I want to circle back to news from Google that broke earlier in the month regarding encrypted search and address how it can impact international markets. Google made a change several months ago to google.com where users who are logged in have secure socket layer (SSL) encryption added to their web searches providing an added layer of privacy. Google pushes the security and privacy aspects of the default SSL measure and calls on more companies to adopt SSL in their offerings. This move also set up the then forthcoming launch of Google Search Plus your World. A byproduct of this SSL measure, though, is that less search data is available for advertisers. It brings the "not provided" keyword return in Google Analytics into existence and pushes SEO companies and internet marketers to reassess and adapt their practices.
Now local Google sites in international markets (such as google.co.uk, google.com.au) will have SSL as a default too. International SEO experts must utilize informational resources learn from their counterparts here in the US market as this rollout begins to happen because they too will start to experience the impact that marketers in the US have been negotiating for a few months now. To that end, there has been some quality writing on the subject, and I'll address some essential take-aways that international SEO experts can use as a jumping off point applying each to their own market: