I recently discovered a fantastic update from Google Search Console that’s now available for all eligible sites. This new feature shows exactly how much traffic comes from branded versus non-branded search queries, and I couldn’t wait to explore its potential.
Google’s branded queries filter, which was announced on November 20, allows us to separate branded and non-branded search traffic in the Performance report. This is a game-changer for anyone who’s struggled with manual regex filters or keyword lists to achieve similar results.
Why I care. As someone deeply invested in understanding brand demand versus discovery traffic, this new native segmentation in Search Console makes life so much easier. Finally, I can accurately measure and compare these insights.
What Google announced. Today, Google confirmed through a LinkedIn post that this branded queries filter is accessible to us all. It helps analyze the queries driving traffic by autofiltering between branded and non-branded ones.
Exploring the details. This filter can be found in the Search results Performance report and allows queries to be segmented into two main groups:
Branded: These queries include our brand name, its variations, any misspellings, and brand-related products and services.
Non-branded: This group covers all other types of queries.
When applying the filter, Search Console restricts metrics like impressions, clicks, CTR, and average position, focusing solely on the selected group. The filter works across all search types including Web, Image, Video, and News.
Notable insights. Google also enriched the Insights report with a new card that breaks down clicks between branded and non-branded traffic, providing a clearer picture of brand recognition.
As Google explained, this feature helps us measure the traffic from users already familiar with our brand compared to those discovering it for the first time.
Understanding Google’s classification. Google employs an AI-driven system to classify queries as branded. This system can adeptly recognize brand names in various languages, handle misspellings or variations, and detect queries that mention unique brand products or services.
There might be occasional misclassifications due to the contextual nature of brand detection, and Google clarifies that this filter doesn’t impact search rankings.
Keeping an eye out. With today’s announcement, this feature is supposedly available for all eligible sites. However, some sites might not qualify yet due to specific query and impression volume requirements.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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