Quality Score: Great. Ad Showing? No

Google can be really frustrating

[Uban]

So I assume I am a "victim" of Google's new ad quality criteria. My keywords are all scored well and I can do a minimum bid as low as $0.04 according to Google's system. I have green checks and a no problem found next to my keywords for Keyword Relevance and Landing Page.

Yet, Google says my ads are not showing. Here's what it says:

Although your ad is showing, its rank is not high enough to place it on the first page of search results. Isn't that a contradiction?

According to Google, my options to fix this are:

Improving CTR
Targeting more specific keywords

The problem is, the one SPECIFIC keyword is what I want to be on page 1 for - the variations of this keyword does not drive nearly as much traffic.

So for example say the specific keyword is: "bikes". Google is making it almost impossible to be on page 1 for "bikes" however all of the variations to this keyword like "mountain bikes" or "bikes for sale" are fine.

This is interesting as I do have lower CTR rates on variations of this keyword and those ads are showing up just fine on page 1. My CTR rate for the one SPECIFIC keyword by itself is 2.00% so far this month and 3.05% for the year. I really have to pay out the NOSE for this one specific keyword to show up on page 1 when just last week it only took what I was more comfortable with, $0.89. I also feel that I "earned" that lower cost to be pretty high on page 1 as I have been paying well for this keyword for the last 3 years.

So long story short, does anyone else see Google saying your ads are not showing up, even though your quality score is rated as "great"?

[edited by: Uban at 5:23 pm (utc) on Oct. 23, 2007]

[netmeg]

Yep, and I usually have to raise the max cpc in order to get back to the first page.

I also feel that I "earned" that lower cost to be pretty high on page 1 as I have been paying well for this keyword for the last 3 years.

I don't think it works like that. By that token, I'd be on top for about 6000 keywords at a low price. I'm not.

[Green_Grass]

Yes.. I have keywords 'great' with bid value 2 cents.. But I have to pay 5 cents to show.

[Uban]

I don't think it works like that. By that token, I'd be on top for about 6000 keywords at a low price. I'm not.

I didn't phrase that well. I meant to say that it seems to be the pattern I saw with my account. I actually consulted the Affiliate program manager's AdWord's account and saw what I could only explain as "seniority" favoritism towards my older account. But, this is totally off topic ;) Just an observation for another discussion.

I've never posted before, but my current frustration has prompted me to cast a big net for insight and possibly help.

[edited by: Uban at 5:28 pm (utc) on Oct. 23, 2007]

[Rehan]

Although your ad is showing, its rank is not high enough to place it on the first page of search results. Isn't that a contradiction?

No, it's not a contradiction. It just means that there's a lot of competition for that keyword, and your bid is not high enough to be in the top 10 or so. So your ad will appear only for those people that go on to the second page of search results.

Keep in mind that the ad ranking quality score is not calculated in the the same way as the minimum bid quality score. There are more details at [adwords.google.com...]

You can increase your ad rank and make it appear on the first page by increasing your bid, your CTR, and/or your ad copy relevancy (as determined by Google's algorithm).