{
  "slug": "page-one-footprint-retention",
  "name": "Page-one footprint retention",
  "aliases": [
    "Page-one retention",
    "Footprint retention",
    "Page-one slots held"
  ],
  "definition": "How much of the page-one presence held in an earlier window is still held now, whether a market event cost you standing space or merely rearranged it.",
  "category": "SERP volatility",
  "type": "rate",
  "unit": "a retention percentage against the comparison window",
  "direction": "higher-better",
  "verification": "review",
  "aggregation": "A comparison between two windows of results-page observations, averaged across the rows in scope. Retention percentages do not average across formats meaningfully; each format's retention is against its own comparison base.",
  "grain": "One content format, across a current window and a comparison window.",
  "dimensions": [
    "content format"
  ],
  "requiredFilters": [
    "date range",
    "comparison date range"
  ],
  "sources": [
    "rank-tracking"
  ],
  "reports": [
    "serp-volatility-report"
  ],
  "skills": [
    "update-week-check",
    "market-share-review",
    "anomaly-investigator"
  ],
  "verbs": [],
  "rungs": [
    "R2"
  ],
  "levers": [
    "L2"
  ],
  "questions": [
    "Did we keep our page-one space through the update?",
    "Which content formats lost page-one ground?"
  ],
  "caveats": [
    "Retention is against a chosen comparison window, so the reading changes with the window, a quiet comparison base makes an ordinary week look like a collapse.",
    "Slots are results-page positions, not clicks: holding the same footprint through a layout change can still cost traffic.",
    "The dataset carries a retention percentage and a separate share-retention index among eight related figures. They are different readings and must not be quoted interchangeably.",
    "Content format is the only dimension on it. There is no platform, country or device axis, so a cut by those is not something this dataset can answer."
  ],
  "freshness": "~1 day behind, daily observation, available the following day.",
  "failureModes": [
    "Comparing retention figures computed against different comparison windows.",
    "Reading a retained footprint as retained traffic.",
    "Averaging per-format retention into a site figure.",
    "Quoting the share-retention index as though it were the retention percentage."
  ],
  "notSameAs": [],
  "related": [
    "serp-volatility-index",
    "domain-movers-count",
    "ranked-keyword-coverage",
    "search-market-share"
  ],
  "workflows": [],
  "lastVerified": "2026-08-04"
}