all. This includes traffic coming from email, referral sites, or even things like Google Images. The latter might be confusing, but it helps to know that visitors coming from Google Images and Google Maps are classified under referrals with the source google.com, not organic search. Because keywords are automatically set for search traffic, the (not set) keyword will never appear in your organic Search reports, so it is likely something you won’t have to worry about. Don’t consider this one in light of keyword performance!

              Source: http://www.gravitatedesign.com/blog/not-set-not-provided-mean-google-analytics/

              Not set

              The ‘keyword’ (not set) simply identifies traffic that doesn’t arrive via a particular keyword and hence may not come via any search at all. This includes traffic coming from email, referral sites, or even things like Google Images. The latter might be confusing, but it helps to know that visitors coming from Google Images and Google Maps are classified under referrals with the source google.com, not organic search. Because keywords are automatically set for search traffic, the (not set) keyword will never appear in your organic Search reports, so it is likely something you won’t have to worry about. Don’t consider this one in light of keyword performance!

              Source: http://www.whereoware.com/blog/not-set-vs-not-provided/2013/05/

              This is in Acquisition, Campaigns, Organic keywords. If you're talking Acquisition, SearchEngineOptimization, Queries - this works different, see text in below.

              So - in general Analytics can't figure keyword there. But this is not how GA should work. You should tracks your KWs in Google SearchConsole. There is "SearchTraffic" -> "Search Analytics" with all impressions, clicks, ctr and positions. There you can make report for web, image or videos. You can split traffic by countries, pages, devices (desktop, tablet, mobile) and much more. Here is link:
              https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/search-analytics?hl=en
              but there you must add your site and verify it.

              Sable_Group 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • Alick300
                Alick300 last edited by

                Hi,

                If you see (not set), that means that the traffic coming to your site did not have keyword. It might be from an odd search engine that doesn’t pass that info, or perhaps you’ve manually tagged something as Organic and not supplied a keyword.

                are you running any Google Adwords campaign or you are talking about organic search?

                I'm sharing an article where you will find all the possible condition for appearing (not set) in analytics

                http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2015/06/25/11-places-google-analytics-not-set/

                https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2820717?hl=en

                Hope this helps.

                Thankls

                Sable_Group 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • 1 / 1
                • First post
                  Last post

                Got a burning SEO question?

                Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                Start my free trial


                Browse Questions

                Explore more categories

                • Moz Tools

                  Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                • SEO Tactics

                  Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                • Community

                  Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                • Digital Marketing

                  Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                • Research & Trends

                  Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                • Support

                  Connect on product support and feature requests.

                • See all categories

                Related Questions

                • Faizali.786

                  Inconsistent Keyword Search Volume & Difficulty Across Tools (e.g., Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush)

                  keyword difficulty keyword explorer

                  Hi there, Moz Community! I'm reaching out for some guidance on keyword research discrepancies. I'm currently targeting the keyword "sui gas bill" for my blog, sngplbill, which focuses on information related to Sui gas bills. I've used several keyword research tools, including Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush, and each platform provides different search volume and keyword difficulty scores: Moz: No search volume data, Keyword Difficulty (KD) 24
                  Google Keyword Planner: Search volume 100k-1M, Difficulty (Low)
                  Semrush: Search volume 90k, KD 31
                  Ahrefs: KD 1 (Very Easy)
                  These varying results are causing some confusion. Ideally, I'd like to understand which platform offers the most reliable data for search volume and keyword difficulty. Here are some additional details that might be helpful: My target location: Pakistan My Questions: What factors might contribute to these discrepancies in keyword data across different tools?
                  Considering my niche (Sui gas bill information in Pakistan), which platform would you recommend for the most accurate search volume and keyword difficulty estimates?
                  Are there any additional factors to consider beyond search volume and keyword difficulty when selecting keywords for content strategy?
                  Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
                  Capture sui gas bill semrush.PNG Capture moz sui gas bill.PNG Capture gkp sui gas bill.PNG Capture ahref sui gas bill.PNG
                  Thanks,

                  Keyword Research | | Faizali.786
                  0
                • romanjames

                  Finding less competitive keywords

                  Hello, How Moz can help me in finding less competitive keywords for a site based on omega masticating juicer. I had tried other tools but i am not satisfied with it. Kindly tell me the process to find it. Thanks.

                  Keyword Research | | romanjames
                  0
                • cgs230

                  If I insert a "stop" word into a long tail keyword, will it break it up?

                  I'm in the legal industry, and a lot of the long tail keywords I'm finding are search queries that are pinpointed for my location. As a result, I come up with [subject] + [location] as good keywords... for example: "subpoena duces tecum new york." (basically it's a subpoena, just the fancy name). However, I have no clue how to use something like this in a sentence....if I say "subpoena duces tecum IN new york" does the "in" break up the keyword, or is "in" just a stop word that doesn't affect the keyword? Countless examples of similar keywords "Car accident new york" etc. Thanks!

                  Keyword Research | | cgs230
                  3
                • SSFCU

                  KWs w/ no bids on Google AdWords

                  When using the Google Keyword Planner to research KWs, is it a correct assumption that if the KW doesn't have a suggested bid, there's probably not going to be a real impact in optimizing for it? Hypothetically, if I saw a high-volume, low-competition KW w/out a suggested bid I'd feel differently, but I'm just seeing it happen with low volume and competition. Thanks,
                  Sarah

                  Keyword Research | | SSFCU
                  0
                • JonathanLeplang

                  Google trends quota's limit?

                  Hi Mozers, I've a problem with Google trends tool : after 5 searches, I reach the "quota limit". Have you the same issue? Do you use other tools "similar" to Google trends? SEMrush,...? Thank you for answers Regards, Jonathan

                  Keyword Research | | JonathanLeplang
                  0
                • JanssenM.

                  Does adding the suffix "-ing" affect ranking for a keyword? E.g. "build" vs "building"

                  In other words, let's say the keyword I wanted to rank for was "building a home" but the SERP only showed sites ranking for "build a home". If I specifically optimized my page for "building a home" would that increase my chances for ranking for "building a home"?

                  Keyword Research | | JanssenM.
                  0
                • Trbl

                  How can I get [exact] search volumes from Yandex? Who can help me?

                  The page http://wordstat.yandex.ru/ only shows broad match volumes...

                  Keyword Research | | Trbl
                  0
                • 5225Marketing

                  Search Terms with Apostrophes

                  In doing keyword research I discovered that the Google Adwords Tools returns results with a space in search terms where an apostrophe should be. For example:  Searching for 'mens fashion' or 'men's fashion' will return keyword ideas like 'men s fashion trends', 'men s fashion styles'. Same thing happens if yous search for '50s fashion' or 'mens suits'. Not only that but if you search for 'men s fashion' in the adwords tool you get 14,800 exact matches! Who would you use that term? And if you do search for it in Google, it will auto correct to 'men's fashion'. If you know the answer to what a term like 'men s fashion' signifies, you can skip the rest of this post and answer my question (thanks!). If not, here's what I did to try and figure it out - but I'm stuck and I need your help. First off, I did a search for all 3 terms: (mens fashion, men's fashion and men s fashion) in the adwords tool. The tool responded with different numbers for each, with  'men s fashion' far exceeding 'men's fashion'. See image 1 I did a search for each of the three terms in Google. The top 10 results for each were different. See image 2 Google reads 'men s fashion' as 'men's fashion'. I know that because: Google says 'showing result's for men's fashion' (obvious!) Google instant lists terms beginning with 'men's fashion...' See image 3 Related searches are identical for those two but not for 'mens fashion'. But it's not completely the same since as I mentioned you get different results, and the number of results found are different as well. So that brings me back to my question: When the tool says that 28 people search for [men's fashion] and 14,800 search for [men s fashion]. What on earth does it mean? bknQU tNKo7 C0P7S

                  Keyword Research | | 5225Marketing
                  2

                Get started with Moz Pro!

                Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                Start my free trial
                Products
                • Moz Pro
                • Moz Local
                • Moz API
                • Moz Data
                • STAT
                • Product Updates
                Moz Solutions
                • SMB Solutions
                • Agency Solutions
                • Enterprise Solutions
                Free SEO Tools
                • Domain Authority Checker
                • Link Explorer
                • Keyword Explorer
                • Competitive Research
                • Brand Authority Checker
                • Local Citation Checker
                • MozBar Extension
                • MozCast
                Resources
                • Blog
                • SEO Learning Center
                • Help Hub
                • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                • How-to Guides
                • Moz Academy
                • API Docs
                About Moz
                • About
                • Team
                • Careers
                • Contact
                Why Moz
                • Case Studies
                • Testimonials
                Get Involved
                • Become an Affiliate
                • MozCon
                • Webinars
                • Practical Marketer Series
                • MozPod
                Connect with us

                Contact the Help team

                Join our newsletter
                Moz logo
                © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                • Accessibility
                • Terms of Use
                • Privacy

                Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.