Do you think Google analytics affects your ranking?
 

What is your opinion about this? Matt cuts from google says NO, but I think yes.

Anybody did some tests on this? And what are the alternatives?

why the fuck would it effect your ranking ?

i'm no genius but some of you people are dumb as all fuck

google provides a way for the webmaster to utilize all the data it already has collected and will continue to collect on their sites and then and then penalizes the webmaster if they simply access that data

yeah that sounds sane and logical doesnt it pepe

Answer: Yes

:1orglaugh

No. If I have a website with targeted keywords with Analytics on and absolutely nothing else, there will be no traffic to the site just because traffic is being tracked with Google. I've tested it with sites that I've abandoned or built then forgot about.. :upsidedow

Prioritizing websites with high paying Adsense keywords makes more sense, though..

We'll they have the data because you put the analytics code in your website :-) If you wouldn't use analytics they won't have that much data.

No it doesn't affect rankings,tested it and there was no effect.Considering there is 200 factors which affect rankings it can look like GA caused it.

I doubt it

You're giving Google too much credit. It's not always easy to determine say that one runs several different sites, which may engage in questionable practices per their guidelines. So if you put the same analytics code on all those sites, you just gave away the farm.

i would say yes it can do, did for me

No, at least not for me...can't speak for anyone else. I use Analytics and have my sites in GWT and I always gain nice traffic with every Panda/Penguin update (except for a few blogs that lose a little).

Buying traffic seems to help but doubt its because they have your GA data. More likely they see the routes to your site.

Helps out for what?

google is all knowing. Beware.

No, it doesn't. In fact, it will more likely hurt. Bought traffic, unless clicked & targeted, will result in piss-poor bouncing rates and time on site. Which, in return, will see your rankings take a shit.

Yes. Why else would Google make GA available? If you use GA, you give Google a lot of data to analyze. You would have to be incredibly naive or a Google fanboy to think they will not use that data for their own benefit.

Anyone that says "yes", needs to see a therapist for their unreasonable and irrational paranoia.

Having a big traffic drop after adding it and suspecting a connection doesn't make you irrational or paranoid, its common sense.

:thumbsup :2 cents:
Google is in privacy violation at all times, now and then it will get a huge fine for such violations, but it gains a lot more spying on you than what it has to pay to the FTC.
It has been 3 or 4 years that Google has become a shady spying fuck, thats why I use other statistic services such as Statcounter.com or others for websites that I SEO.

yes...................

Why not blame that on the sun for rising that day? Thats not irrational or paranoid, its "common sense" as well. You don't need to be a math genius to understand what you describe is not a statistically relevant pattern that allows ones to draw solid conclusions it is two single events which may or may not be related.

100% correct

i've been doing this a long time, when i decided to put GA on some of my sites within days the traffic - only on the sites that i added GA to - dropped in traffic by a massive amount where as the non GA sites remained the same. that may not be a "statistically relevant pattern" to you, but only a fool would ignore it.

I'll say "yes" but it has nothing to do with paranoia or being unreasonable or irrational.

The question was "Do you think Google analytics affects your ranking?"

If you use GA to its full benefit, you should indeed see a boost in ranking (and sales), simply because you will have used it to optimize your site through A/B tests etc., making it more relevant to users (keywords matching content), lowering bounce rates and taking advantage of all of GA's other traffic-building features.

If you just log in to see how many visitors you are getting, then it won't affect ranks...

Thats what I mean, quality traffic that google can follow the route to.

And let me guess, you're selling it, right? :Graucho

Of course it affects your ranking. Google puts a lot of effort in collecting data. That is what they do. They collect data and run it through their system to distil the information users are searching for. By using Google Analytics you are giving Google data they otherwise would not have. You are also giving them data that they can use to validate other data and verify estimates they already have. By doing this you are inevitably also giving them data that might expose aspects of your site or traffic that the current Google algorithms will favor or disapprove of. And that can result in a lowering of your ranking.

:2 cents::2 cents:

Even if not now, they will in the future.

YEP, it DOES... I have been testing it for the last 3 years on several BLOGS and always the same results...

GA definitely affect rankings, its not a conspiracy theory anymore, its a FACT.

PIRIOD.

Not sure if I agree but this post makes the most sense so far.

It really doesn't. First of all, you have to check a box to share data with Google so just using default Analytics won't affect anything.
Secondly, if they are collecting data to analyze for future ranking algorithms, why the hell would they mess up their data by favoring people simply by using their tracking software?

What are the sites that rank highest doing?

What are the tubes doing?

Are the high traffic porn sites using them and still getting SE traffic?

Answer those and the answer will come clear.

ive stopped using them

no it doesnt.

And of course google is using your data, why else would they offer a service for free. Same with every other "free" service out there :2 cents: