Google’s Search Console has launched a new branded queries filter that helps you learn about your website’s search performance. Users can now see an important Google new update that separates traffic based on brand-specific searches versus users who find you through other terms. This difference helps you fine-tune your SEO strategy more effectively.
The new filter appears in the branded queries filter in Search Console Performance report and splits your data between Branded and Non-branded views. This tool lets you track brand awareness and compare traffic from users who know your business with those who find you naturally. Your brand-related searches often rank higher with better click-through rates, while non-branded searches show where you can grow organically.
Google Rolls Out Brand Search Query Filter In Search Console
Image Source: Google for Developers
“We’re happy to announce we’re providing an additional tool to analyze the performance of your website by query type in the Search Console Performance Report: the branded queries filter. This new feature is designed to help analyze the queries driving traffic to your site by automatically differentiating between branded and non-branded queries.” — Google Search Central Blog, Official Google Search Central Team
Google has rolled out a new brand search queries filter in Search Console, marking one of its most important advances in search analytics. The feature uses an AI-assisted system that automatically tells branded and non-branded search terms apart, instead of relying on traditional regular expressions.
The smart system can spot your brand name in different languages and catch common misspellings. It even knows when people search for your products without mentioning your company’s name. This makes it far better than basic keyword matching.
The filter works in the Search results Performance report for web, image, video, and news searches. You can see metrics like impressions, clicks, average position, and CTR for both branded and non-branded traffic right away.
Google’s Search Console Insights report now includes a visual breakdown card. It shows how clicks are split between branded and non-branded traffic. This helps track your brand’s growing recognition compared to organic discovery.
The feature works only with top-level properties right now. Subdomain properties and URL path properties can’t use it yet. Your site must have sufficient query volume to access this feature. Google is rolling it out slowly over several weeks, so you should wait before seeing it in your account.
Remember that this tool won’t change how Google ranks your site in search results – it’s just for analysis.
Users Can Now Segment Branded Vs Non-Branded Traffic
Image Source: Porter Metrics
“A branded query is a query that includes your brand name (for example, Google), variations or misspellings of the brand name (for example, Gogle), and brand-related products or services: (for example, Gmail).” — Google Search Central Blog, Official Google Search Central Team
The new branded queries filter makes it easy to separate your search traffic into distinct categories. You can now analyze two significant traffic segments in your Search Console Performance report with precision.
Users can find this Google new feature in the Performance report under the search filter for queries. The filter splits data into two clear views:
- Branded – Shows performance for queries containing your brand name or associated products
- Non-branded – Displays metrics for all other search terms
This segmentation works with web, image, video, and news searches. The filter instantly shows key metrics like impressions, clicks, CTR, and average position for your selected segment.
This difference helps you learn about traffic patterns effectively. Users who know your business often show higher rankings and click-through rates in branded searches. New visitors find your content organically through non-branded queries.
The latest Insights card boosts your analysis by showing a visual breakdown of total clicks between branded and non-branded categories. You can measure brand recognition and organic discovery simultaneously.
This segmentation gives you clear visibility into how different audiences engage with your site in search results. You can see both loyal followers and potential new customers at a glance.
AI System Powers Brand Query Classification
A sophisticated AI system powers the new branded queries filter and classifies complex searches behind the scenes. Traditional methods used regular expressions or keyword matching, but this feature employs an internal, AI-assisted system that identifies brand-related searches with remarkable precision.
The system’s intelligence goes way beyond the reach and influence of simple pattern matching. It can recognize your brand’s name across all languages and spot common typos that users make while searching. The system also identifies queries that don’t directly mention your brand name but are linked to your site’s unique products or services.
Manual filtering falls nowhere near this AI-powered approach. SEO teams used to build their own filters with regular expressions or depend on external tools. These methods failed to catch variations of brand names or unusual combinations of search terms. The AI system reads these patterns with better accuracy.
The system has its limitations. Brand classification can be tricky because of its contextual nature, and some queries might be wrongly tagged. The technology is a big deal as it means that data accuracy has improved, and teams spend less time on manual cleanup.
Companies with short or common names should watch how Google sorts their queries during the rollout phase. This AI-driven approach makes the filter much more effective than the older manual methods.
Search Console Filter Helps Refine SEO Strategy
The branded queries filter adds a powerful dimension to your SEO strategy. This segmentation tool helps you understand traffic patterns that weren’t easily available before. Your performance metrics become more meaningful, especially when you have to separate users who know your brand from those who find you through organic search.
Branded queries typically show higher average positions and click-through rates. You can measure your brand-building activities’ results separately from your SEO campaigns. This difference gives you clear ROI proof for both efforts.
Your marketing and PR initiatives’ success becomes evident by tracking branded impressions. The growth in non-branded traffic shows how well your content reaches potential customers. This filter makes your monthly reporting more insightful. Brand recognition and audience discovery metrics become clearly separated.
Want to check if search penalties affect your site’s visibility? Use RankFast’s Google Penalty Checker to find and fix problems that might limit your search performance.
So, if you worried about potential search penalties affecting your site’s visibility? RankFast’s Google Penalty Checker gives you a great way to spot and fix any problems that might limit your search performance. The combination of Google’s new branded query filter and RankFast’s specialized SEO tools will give you the power to optimize your digital presence effectively.
FAQs
Q1. What is the new branded query filter in Google Search Console?
The branded query filter is a Google new feature in Google Search Console that allows users to segment their search performance data into branded and non-branded queries. It helps website owners analyze traffic patterns and distinguish between users searching specifically for their brand versus those discovering their site through non-branded terms.
Q2. How does the AI system classify branded queries?
Google’s AI-assisted system intelligently identifies branded queries by recognizing brand names across multiple languages, accounting for common typos, and even identifying searches for specific products associated with a site. This sophisticated approach goes beyond simple keyword matching, making it more accurate than traditional filtering methods.
Q3. What metrics can I analyze using the branded query filter?
With the brand search query filter, you can analyze key metrics such as impressions, clicks, click-through rates (CTR), and average position for both branded and non-branded traffic segments. This segmentation works across all search types, including web, image, video, and news searches.
Q4. How can the branded query filter help refine my SEO strategy?
The filter allows you to distinguish between traffic driven by brand recognition and organic discovery. This insight helps you measure the effectiveness of brand-building activities separately from SEO campaigns, identify growth opportunities, and make more informed decisions about resource allocation for different marketing initiatives.
Q5. Is the branded query filter available for all websites in Search Console?
The branded query filter is currently rolling out gradually and is available only for top-level properties in Search Console. Websites must have sufficient query volume to access this feature. It’s not available for subdomain properties or URL path properties at this time.
