Not set Vs not Provided Keyword - Google Analytics

(Not Provided) = Organic visits from a keyword search

In 2011 Google switched to a secure server (https) which encrypts search results. Meaning anytime you’re logged into Google (i.e. Gmail, Calendar or YouTube) your searches become protected – Leaving all keyword data as (not provided) in Google Analytics.

We’re noticing most accounts have more than 50% of all keyword information replaced with (not provided).

(Not Set) = A direct visit or a referral from another site

This is a little more complicated, but basically refers to a catch-all for information Google Analytics wasn’t able to identify.

For example, if you see landing page = (not set), it probably means that session didn’t have a page or screen view. The session could have been triggered an Event or an E-commerce hit type.

Conclusion

Google’s ‘not provided’ data is a controversial topic, and there’s no failsafe way to access the data. However, if you’re losing a significant amount of statistical data to ‘not provided’, it’s certainly worth investing some time to overcome the problem. Implementing one or more workarounds may help you to improve your understanding of organic keywords and get a better insight into your missing statistics.