QS and ad text

how Google AdWords calculates QS based on ad text

[smallcompany]

So, by playing with ad text I definitely confirmed that it does play a big role in QS of our keywords. OK, that’s nothing new for the most of folks here.

But, some things seem to be over the border and here is why:

QS of a given keyword seem to be affected almost immediately when you submit a new ad. This would include time needed for ad to be reviewed. Some ads get auto-approved almost immediately, while other need up to few days. I find that as a problem for keyword with high search volume. I say this because in two days your keyword can suffer a lot and even become inactive, only because your ad has not been approved so you could not achieve premium position which would bring better CTR and therefore back better QS.

So far many may say, yeah, but it’s not that bad. OK.

This morning, I created a new ad in a group that is quite old and had a history of Great QS with minimum bid of 5 cents. Some time later it “went” up to OK and 10 cents of minimum bid.
This particular keyword has around 10k impressions a day. Google has immediately pushed new ad out 96% of the time. CTR was terrible as ad was two or three spots below the old one (still active).
Guess what the QS was – Poor, 50 cents.
Then, I figure this was an awesome opportunity to do a test.
Of the whole ad, I change title only.
Title was “1 2 3” with 1 being major keyword. I changed it to “1”.

QS went to OK, 20 cents.

Now, does this mean that QS is a mathematical calculation of something that seem to be exploitable – a lot.

I’ve always been creating my ads based on the marketer and shopper sense residing in my body and soul.

For the last few moths this QS has been killing our marketing soul by doing some sad things to our campaigns.

I think it’s the time to shift the gear one step back and get those ads with invalid display URLs down, once forever. Same with single page sites with no content but affiliate links only. Same with double, triple, quadruple accounts serving ads for same queries at the same time.
I don’t say this just because it is one of my major problems, but bringing it in from the perspective of QS.
You see, by having invalid display URL and pointing to a parent site directly, in very most cases, you get Great QS with no problem.
On the other side, we have people struggling to get their minimum bids down for stuff that they sell at their own, not even being any kind of arbitrary site.
Finally, I grabbed one of those bridge pages and create an exact ad like from original advertiser. Guess what the QS was? Great, 5 cents. It’s still there, for more than a month now. One page with over 30 unhidden affiliate links and two full sentences only.

You remember “bridge page” issues way back? That time seems to be gone. At least for now…

So what’s up about this QS?

Changing title of your ad should not be affecting it that much, for sure.

[dertyfern]

Of course QS is a mathematical calculation and like all algos it can be manipulated. Your post shows the critical importance of testing ads, kws, etc and also highlights how the job of an online marketer has become inefficient due to the QS algo. Instead of adwords being a tool that helps customers reach their goals, it's become a promoter of inefficiency and wasted time and money. Due its own inability to display relevant ads to users in the past it's forcefully evolved into an environment where all/everyone is by default assumed guilty of attempting to manipulate its system. Google shows no really attempt to educate users on how to effectively and efficiently use QS but rather only hints at what may or may not be useful for advertisers to consider when running campaigns and attempting to spend money on adwords. The same applies to adwords reps (I've had my share and they're about as useless and un-informed as the help pages on adwords) who I've had to, more often than not, school on their own systems.

There are those who's immediate reply to my comments would be "if you don't like adwords don't use it." However, as a person who has used adwords for years, spend *a lot* of money by anyone's scale--and I'm certainly not alone--I believe it's Googles obligation to treat customers in a more dignified and respectful manner rather than throw more road blocks in the way of our advertising goals.

I still use adwords and have had a good deal of success with my campaigns and QS, however at a cost: my time and effort--which would have been better used to create more product so I could then sell even more using adwords to drive traffic. This isn't a cycle that the folks at adwords are too well versed at.