undefined
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
    • SEO Q&A
    • 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. Has the keyword planner search volume metric gone crazy?

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.

Has the keyword planner search volume metric gone crazy?

Keyword Research
6
18
3.8k
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.
  • E_F
    E_F last edited by Jun 17, 2016, 5:32 AM

    I use the search volume found in keyword planner to score and weight my keywords in a similar way as Rand showed us in this WBF.

    This week I've found that in many cases suddenly the singular and plural version of the keyword have the same search volume. This seems crazy to me as singular and plural is not the same, the intent is different but more importantly they behave very differently from each other when looking at their track record in Adwords (impressions, clicks, conversions, CTR, CVR etc...all different).

    For example, here's a screenshot of 4 keywords (singular and plural versions of 2 phrases) with search volume captured a couple of months ago.

    Now here's another screenshot of the same keywords taken from Keyword planner today.

    Any ideas why this would be happening? Does it makes sense to you? It just seems buggy to me.

    Thanks!

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • E_F
      E_F @amirbt last edited by Jul 21, 2016, 5:14 AM Jul 21, 2016, 5:14 AM

      Well, it's annoying.

      We actually got some feedback from our Adwords support saying "the Engineering team is looking to improve/change this behavior as feedback indicates it is confusing for customers. But for the moment, no details yet on what/how it will change."

      So let's see, I suppose the more complaints they get from the PPC community the more likely they are to roll things back.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • amirbt
        amirbt @amirbt last edited by Jul 20, 2016, 1:06 PM Jul 20, 2016, 1:06 PM

        Another thing on the subject I noticed is:

        For some phrases it will report the aggregate search volume, thus equal s.v. for the singular and plural. e.g. tel aviv hostels and tel aviv hostel show each a s.v. of 1300.

        But "Jerusalem hostel" (s.v. reported - 880) and "Jerusalem hostels" (170) don't!!!

        So W.T.F. Google trying to do here? Make us realize that they really really don't want us to use k.w.p. data? First take away the broad s.v. data leaving only the lesser valuable data of the exact, then having the bucket aggregation .... What's next? Don't they want us to show the true potential in Google searches to digital marketing clients??? Kind of hard when you have to either give false inflated numbers and say that there is no true accurate number these are all estimates that might even be very far from the real numbers.

        E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jul 21, 2016, 5:14 AM Reply Quote 0
        • amirbt
          amirbt last edited by Jul 20, 2016, 12:35 PM Jul 20, 2016, 12:35 PM

          Hi,

          It is the same with Hebrew search phrases same s.v. for singular and plural.

          The odd thing is that the search results for each are different. So I don't understand the logic here on Googles side, if you look at them as the same meaning, why are the search results different? they should aslo be exactly the same!

          amirbt 1 Reply Last reply Jul 20, 2016, 1:06 PM Reply Quote 0
          • E_F
            E_F @Daft.ie last edited by Jul 4, 2016, 9:25 AM Jul 4, 2016, 9:25 AM

            Couldn't agree more!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Daft.ie
              Daft.ie last edited by Jul 4, 2016, 5:31 AM Jul 4, 2016, 5:31 AM

              Thanks E_F. I've not heard anything back from Adwords support in Europe yet.

              Wouldn't it be great if Google would also explain why they changed the methodology as the tool is no longer fit for the purpose it was originally designed for?:-)

              E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jul 4, 2016, 9:25 AM Reply Quote 1
              • E_F
                E_F @E_F last edited by Jul 4, 2016, 5:17 AM Jul 4, 2016, 5:17 AM

                Finally got a reply from the Adwords support team:
                “there was a recent change in how average monthly searches are calculated in Keyword Planner and it is now expected that search terms that are close variants to each other will show the same aggregated search volumes”

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • E_F
                  E_F @Daft.ie last edited by Jul 1, 2016, 2:06 PM Jul 1, 2016, 2:06 PM

                  Yes I saw those articles and they're reporting similar findings as this post. Although nothing official yet from Google so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for this to be a bug...Will be on the lookout for an official update note...

                  E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jul 4, 2016, 5:17 AM Reply Quote 0
                  • Daft.ie
                    Daft.ie last edited by Jul 1, 2016, 2:06 PM Jun 29, 2016, 10:18 AM

                    Breaking news on SEW is that Google made a change to the tool last week to combine search variants.Articles belowInstead of showing individual keyword estimates per KW or KW phrase, it now lumps in the data together which means that it will show identical estimates for both both. It's no longer possible to see individual estimates to check highest/lowest volumes anymore. All the data has been changed retrospectively alsohttp://www.thesempost.com/googles-keyword-planner-now-combines-keywords-for-search-volume/https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/06/29/googles-keyword-planner-tool-just-became-even-more-inaccurate/Adwords Keyword Planner now seems to combine many search variants, including:

                    • plurals with non-plurals for any word in the keyword phrase
                    • acronyms with longhand version e.g. SEO + search engine optimiZation + search engine optimiSation
                    • stemming variants: -er, -ing, -ized, -ed etc keywords (ie. designer, designing, designed)
                    • words that can be spelled with or without space (ie. car park and carpark)
                    • words with and without punctuation (ie. kid toys and kid’s toys)
                    E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jul 1, 2016, 2:06 PM Reply Quote 1
                    • E_F
                      E_F @Daft.ie last edited by Jun 24, 2016, 1:55 PM Jun 24, 2016, 1:54 PM

                      If I had to guess, it seems to be an issue with "close keyword variations" which Google use for matching keywords to search terms in Adwords and the planner tool now somehow sums up the total search volume for all these variations. Which makes it looks like search volume has doubled or tripled or more depending on how many variations you're looking at.

                      Our PPC team is pushing for answers from our GG account manager but so far they say they are not aware of any changes to the tool and "believe the information to be accurate".

                      Will update here if we learn anything new.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • Daft.ie
                        Daft.ie last edited by Jun 22, 2016, 1:47 PM Jun 22, 2016, 1:47 PM

                        Hi there

                        I'm seeing crazy inflated keyword volumes from Adwords KW Planner too. I keep a record of the extracts for these 300 KWs so have files going back to Sept-15

                        Not the same issue as with plural/singular highlighted by the other but...

                        1. an inflated "Avg. Monthly Searches (exact match only)" number in June versus all other previous months by 6x in some cases e.g. avg monthly searches for a particular KW was 2,400 up to April and now it's gone to 14,800.

                        2. And also, Google have also retrospectively updated each of the 12 previous months average search query volumes by keyword.

                        Here's an example attached. Hope you can read it

                        Out of the ~300 KWs I track, 40 keywords have 2x'd and higher their average monthly keyword volume. 81 KWs have increased average monthly search volumes by 50%

                        To me it looks like either it's either a bug (or new method) in how Google count average monthly searches or they haven't updated their KW volumes in this tool in the last 12 months.

                        PZ0vCDY

                        E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jun 24, 2016, 1:54 PM Reply Quote 1
                        • randfish
                          randfish @AKQA_SEO last edited by Jun 20, 2016, 7:21 PM Jun 20, 2016, 7:21 PM

                          Definitely some odd ones - I think Google may be conflating certain keywords, and removal of the ability to see exact match vs. phrase/broad match is definitley an issue, too. In any case, we're sorta stuck with their data. Moz is collecting some additional search volume information via clickstream sources and including that in our buckets for KW Explorer, but that only applies to the US (and won't give precise numbers since we can only get sampled data).

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • AKQA_SEO
                            AKQA_SEO @AKQA_SEO last edited by Jun 20, 2016, 1:49 PM Jun 20, 2016, 1:49 PM

                            correction..."masters in accounting" vs "masters of accounting". It's Monday and the Warriors lost.

                            randfish 1 Reply Last reply Jun 20, 2016, 7:21 PM Reply Quote 1
                            • AKQA_SEO
                              AKQA_SEO @E_F last edited by Jun 20, 2016, 1:42 PM Jun 20, 2016, 1:42 PM

                              We're seeing this as well. It doesn't seem as simple as plural vs singular.

                              "MBA" & "Master of Business Administration" now have the same search volume. "MBA" had 110,000 before and "Master of Business Administration" had 2,400. These variations also have 110K searches/mo now: "Masters Business Administration", "Masters of Business Administration", "Master in Business Administration". Seems like they are bucketing those as the same keyword but then "masters in accounting" is different than "masters in accounting".

                              AKQA_SEO 1 Reply Last reply Jun 20, 2016, 1:49 PM Reply Quote 1
                              • E_F
                                E_F @randfish last edited by Jun 20, 2016, 9:53 AM Jun 20, 2016, 7:42 AM

                                Yes you're right, the example I provided is not as crazy as what I've seen in our other markets (countries) and I'm fine with Google using buckets as long as I can understand the relative search demand of a keyword compared to another. I don't think we should take the search volumes given by Google as gospel but it's been helpful in the past as a comparison tool.

                                So what about this - here is a list of plural and singular versions of keywords in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Something has definitely changed and in many cases relatively small keywords suddenly look huge.

                                If you run the keyword variations in Google Trends you'll see that they don't have the same search demand. I also had a look in Adwords for the plural and singular version of one of our biggest keywords, this is what their impressions look like over time and now they have the same search volume in keyword planner.

                                I haven't seen this in all countries but it seems to be happening in the US as well (if you have old search volume data lying around, have a look and see if you get the same increase for the less popular version).

                                If Google has decided that plurals and singulars are the same and that search marketers should treat them as such, I can learn to live with that as long as I see consistency in this approach (which I don't, France for example still shows different search demand for singulars and plurals). Google should also show the same SERP results for these keywords, which they don't and I believe this is because the intent is (slightly) different between plural and singular search.

                                I think this is a bug, perhaps I have overlooked this but I can't recall seeing the option "Only show ideas closely related to my search terms" before in keyword planner and if this is a new feature it might be what's breaking the tool. Just guessing here of course but the reality is that turning this setting on/off changes absolutely nothing for me.

                                So what do you think? Is this an issue for anyone else?

                                Thanks for your insights and suggestions.

                                AKQA_SEO 1 Reply Last reply Jun 20, 2016, 1:42 PM Reply Quote 0
                                • randfish
                                  randfish last edited by Jun 18, 2016, 4:09 PM Jun 18, 2016, 4:09 PM

                                  The numbers you received in your second screenshot are the same ones I'm getting, and they're pretty similar to what I see in Moz's Keyword Explorer (which bolsters AdWords data with clickstream serach data). I don't know that AdWords is going crazy though - the first screenshot you showed had keywords in the 4-600 range that now show ~1,000 searches? That's not a massive swing, and we know Google uses buckets, even though they show numbers (as Russ Jones pointed out here: https://moz.com/blog/google-keyword-planner-dirty-secrets).

                                  It wouldn't surprise me if these keywords are just on the edge of the buckets Google's defined, and thus swing between one volume number and another.

                                  E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jun 20, 2016, 7:42 AM Reply Quote 2
                                  • E_F
                                    E_F @Martijn_Scheijbeler last edited by Jun 17, 2016, 8:23 AM Jun 17, 2016, 7:36 AM

                                    Are you referring to the setting in the keyword planner called "keyword option" and the choice "Only show ideas closely related to my search terms"? Is this a new option in the tool?

                                    Anyway, I get the same result regardless if this is on or off.

                                    It definitely would make sense if there was a setting where I could choose to look at exact match only but I can't seem to locate it. (EDIT: and Google has not changed the definition of search volume in the tool: "The average number of times people have searched for this exact keyword based on the date range and targeting settings that you've selected.")

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • Martijn_Scheijbeler
                                      Martijn_Scheijbeler last edited by Jun 17, 2016, 6:51 AM Jun 17, 2016, 6:51 AM

                                      I think the biggest difference is in the match type of the keywords. In the end they're used broad in this case which would make sense that the singular and plural could be the same. Usually when you would have an exact match you're going to see a difference in volume.

                                      E_F 1 Reply Last reply Jun 17, 2016, 7:36 AM Reply Quote 1
                                      • 1 / 1
                                      1 out of 18
                                      • First post
                                        1/18
                                        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

                                      • patn_studio

                                        Domain keyword ranking

                                        keyword rankings domain

                                        I used to use Searchmetrics (years ago) which enabled me to add in the domain name into their website, and it would provide all the keywords that rank for it. Does Moz do that do you know? Thanks

                                        Keyword Research | Oct 25, 2024, 8:21 PM | patn_studio
                                        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 | Apr 14, 2024, 6:40 PM | romanjames
                                        0
                                      • annabel.schoeman

                                        The same keyword on multiple pages, but not all (combined with other relevant keywords) for products.

                                        Hi Guys, I want to get an opinion/advice on this. My client has a site that have all their products (I am working on expanding the product descriptions, benefits and how they differ from each other) listed and I just want to know if I can use the term 'gear oil' for example on multiple pages as one of the keywords. The product range (among others like transmission fluid and anti-freeze) is gear oil (with the different types of gear oils available described) and I can't really change what the product is. I do have different variations (such as gear lubricant, automotive gear lubricant, car gear oil etc.) but will it do damage if I use the same keyword (like gear oil) on multiple pages (along with another relevant keyword that does not involve the words gear oil)? Any help on this will be greatly appreciated!

                                        Keyword Research | Mar 10, 2021, 10:07 PM | annabel.schoeman
                                        0
                                      • IM_Learner

                                        How to finalize the keywords for SEO?

                                        Hi, I use the following method for keyword research: Create a long raw list of keywords. Use Google AdWords Keyword tool to find monthly searches. Find raw competition. Find direct competition (via allinanchor: search operator) Calculate KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) Calculate KOI (Keyword Opportunity Index) Is there any other (better) way to execute the keyword research? Or is finalizing/selecting the keywords only on the basis of monthly searches sufficient? In short, how to select the best keywords from a long list? Thanks & Regards

                                        Keyword Research | Dec 26, 2013, 1:49 PM | IM_Learner
                                        0
                                      • Personnel_Concept

                                        How can a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition?

                                        Sometimes I notice in Google keyword tool that a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition? Why would anyone go for a keyword with very less search volume ?? (note: If Checked in Google keywords tool with Exact match) Though I understand this tool doesn't always have exact data but still any explanation to that question?

                                        Keyword Research | Nov 19, 2012, 9:43 PM | Personnel_Concept
                                        0
                                      • Frost

                                        Global Search Count

                                        If I ranked top on google for a keyword for Exact  Local Search Count say 2000.How much of the Exact Global Search Count of 4000 contribute to  Exact Local Search Count

                                        Keyword Research | Aug 9, 2012, 6:41 PM | Frost
                                        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 | Apr 1, 2013, 3:25 PM | 5225Marketing
                                        2
                                      • kchandler

                                        Keyword Research (dash or no dash)

                                        I have a client that has been optimizing for "print and apply" for the past 5 months. Yesterday they decided it was more grammatically correct to use "print-and-apply." There question to me was "is this going to effect our SEO?" So... I checked the difficulty using the keyword analysis tool, both keywords had the same broad/exact adwords traffic as well as difficulty percentage. When reviewing the top 25 listings for each keyword it looks like the same sites rank in the SERPs between 1-8 and then after that it is completely different. So, is there a better keyword to target? Are these two keywords different enough to truly have separate search results?
                                        The top 8 results didn't even target "print-and-apply" in there content or title tags... Thanks for the input/discussion - Kyle

                                        Keyword Research | Aug 10, 2011, 2:50 PM | kchandler
                                        0

                                      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.