Since Google Instant Search launched earlier this week, a lot of people have been concerned with how their Google Analytics reports, specifically their keyword reports, would be impacted. The most common question asked is will Analytics show partial keywords in my reports.
This question is based on the fact that with Google’s new Instant Search, results are triggered as people type words in the Google search bar. So as you’re typing, results are being triggered, and theoretically, your web pages can be viewed and clicked during a partially typed out phrase.
According to Google, your Analytics report will not show partial search phrase queries. Instead, what you’ll see in Analytics is the predictive phrase that was generated in the search bar during the search query.
For example, if a user was typing “web metrics” but got the search result she wanted at “web met” with the predicted term being “web metrics”, then you will see “web metrics” in your Google Analytics reports.