Occasionally, Yext will introduce new Analytics metrics, deprecate metrics, or update existing metrics. These updates most often happen when one of our publishers updates their UI or the definition of their metrics.

This document includes a running log of these changes, which can be helpful in understanding our metrics and identifying abrupt changes to metric volumes over time. It is organized in reverse chronological order.

 

January 6, 2021 - Knowledge Tags Data Outage

What's changed
From September 16 to September 28, Knowledge Tags experienced a data outage that resulted in missing data in Analytics for the twelve day period. The issue was due to a product bug on Knowledge Tags that failed to send data to Analytics. The data missing in this time range is non-recoverable.

Who's impacted
All accounts that use Knowledge Tags have been impacted. In the platform, this impact will be represented by missing data for the time period or a missing plot point in trended graphs.

 

October 26, 2020 - Das Ortliche Search Metric Update

What's changed
In October 2020, Das Ortliche identified an issue on their end where they discovered they were sending duplicative data to Yext that reflected higher than actual searches. To ensure accuracy in this data, Yext will retroactively remove the duplicative historical data in Yext Analytics beginning from August 31, 2018 to present, and will no longer be including this duplicative data going forward. As a result, some clients may see a decrease in search traffic for Das Ortliche.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Das Ortliche have been affected.

 

September 10, 2020 - Update to Conversion Tracking Value and Count Metric

What's changed
We recently discovered an issue with Tagged-Based Conversions using a Linear attribution model in Conversion Tracking, which caused Yext to underreport the full value and number of conversions that had multiple clicks. Due to this issue, Yext incorrectly reported only the value of a single click (the most recent) instead of each click within the customer journey, resulting in only a fraction of the total Conversion Value and count of Conversions being reported.

This issue was resolved on September 9, 2020, and the full set of clicks will now be counted and attributed to the metrics mentioned.

Who's impacted
Any account using Tag-Based Conversion Tracking with at least one multi-click conversion was impacted by this issue.

 

August 17, 2020 - Google My Business Data Outage

What's changed
On July 21st, 2020, Google experienced an issue causing some clients to see a significant drop or 0’s to appear in Yext Analytics for GMB metrics like Google Views and/or Google Customer Actions. We have reached out to Google to resolve the issue and they have backfilled the data to the best of their ability. As a result, these single days of data in some affected accounts may appear slightly lower than expected despite the backfill.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Google My Business may have been affected.

 

March 12, 2020 - Update to Listings Live Metric

What's changed
We improved the logic for reporting the number of Listings Live in Yext Analytics. The updated logic now includes the full list of publishers, whereas previously we were undercounting the number of publishers and thus the number of live listings. This change will align the numbers shown in Analytics with the numbers shown in Listings. Data will be backfilled to July 26, 2019. Most businesses will see slight increases in the number of Live Listings.

Who's impacted
All accounts with live listings have been affected.

 

November 15, 2019 - TripAdvisor Data Delays

What's changed
Business listing data is missing from the TripAdvisor API on October 29th, October 31st, and November 1st. As a result, TripAdvisor data will not be available in Yext Analytics for these days. We are working closely with the TripAdvisor team to resolve this issue and backfill if possible.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to TripAdvisor have been affected.

 

September 15, 2019 - Google My Business Branded and Discovery Query Changes

What's changed
In early September, Google changed how they capture insight data for businesses. As a result, businesses may see drastic increases in their Google My Business Branded and Discovery queries and Google Maps Views. This does not correspond with an increase in Google Customer Actions, leading us to believe this is due to a change in Google’s data reporting rather than an actual increase in visibility. We have reached out to Google and are awaiting further information. 

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Google My Business have been affected.

 

September 6, 2019 - Facebook Competitor Review Data Outage

What's changed
Beginning in June 2019, Facebook made a change to their API that switched from ratings to recommendations. During this transition, there was a bug in the API that did not allow us to pull in Competitor Review Count and Competitor Average Rating on Facebook. This was fixed by the beginning of August 2019. As a result, users will not see Facebook Competitor Review Data for June and July of 2019.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Facebook using Competitor Analysis.

 

August 30, 2019 - Decrease in Bing Searches

What's changed
There was a UX change on Bing’s end that resulted in lower than normal searches for clients beginning the week of May 27, 2019. We are working with Bing to identify the root cause of the decrease in Searches. If possible, we will recover and backfill the data.

Who's impacted
All accounts live on Bing have been affected.

 

August 30, 2019 - Decrease in Trip Advisor Searches

What's changed
From July 9 to July 22, there were issues with TripAdvisor’s tracking that caused a decrease in Searches. This was fixed on July 23, and Search volume should be back to normal since then. However, TripAdvisor is unable to backfill the missing data from July 9 - July 22.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to TripAdvisor have been affected.

 

June 20, 2019 - Inconsistent Facebook Like Data for Pages with Less Than 30 Likes

What's changed
Facebook's API has a limit on surfacing “Like” data for Facebook Pages that have less than 30 Likes on a Page. However, occasionally they will surface data for Pages that have less than 30 Likes but this data can be inconsistent and will likely not match the actual number of Likes a Page has. We are in communication with Facebook about this inconsistent behavior and will continue to provide updates as available.

Who's impacted
Any accounts synced to Facebook and have Pages with less than 30 Likes.

 

June 6, 2019 - Google My Business Data Outage

What's changed
On May 11, 2019, GMB experienced an issue that caused 0’s to appear in their API and the GMB UI for all clients. This issue has since been resolved and most of the data has been backfilled. However, GMB mentioned that any data that has not already been backfilled for this day is not recoverable. As a result, you may notice lower than normal GMB data, or no GMB data at all for 5/11/2019.

Who's impacted
Any accounts synced to Google My Business may have been affected.

 

May 31, 2019 - Bing Decrease in Searches

What's changed
Starting May 27th, there was a UX change on Bing’s end that resulted in lower than normal searches for our clients beginning the week of May 27, 2019. We are working with Bing to identify the root cause of the decrease in Searches. If possible, we will recover and backfill the data.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Bing have been affected.

 

May 24, 2019 - Foursquare Profile Views Update

What's changed
Starting May 14, we stopped receiving Profile Views data from Foursquare. This appears to be due to a change in the Foursquare API, and we are waiting to hear back from Foursquare to inform our next steps.

Who's impacted
All accounts that are live on Foursquare have been affected.

 

April 26, 2019 - Google Maps Partial Site Outage

What's changed
Google experienced a technical issue with recording impression data for Google Maps from April 6 to April 12. As a result, clients may see lower than expected number of Maps Views and Direct Queries in the Yext Analytics platform. The issue is now resolved, unfortunately, Google is not able to backfill the data. If clients have experienced this issue, they may also expect lower numbers in monthly and weekly analytics reports.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Google My Business have been affected.

 

April 10, 2019 - Misrepresentation of Google Discovery Queries

What's changed
Starting March 26, Yext began surfacing Google Branded Queries data within the platform and backfilled the data for all accounts from August 2018 (when Google introduced the metric). GMB recently updated the documentation for the QUERIES_CHAIN metric fields available in the Google My Business API to clarify that it is a subset of the QUERIES_INDIRECT metric. Due to a misinterpretation, clients will currently see Branded Queries counted in both Branded and Discovery Queries. This has lead to an inflation of the Google Search Queries metric and the Google Discovery Queries dimension. 

Yext is in contact with Google and is working to correct the inaccuracy and backfill the data as soon as possible. In the meantime, the true value of Google Discovery Queries and Google Search Queries can be calculated by subtracting your Branded Query value from each of those metrics.

As a reminder, Google Search Queries are made up of “Discovery Queries,” “Direct Queries,” and now “Branded Queries.” For more details on the addition of Branded Queries, please see the Spring ‘19 Release Notes.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Google My Business have been affected. However, the discrepancy in data may be larger for multi-location chain businesses.

 

January 31, 2019 - Change to Facebook Like Metrics

What's changed
On January 15, Facebook made a change to their API, which caused an error in the integration for the Facebook Likes metric. As a result, users will not see any new data for this metric as of this date. We are actively working toward resolving the issue and will backfill the data once the API is fixed.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Facebook have been affected.

 

January 15, 2019 - Google Search Console Inconsistencies

What's changed
Yext surfaces Google data within the platform exactly as Google passes it to us via their Google Search Console (GSC) API. However, Google’s GSC team is constantly making changes to try to provide higher quality data in its UI and API. As they make these changes, the GSC UI and API may differ. As a result, users may see drops in impressions and clicks for Google Search Impressions and the Google Search clicks metrics within the Yext platform, particularly when applying certain filters (e.g., Page URL and Page Site). Yext has observed particularly notable changes on 8/19/18 and 1/14/19.

More information can be found in the Search Engine Roundtable article.

Who's impacted
All accounts receiving Google Search Console data may be impacted.

 

October 10, 2018 - TripAdvisor Added to Searches and Profile Views Metrics

What's changed
We are now importing data from TripAdvisor into our Analytics platform. The Profile Views and Searches metrics will contain TripAdvisor data beginning on September 25. TripAdvisor will also be added to the Sites dimension in the Report Builder for Enterprise accounts. We will continue to add additional TripAdvisor metrics to the platform over time.

Who's impacted
Any accounts synced with TripAdvisor will be able to view TripAdvisor data and may see a significant increase in Profile Views and Searches.

 

September 13, 2018 - Change to Google My Business Queries

What's changed
In early August, Google changed how they capture insight data for businesses to more accurately reflect consumer query behavior. As a result, businesses may see a 20-30% increase in their Google My Business queries. This increase does not reflect an actual rise in query volume; rather, it is due to a change in Google’s data reporting. Historical data will not be altered.

More information can be found in Google’s announcement. If more details become available, we will update this post.

Who's impacted
Some businesses may see an increase in volume, with "chain" or enterprise clients seeing more impact than small businesses.

 

September 6, 2018 - Yelp Partial Site Outage
What's changed
Yelp had a partial site outage from August 19 to August 20, causing a decrease in analytics data from Yelp across these two days. Metrics affected include Yelp Page Views and Yelp Customer Actions. Specifically, Yelp Phone Calls and Direction Clicks are down on average around ~20%, and Yelp Websites Clicks are missing for August 20. After August 20, all metrics returned to normal levels.

Who's impacted
All accounts synced to Yelp have been affected by the outage.

 

June 26, 2018 - Hidden Search Tracker data
What's changed
From May 25 to June 7, the Search Tracker was unable to run a small percentage of searches. This issue did not result in incorrect data, but it did cause our data to be incomplete. To maintain data quality and accurate trend information, we have hidden data for that time period in impacted accounts.

Updates made:

• For any clients whose Search Tracker searches were affected, Yext has hidden the data for May 25 through June 7.

Who's impacted
A small percentage of accounts that are using the Search Tracker have been impacted. In the platform, this impact will be represented by missing data for the time period or a missing plot point in trended graphs, such as Share of Intelligent Search by Keyword.

 

June 14, 2018 - Update to Search Tracker's Local Pack and Knowledge Card Matches on Google Mobile/Desktop
What's changed
Google has changed the way it displays Knowledge Cards on mobile and desktop, as well as Local Packs on mobile devices. As a result, the Search Tracker was unable to properly identify the number of Knowledge Card Matches on mobile and desktop, as well as the number of Local Pack Matches on Google Mobile from as early as March 12, 2018 through June 13, 2018.

Updates made:

• As of June 14, Yext has updated the Search Tracker so that it will accurately account for the number of Knowledge Cards on Google Mobile and Desktop and the number of Local Pack Matches on Google Mobile.
• As of June 14, Yext has backfilled accurate data for the number of Knowledge Cards on Google Mobile and Desktop and the number of Local Pack Matches on Google Mobile from April 30 through June 13.

Who's impacted
All accounts using the Search Tracker with Google Mobile or Google Desktop as a Tracking Site may have seen their Google Desktop/Mobile Knowledge Card Matches, Google Mobile Local Pack Matches, and Total Local Pack Matches affected. Yext has backfilled all data up to April 30, but any affected data prior to April 30 may not be accurately reflected.

 

October 20, 2017 - Google Search Queries Update
What's changed
Previously, we grouped Google Search Queries into two categories: "Branded" (queries containing the location's name) or "Unbranded" (all other queries). To match Google's labels for these categories, we've made the following changes:

• "Branded" queries are now "Direct" queries.
• "Unbranded" queries are now "Discovery" queries.

These new terms can be found in reports using the Google Query Type dimension, in "Google Search Queries" and "Google Search Queries by Weekday" insights, and on the Listings Overview page.

Who's impacted
All accounts that are live on Google My Business will see these changes in our platform.

 

October 3, 2017 - Facebook Metrics Update
What's changed
We have seen an increase in the number of locations returning at least one profile view per day from the Facebook API.

Who's impacted
Businesses that have many locations synced to Facebook may see increases in Facebook Profile Views from October 3 onward.

 

July 28, 2017 - Facebook Metrics Update
What's changed
Facebook's Profile Views metric has been deprecated with the previous version of Facebook's API. As a result, we will now use Facebook Page Views, instead. This new metric uses slightly different methods of capturing and counting profile views and generally has a lower volume than the Facebook Profile Views metric. The metric's value is included in Yext's Profile Views metric, which is the total of your Profile Views across our PowerListings® Network (not including Google, Bing, Yelp, etc...). Please note that Facebook Page Views will also appear as a separate metric with the other metrics for Facebook. Be careful not to double-count Facebook Profile Views and Facebook Page Views.

The data for other Facebook metrics has been limited to only live locations on Facebook. As a result, the data for these metrics may have been higher than expected and will be retroactively adjusted to reflect our updated integration.

Who's impacted
All accounts that are synced to Facebook will see decreases in the metrics noted above.

 

July 27, 2017 - Google Map Views Update
What's changed
On July 27, Google began logging additional types of impressions on Maps. As a result, some clients may see a significant increase in the number of Google Maps Views their locations receive.

Who's impacted
All accounts that are live on Google My Business may see an increase in Google Maps Views beginning the week of July 24.

 

May 3, 2017 - Yahoo! Profile Views Update
What's changed
The Yahoo! Profile Views metric in Analytics now includes views from Yahoo! Organic Search. Specifically, on both desktop and mobile, Yahoo! Profile Views now includes any views that appeared in the Knowledge Graph Module in search. Previously, this source was not tracked.

Who's impacted
All locations that are live on Yahoo! are impacted. This change has resulted in a substantial increase in Yahoo! Profile Views.

 

January 23, 2017 - Bing Searches Update
What’s changed
The Bing Searches metric in Analytics now includes impressions received across Bing Maps (www.bing.com/maps) and Cortana. The metric was previously limited to only impressions from Web Results (www.bing.com/search).

Who’s impacted
All locations are impacted, but certain verticals have experienced a more pronounced change. Specifically, hospitality locations have seen an increase in search volume.

 

October 19, 2015 to November 2, 2015 - Bing Data Outage
What's changed
Bing experienced a data outage, which caused Search Impressions volume across Bing to experience a decrease for the weeks between 10/19/2015 and 11/2/2015. Clients will notice a drop in Bing volume during this time period but not a complete outage of data.

Who's impacted
All locations are potentially impacted; however, the weeks in which drops in Bing Searches volume could be any or all of the dates between 10/19/2015 and 11/2/2015. Most clients saw data return to normal volumes by 11/2/2015.

 

April 3, 2016 - Yahoo! Profile Views Update
Yahoo! updated their desktop SERP page to display the profile page directly in the SERP without requiring a click-through. We are unable to track this view, which caused an ~50% decrease in Yahoo! Profile Views.

 

February 2016 - Local.com API Maintenance and Dip in Volume
What's changed
Local.com requested Yext to suspend the API integration as they underwent site maintenance. As a result, listings that were still synced with Yext stopped receiving data from February until the fall, when Local.com returned. However, during this period, Local.com also underwent a strategic change to stop purchasing paid ads and, as a result, traffic never returned to the original levels.

Who's impacted
All locations are potentially impacted; however, certain clients may notice a year-over-year dip in Searches volume across the rest of the PowerListings® Network, particularly in verticals where Local.com is a more prominent source of impressions.

 

October 25, 2015 - MapQuest Search Update
MapQuest introduced a new predictive search algorithm, which resulted in an ~70% drop in searches. This new algorithm was designed to provide more accurate and relevant search results.