These are three different numbers, and none of the two named in the title is the one you're billed on.
| Number | What it counts |
|---|---|
|
Search count (Analytics) |
Searches after aggregation - related keystrokes are collapsed into one reported search. |
|
Tracked search count (Analytics) |
The subset of those searches sent with clickAnalytics: true, so they feed Click and Conversion Analytics. |
|
Search requests (Billing) |
Unaggregated API calls to the search endpoint. This is what you're charged for. |
Why the search count is lower than your request count
Analytics aggregates. If a user types "key", your application sends search requests for "k", "ke", and "key", three billable requests, but Analytics reports a single search for "key".
Aggregation isn't unconditional, though. Requests are collapsed only when they:
- are close enough in spelling to look like one evolving query,
- arrive within a 30-second window, and
- share the same user ID.
So a user who pauses mid-query for longer than 30 seconds, or whose requests arrive without a consistent user ID, produces more than one reported search. This is why your Analytics figure isn't simply "one per completed word". The mechanism is documented in Query aggregation.
Tracked searches
A search is tracked if you send clickAnalytics: true with the query. Only tracked searches are forwarded to your Click and Conversion Analytics. If your tracked search count is zero, nothing is being reported to those dashboards - that's a configuration matter, not a billing one.
If you're reconciling against an invoice
Use neither of these numbers. Search requests are the billed unit, and they're a different figure - see Why are the number of search requests shown in the Billing and Analytics pages different? and What is the difference between a Search Operation and a Search Request?