The Improved Formula Behind Our Keyword Volume Feature

Keyword Volume feature

At Similarweb, we go to great lengths to deliver the freshest and most reliable digital intelligence data out there. So naturally, we’re excited to announce that we’ve released a huge improvement to how we calculate keyword volume – the number of times a keyword is searched on Google.

Previously, we were getting this data directly from the Google Ads API, but we were running into three major issues:

1. Grouping: Google groups similar keywords (including misspellings) and assigns all keywords within one group the same volume. So “similarweb” and “ssimilarweb” have the exact same volume according to Google’s API.
2. Coverage: Google’s volume is heavily based on Google Ads, so long-tail keywords that don’t have ads placed against them will tend to not have volume metrics provided. Also, certain keyword types are banned from having ads on them.
3. Freshness: Google Ads API has a 2-3 week delay.

The new hybrid calculation

So, we decided to supplement what Google gives us with our own behavioral and publicly captured data. We call this a “hybrid” calculation, as it is now based on several distinct data sources, leading to greater confidence in the result. Check out some of the results and how they address the three main problems with Google’s volume metric:

No more keyword grouping

In this ‘before’ example, Google creates two groups of similar keywords and assigns them all the same volume. But with the new hybrid keyword volume calculation, volumes are unique:

More coverage and freshness

In this example, Similarweb can now detect 70% more low-volume keywords driving traffic to cnn.com in the U.S. over the last 28 days:

We hope this update makes it even easier for you to identify valuable keywords using Similarweb. Check it out.

by Kyle Weeks

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Similarweb

With experience at Apple and startups, Kyle helps SEOs grow traffic at Similarweb. He’s also a culinary school grad and Certified Sommelier.