Google Updates Webmaster Tools Search Query

The update will slightly affect the way the number of 'impressions' and 'clicks' are represented in Webmaster Tools, "to simplify their interpretation.," says Google. Both 'impressions' and 'clicks' are crucial information in the table. "'Impressions' shows the number of times your pages were shown in the search results for a certain query, and 'clicks' is how many times users actually clicked on a result from your site."

The post explained the 'slight change' as, "Instead of showing numbers rounded to two or three digits, the numbers will now be shown with one or two significant digits. For example, instead of Webmaster Tools showing you 246,000 impressions, it will now show 250,000 impressions, which is a nicer representation for a better, less confusing experience. We have not altered the way we calculate the numbers internally, but only changed how we round them in Webmaster Tools."

Google believes that the update will help by simplifying the interpretation of 'impressions' and 'clicks' for the webmasters using the Search Queries feature. However, Danny Sullivan (Search Engine Land) seems to have a different take on it, and so might webmasters. Sullivan says that now (with the update) "the reports are less accurate because they are more rounded."

You can go to the Help Center, to learn more about the feature and the update or the Webmaster Help Forum for any feedback on it. Below is an visual comparison of 'Impressions before and after the new Search Queries update.'