Ginny Marvin says, “First there were the error notices that users have to have an active campaign, not just an AdWords account to access Keyword Planner. Then came combined search volumes for close variants.

A Google spokesperson has confirmed with Search Engine Land that users do not have to have an active campaign to use Keyword Planner. On social media, Google told users that the error was the result of a technical issue that was being fixed. When Keyword Planner launched inside AdWords in 2013, replacing the open Keyword Tool, it got a cool reception. So there was alarm when some users got the error message telling them they’d also have to have an active AdWords campaign to use it. The error didn’t affect all accounts; still it got people speculating whether it just a glitch or Google backtracking. Either way, for now at least we can move on.

So, to close variants and the resulting combined search volume results. Google isn’t commenting the move; we asked. Close variants grouping is not necessarily unexpected — Google replaced exact match targeting with close variants in ad campaigns in 2014 — and yet it is often inconsistent. Sometimes plurals are grouped, sometimes they aren’t”.

What the heck is going on with Google Keyword Planner?

Search Engine Land

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