d Authority is a new metric introduced by Moz to measure the strength of a brand.

The company has announced that a new metric called Brand Authority is now available within the Moz Pro SEO Toolset and Moz API.

Brand Authority. Moz’s new Brand Authority metrics can be found at Domain Overview. Moz gives a score of “online brand strength”, ranging from 1-100. A new brand comparison visual is also available.

• According to Dr. Peter J. Meyers of Moz, a marketing scientist, “At the highest level, Brand Authority uses Moz’s understanding of search intent and volume to calculate a total score that reflects a website’s brand search terms.”
• We know, for example, that searches such as [iPhone 15] or [iPad Pro] reflect a high level of awareness about the Apple brand. Brand Authority takes all of this information and compares it to the most well-known brands.
• While we cannot tie a specific Brand Authority Score to an offline factor, this score reflects the overall (including offline) impact that big brands have on the world.

This metric is only based on U.S.-based data. However, Moz plans to include data from other regions by 2024.

Meyers said that the data points for Brand Authority would be updated at various intervals. However, the metric itself will be refreshed every two months, he added.

This metric will not increase the price of Moz Pro. Moz stated that accessing Brand Authority in the API would incur additional fees.

Why do we care? Moz users may want to see if the metric is useful for SEO, public relations or other marketing efforts – as well as get an idea of how Moz evaluates your brand strength in comparison to your competitors. But I’m sure many SEOs will be skeptical about another “authority score” of 1-100, especially those that don’t use Moz.

Why Moz is interested. When I asked why, they said that SEOs and marketers could use the score. Meyers said:

• “While the mechanisms by which brands influence search results can be complex and are not always transparent, it is important that SEOs understand and measure the brand influence. This was the reason for creating a metric such as Brand Authority.
• Brand Authority is an interesting tool for marketers and PR because it includes success signals that go beyond search. It’s firmly rooted in SEO expertise.

Brand Authority as described by Moz. Users can use this metric in the following ways:

• “…assess the marketing gaps of their company to maximize the return on their investment. They can also see the true value and potential of their sales prospects, as well as the influence of media brands who cover their stories.

What it is and how it differs from Domain Authority Moz, the company behind the controversial Domain Authority metrics predicts the “likelihood of a website ranking” in search using a similar scoring system.

Domain Authority will not disappear. Both metrics will coexist. Meyers stated that the metrics were “complementary”, and that there was little overlap in the way the two metrics were computed.

• “Domain Authority is an important indicator for online ranking and strength, while Brand Authority captures signals that are more general about an organization’s influence.
• Our improved Domain Overview Tool now displays a four-quadrant visualisation of Domain Authority vs. Brand Authority helps customers to understand their relationship with their competitors.”

Brand Authority and other brand score metrics. For years, search marketers have used metrics like NPS (net promoter score), share-of-voice analysis, and sentiment analysis as a way to measure the strength of a brand. Brand Authority aims to “capture the awareness of people about a brand before they start their search or buyer’s journey,” Meyers explained.

• Brand Authority is a search centric metric which helps us understand how brands influence our online efforts (including offline influence such as traditional advertising, word-of-mouth, and other forms of communication), by analyzing the searchers’ awareness about brand terms, including sub-brands and products and services,” Meyers said.

The Top 500 U.S. Brands Moz also revealed a list 500 sites that have the highest level of Brand Authority. Five brands received a score of 100.

• google.com
• youtube.com
• facebook.com
• amazon.com
• walmart.com

Also in the Top 10:

• target.com (98)
• yahoo.com (98)
• homedepot.com (96)
• walgreens (94)
• foxnews.com (94)

The first time Search Engine Land published the post New metric to measure brand strength, Brand Authority, appeared on Search Engine Land .