Google Keyword Planner Hiding Grouped Phrases

Most of you are likely aware that Google recently increased the “grouping” of related keywords in Google Keyword Planner. This meant that terms like “seo” and “search engine optimization” would show the same search volume which was actually the combined search volume of the two terms. Well, Google has responded to concerns with a slightly updated solution which, rather than showing both terms, simply switches the keyword to the canonical version. In this case, if you look up the phrase “search engine optimization” or “chief operating officer”, you will see that Google Keyword Planner replaces them with “SEO” and “COO” respectively.

In many ways, this is an improvement insofar as you can add all the suggested volumes up from a keyword list and be left with a more accurate number. However, it also comes at a loss. The keywords you put in won’t match the keywords you get out, so you will have to do a little footwork to match everything up. Or, of course, you could look to an alternative to Keyword Planner altogether 🙂