Internal Search Term
The exact keyword or phrase a user enters into an on-site or in-app search function. This dimension categorizes search interactions by the user's expressed intent and is used to analyze content/product discoverability, navigation effectiveness, and demand signals within owned digital properties.
Business Use Case
An e-commerce merchandising team filters sessions by Internal Search Term = 'running shoes' to evaluate search exit rate, product click-through, add-to-cart rate, and revenue generated from users expressing high purchase intent for that category.
Business Criticality
High
Journey / Navigation Area
Digital Analytics
Scope
Event
Formula
Captured directly from the internal site search input field at the time a search_results_view or equivalent internal search event fires. If you want to capture from URL here is the formula LOWER(TRIM(URL_DECODE(search_query_parameter))).Calculation Notes
1️⃣ Capture search results rendering or submission consistently. 2️⃣ Prefer submitted terms over auto-suggest unless measuring suggestions. 3️⃣ Normalize casing and whitespace for consistency; retain raw value separately. 4️⃣ Exclude external search engines and paid keywords. 5️⃣ Ensure URL search term decoding and parameter governance. 6️⃣ Handle language, stemming, stop-words, and typos in downstream reporting only. 7️⃣ Do not capture sensitive data without governance approval; implement bot filtering.
Technical Details
Events
| Platform | Event |
|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 | search_term |
| Adobe | eVar12, prop12 or can be any available eVar or prop |
Data Mappings
W3 Data Layer
{
"event": "search_results_view",
"search": {
"searchTerm": "running shoes",
"searchType": "internal",
"resultsCount": 128,
"searchMethod": "manual"
}
}GA4 Data Layer
{
"event": "view_search_results",
"search_term": "running shoes",
"search_type": "internal",
"results_count": 128
}Adobe Client Data Layer
{
"event": "searchResultsView",
"search": {
"internalSearchTerm": "running shoes",
"searchType": "internal",
"resultsCount": 128
}
}XDM Mapping
{
"eventType": "siteSearch",
"_experience": {
"analytics": {
"customDimensions": {
"eVars": {
"eVar12": "running shoes"
},
"props": {
"prop12": "running shoes"
}
}
}
},
"siteSearch": {
"phrase": "running shoes",
"isInternal": true,
"resultsCount": 128
}
}SQL Queries
Google Analytics 4 (BigQuery)
SELECT event_date, event_timestamp, user_pseudo_id, user_id, ga_session_id, (SELECT ep.value.string_value FROM UNNEST(event_params) ep WHERE ep.key = 'search_term') AS internal_search_term FROM `project.dataset.events_*` WHERE event_name IN ('view_search_results','search_results_view') AND (SELECT ep.value.string_value FROM UNNEST(event_params) ep WHERE ep.key = 'search_term') IS NOT NULL;Adobe Experience Platform (AEP Query Service)
SELECT timestamp AS event_timestamp, identityMap.ECID[0].id AS mcid, session_id, _experience.analytics.customDimensions.eVars.eVar1 AS internal_search_term FROM dataset WHERE eventType IN ('commerce.searchResultsView') AND _experience.analytics.customDimensions.eVars.eVar1 IS NOT NULL;Source Data
Digital Analytics, Business Intelligence
Dependencies
Prerequisite: List the dependencies required for this Dimension
Events:
Metrics:
Report Attributes
Dimensions: Internal Search Term, Search Results Count, Search Type, Landing Page, Device Category Metrics: Searches, Users, Sessions, Search Exit Rate, Conversion Rate, Revenue, Add-to-Cart Rate KPIs: Search-to-Conversion Rate, Zero-Result Search Rate
Segment Eligibility
True
Governance
Derived Dimensions
Governance
GitHub
catalog/dimensions/internal-search-term.yml