When I click on organic search, the biggest drop is on keyword "not provided". What does this mean?

[Sable_Group]

I am trying to identify the reason for the drop in organic search.

[DirkC]

Can only agree with what Peter is saying.

In addition to the resources mentioned by Gaston - there is also a very nice post on Moz blog on how to retrieve all the data from the Search Console (but you shouldn't be afraid of installing Python):  https://moz.com/ugc/how-to-get-the-data-you-need-from-googles-search-analytics-api

Sorry for abusing the Moz q&a for some self promotion

If you have a sudden drop in traffic - don't forget to check if your tracking code is still present on all your pages (you could use Screaming Frog to do that - http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/screaming-frog-to-verify-google-analytics/

Dirk

[Mobilio]

As i explain you here:
https://moz.com/community/q/on-google-analytics-under-search-queries-the-most-popular-query-is-not-set-how-do-i-find-out-what-this-is
only reliable source for information is Search Console.

BUT - data in SC is showed with few data behind. For example - today Jan 28 i see data up to Jan 24. So wait few days and you can see drop identified with pages, queries and type (web/image/video) and much more.

In GA you can switch primary dimension to "Landing page" (in same Organic Keywords section) and see is drop sitewide or for specific pages.

Also see changes in algorithms here:
https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change
and try to match algo changes with your traffic increasing or sudden drops.

[GastonRiera]

Hi,

The "not provided" is a metaphor that Google Analytics uses in order to not show some of the info.
There were some people (lots ) that said it was because of the privacy, other because of google didn't want you to know.

Any way, the trick is to link thw Search Console (used to be WebMasters Tools) to the Google Analytics account. Remember that SC only shows data until 2 days ago.

Also, here you have some articles that might help you to understand:
How to Unlock Your ‘Not Provided’ Keywords in Google Analytics - KissMetrics
How to Analyze Google Analytics (not provided) Data - Moz Blog
Easing the Pain of Keyword Not Provided: 5 Tactics for Reclaiming Your Data - Moz Blog
When Keyword (not provided) is 100 Percent of Organic Referrals, What Should Marketers Do? - Rand Fishkin

Hope it's useful.
GR