TechTarget (TTGT) Says Organic Traffic Still Tracking Well Amid Google Algorithm Change

TechTarget, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTGT) announced that the Company is affirming Q2 2014 and full year 2014 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA guidance previously provided on May 6, 2014. Refer to TechTarget’s Q1 Earnings Release to view this guidance.

Organic Traffic Update

Recent published reports have estimated, based on sampling, the potential impact of the recent Panda 4.0 Google algorithm change on various domains, including TechTarget. While TechTarget has seen an impact on certain sites, these estimates are overstated. Even after the algorithm change, TechTarget year over year organic search traffic continues to track ahead of last year on all measures – up over 30% year to date, up over 15% quarter to date, and up single-digit percentages since May 20th, the release date of Panda 4.0. Organic search traffic is not the Company’s only source of traffic and TechTarget also continues to see year over year growth with its other traffic sources.

TechTarget Revenue Composition

The primary sources of TechTarget’s revenue are lead generation, international revenue, IT Deal Alert and custom branding, which are not directly correlated to organic traffic from Google. Fluctuations in organic traffic have a minimal impact on TechTarget’s revenue, positively or negatively.

Historical Perspective on Google Algorithm Changes

From TechTarget Chairman and CEO, Greg Strakosch:

“Our experience with the recent Google Panda 4.0 algorithm change is consistent with what we’ve seen on previous algorithm changes over the almost 15 years that we have been in business. We operate over 120 websites, and in the immediate aftermath of an algorithm change, we see some sites’ traffic increase and others decline.

On a broader point – our experience is that there is an enormous amount of fluctuation after a major Google algorithm change. The impact of the change a week or a month after that change is less relevant than what happens over a longer period of time as the algorithm is constantly being modified. Our previous experiences have been very consistent in that we’ve seen that Google’s algorithm changes have always benefitted quality content sites, and regardless of any short term impact, we’ve always seen our organic traffic grow from these algorithm changes over time. These types of changes are part of our normal operating environment.

Google has been making changes to their algorithm as long as we’ve been in business. The foundation of our business is that we produce high quality, targeted content that is very useful for IT professionals when they are researching which products to buy. The market, and Google, has always rewarded high quality content like ours as our 15-year track record of audience growth demonstrates.”

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