Google is making changes to the way it calculates and implements its Quality Score rules.
Currently a keyword’s Quality Score is determined by a number of factors, including the term’s click-through rate (CTR), relevance and historical performance, among others. AdWords Quality Scores influence the amount an advertiser has to pay to run the ad, as well as the position the ad will appear in.
The before and after of the Quality Score changes are:
- Previously, advertisers would see a rating of “poor,” “OK,” or “great.” However in the coming weeks, that will shift to a 10-point system, with one signaling an ad of the poorest quality, and 10 the highest quality.
“Before, you didn’t have much visibility into the score itself. You couldn’t tell whether you were at the top or bottom end of the ‘OK’ or ‘great’ scale, and you couldn’t really see how any changes you made would affect it. With this granular scale, you can make a change and move from 6 to 7, for example, and see that your efforts were successful. You can also better assess the greatest areas for improvement.” 1
- The second change is that the Quality Score will be assessed on a per-query basis, as opposed to being tied to the keyword indefinitely.
“This way, AdWords will use the most accurate, specific, and up-to-date performance information when determining whether an ad should be displayed. Your ads will be more likely to show when they’re relevant and less likely to show when they’re not. In addition, ads that were previously marked “inactive for search” because they didn’t meet the blanket Quality Score requirements may actually be placed in rotation for relevant queries.” 1
- Lastly, keywords will no longer be tied to a minimum bid. Instead, advertisers will see the minimum amount they would need to have their ad appear on the first page of results.
“According to the Inside AdWords blog, this change was tied directly to advertiser feedback.” “We learned that knowing your minimum bid wasn’t always helpful in getting the ad placement you wanted,” the company stated on the blog. “So we hope that first page bids will give you better guidance on how to achieve your advertising goals.” 1
We will be watching the effect of these changes on the campaigns we have under management. The 10 point system may first appear to be helpful but we still don’t have enough specific information to know how to move from say a 7 to an 8 or 9.
The move to a per-query basis may be good; or may not. Currently if you achieved a “Great” you would be there for a while. It will be difficult to judge a moving target if the algorithm changes the ranking too often. There is nothing to lead me to believe this will happen but we will be watching.
The minimum bid tied to first page results has me the most concerned. How will the amateur search marketers respond to this? If everyone starts fighting for the first page we will greatly increase the likelihood of bidding wars where everyone loses.
All we can do at this point is wait and see. Once we have the proper intel we will adjust accordingly.