What's the future of SERP Tracking? And... Is SEOMoz's SERP Rank Tracking in compliance with Google Adwords API Terms of Service?

[OrionGroup]

My question is:

Is SEOMoz's SERP Rank Tracking in compliance with Google Adwords API Terms of Service?

Background:

The reason I ask is because Raven Tools is now removing their SERP Reporting tool because it uses scraped Google position data.

So, it looks like SEO's will either have to find a new rank tracking tool or find new ways to traffic the effects that rankings have on a website traffic volumes.

For instance, there is a way to get the position a search results was in Google when it was clicked. We could create a secondary profile in Google Analytics for each client and use a custom filter to record the position that the keywords was in when the search result was clicked ( http://www.seomoz.org/blog/show-keyword-position-using-filters-and-advanced-segments )

Or perhaps we'll have to use Google Webmaster Tools' SEO Report to get data somehow ( http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1308626 )

What are your thoughts on this? As you know, ranking data is still a great way to show clients if they are gaining or losing visibility in the search engines. It helps SEO's to report how effective their efforts have been.

Because other ranking software companies uses Adwords API data to show the keyword search volume and advertiser competition of a keyword, they can not or eventually will not be able to use scraped ranking data any more.

But, if another rank tracking tool out there doesn't need to be in compliance with the Adwords API TOS because they don't use that API to show search volume and advertiser competition, they can still technically provide their ranking data and not be violating any TOS, right?

I'm just trying to understand the best way to continue reporting impact of organic keyword rankings on a website.

Does the SEOMoz SERP Tracker comply with Adwords API? Is there another rank tracking tool out there that already is using Average Position data from the GWT SEO Report tool? Should we all just stop reporting rankings to clients altogether?

Scott

[danatanseo]

Great question Scott. I was wondering the same thing when I read the notice from Raven Tools this morning. My guess is that this isn't an issue for SEOMoz because they aren't pulling Adwords data in as part of their SEOMoz pro tools reports.

[OrionGroup]

Hi Dana. I guess SEOmoz doesn't have Adwords API data right directly inline with ranking results, so that could be true. It seems they use the Google Analytics API more than anything.

There is a lot of discussion going around here about this on Raven's announcement:

http://raventools.com/scraped-data/ (127 comments as of the time I posted this reply)

Perhaps someone from SEOmoz knows for sure?

Scott

[OrionGroup]

Dana, how do you currently report rankings to your clients or team members? Do you plan on continuing doing it that way or will you try to ween off of using ranking reports in the future?

Scott

[danatanseo]

Hi Scott. I have never used Raven Tools and am just at the end of their 30 day free trial. I have always used SEOMoz rankings reports and SEO reports to give to my CEO (I am in-house). Honestly, he rarely looks at the rankings and is far more interested in the trend and sources of organic traffic and revenue. I appreciate where he's coming from because if the rankings look great but revenue stinks, then the rankings aren't really worth a hill of beans. I think it's much more valuable for me to identify opportunities and threats more than anything else.

Now that Raven Tools isn't going to have the Rank Tracker or SEMRush info (I was more disappointed about that part actually), are you reconsidering your Raven Tools subscription? Do you think it's still worth the money? The reason I ask is that my free trial ends on December 9th and I've already got approval to upgrade, but am not sure if I want to now. Thoughts?

[eBrandz]

The simple answer is NO. Scraping SERP data is against Google's TOS and they have not given permission/ rights to any company.

The situation with Raven really stinks. In my opinion its Google using its dominant position in search to enforce their rules. And I hope we do not lose access to SEOMoz's Ranking data.

Also, is there a clarity about Google Analytics API? Does that also have the same condition (that you cannot use Google Scraped data)?.

I think this whole thing is counterproductive. Google forcing an SEO SaaS company to change one of its core service - is an example of bullying which reminds me of MS. The easier option would have been to create a rankings API and give it to SEO community. They had a Search API before (which was broken and never worked). And the Google WMT data is unreliable at best. I anticipate more automated search queries to google behind private proxies or more business to companies like AuthorityLabs.

[OrionGroup]

One of the most important things to me was Raven's ability to do automated reporting as PDF files sent to my clients' inboxes on a monthly basis. That, combined with Traffic reports, etc was a cornerstone of our progress reporting.

I'm not considering abandoning Raven just yet. A lot of our internel processes are tied into Raven and their Content Manager and Link Manager, and other tools they have, but it does make it much more appetizing to go find other viable solutions that can help me manage my Internet Marketing client base.

[Gyorgy]

I was worried too, so I asked SEOMoz on Twitter: I really hope @__SEOmoz__ won't shut down the rank tracking tool, like Raven Tools did.

and they replied: We currently have no plans to change our data service options & are listening to what our community has to say

You can find the tweets here.

[OrionGroup]

Just a little followup on this topic on my blog here: http://www.scottofford.com/2012/12/what-is-the-future-of-serp-tracking/ ~ Scott O.

[Gyorgy]

I saw a tweet from Raven, which basically suggests that they will implement the Google Webmaster Tools rankings data into the reporting tool. Probably that's the best way of presenting keyword rankings, because it shows the average positions. Rankings are being affected by so many factors, that it's difficult to tell which ranking report is the most accurate. Location, search history, logged in personalised data, etc, etc.

An average ranking report from Google Webmaster Tools might be more useful than the ones from Raven or SEOMoz.

[carlos4]

No an average ranking from WMT will not be useful because it is based on broad match not exact match.

[OrionGroup]

Ah ha. I can see how that wouldn't be nearly as useful.

[DoRM]

Where did you read that at? I was not aware of that? Is it the same for analytics?

[hartator]

ANAL, but from my understanding of the US laws (LinkedIn vs. hiQ Labs) and having worked on SerpAPI.com, if the data is public, it's in your rights to scrape it.