I've noticed about a 40% drop in traffic and revenue from AdWords, starting a little over a week ago. The most disconcerting aspect is that my AdWords account does not reflect what is going on.
I've looked at a couple of specific phrases that are down in traffic. My AdWords account is saying that the ad is being shown in search results and that my quality score is 'Great'. However, it is nowhere to be seen on the actual SERP and the traffic drop seems to say that I'm not the only one not seeing the ad.
This particular phrase is somewhat competitive, with normally about 12 advertisers targeting the term. Now, only one competitor shows up.
(Note: the competitor that does show up seems to be about the only one not affected. There are hundreds of phrases that went from very competitive to only their ad. I'm trying to figure out how they survived unscathed, but as yet haven't figured it out.)
Anyone else seeing dramatic changes?
I've managed to navigate through every QS update so far without ever really being affected. This time, however, I think we may not be so lucky. [...]
I am about 99.98% sure that this has not started to go live for all advertisers yet, arieng - so my thought (with that same level of certainty) is that what you are seeing is unrelated to the upcoming Quality Score changes.
AWA
Timing is everything. Turns out this occurred less than a half hour after my previous post. ;)
AWA
I bid on my own @#$@!#$@ brand/site name and my quality score is Poor. Whatever google!
Greenman says its gone live and it's ugly (not a good statement) - AdwordsAdvisor then confirms it is live but with no more info! Now if ever a post deserves a bit more info... this is it!
You are on your own.....
Classic!Greenman says its gone live and it's ugly (not a good statement) - AdwordsAdvisor then confirms it is live but with no more info! Now if ever a post deserves a bit more info... this is it!
My apology, Swanson and others. I was making an incorrect (and unwise) assumption that folks here would be aware of the Inside AdWords blog post from earlier today, since it was mentioned in another thread on the same topic.
Due to the WebmasterWorld's charter for the AdWords forum, I am not able to link to it - but it is easy to find. Or, even better, perhaps another WebmasterWorld member who is not also a Google employee will link to it. ;)
At the bottom of that post is a link that directs you to a number of FAQs on this subject, which I will also link to here:
[adwords.google.com...]
AWA
I think it will make things much easier for new advertisers. The one thing that disappoints me just a tiny bit is not being able to see the quality score grades by default.
OK is not simply OK. In the old terms it could be OK (min bid 0.07) or OK (min bid 0.30) A big difference in the respective likelihood of decent traffic.
In the new system that would be a score out of 10. I'd like to see that in the adgroup interface either by default or a customizable option. Any chance of this AWA?
Here's something from the "things that make you go hmmm" category:
Is the first page bid estimate expected to make people bid more?
First page bid estimates are based on recent historical data and your keywords' Quality Scores. They are not expected to make advertisers bid more or to raise prices. They only give more insight into where your bids are likely to place your ad. If your ad is already appearing on the first page of search results for a particular keyword, for instance, then the first page bid estimate is expected to be similar to your recent cost-per-click (CPCs) on that keyword.
Considering how inaccurate the Google keyword tool, etc. are when it comes to bid prices, I wonder how inaccurate (i.e. waaay too high) these reported bids will be...
Last month, we posted about upcoming Quality Score improvements -- and today, we're following up to notify you that these changes will take effect in all advertisers' accounts over the next few days.
Most importantly, we are replacing our static per-keyword Quality Scores with a system that will evaluate an ad's quality each time it matches a search query. 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. This means that Google users are apt to see better ads while you, as an advertiser, should receive leads which are more highly qualified.
Are we ever going to have something similar for the Content Network?
Aw... leave the content network alone.. It is the least complicated way to get some targetted traffic. Let the small advertisers survive...
The good news is I was able to maintain about 50% of my revenue with just Canadian traffic.
I'm seeing the new quality score, it looks good, and I apologize for blaming the new quality score for something that was entirely my fault. Thanks for being on top of it AWA!
nevermind...... i found it
I think it will make things much easier for new advertisers. The one thing that disappoints me just a tiny bit is not being able to see the quality score grades by default.
AWA: Please pass along to the product team that it would awesome if you could see the 4/10, 9/10 readout beside the "Great" or "OK" display.
Ditto to thecloser's suggestion.
I’m all in favor, too. Show the numerical score!
How can there be a rating given for an ad if it's now done real-time and it's query dependent?
In some cases, situation is pretty static. That means your score will more or less stay the same, until AdWords recognizes improvements in ads, landing page, and who knows what else. This would equal to frequent changes I saw recently (in a range of 0.04-0.05). The only reason I noticed them was the fact that 0.05 stopped being Great, but became OK.
I still could agree with the statement-question as this means kind of QS may change every time a query has been performed.
One thing that I see as useful is to have this in hourly report. Let us see how QS fluctuates on hourly bases (daily, monthly, too). That will help many advertisers to settle down, get used to it, and actually use it in positive way, all in order to improve their QS.
QS thing is a complete failure
I completely agree with some advertisers and understand their frustration. We all experienced that weird and stunned feeling when we see how AdWords contradicts Google Search.
That should not be the case.
If a site is of a company offering products and/or services themselves, and if it provides all the info on the landing page and throughout the site (like car make/model and other info, including a location), AdWords better matches the search query to that site.
Now, if there are much better sites already showing in AdWords, I could step back and say “that’s why”.
But then, how come the “poor” one ranks well in organic? (if true).
I completely agree with some advertisers and understand their frustration. We all experienced that weird and stunned feeling when we see how AdWords contradicts Google Search.
That should not be the case.
If a site is of a company offering products and/or services themselves, and if it provides all the info on the landing page and throughout the site (like car make/model and other info, including a location), AdWords better matches the search query to that site.
Now, if there are much better sites already showing in AdWords, I could step back and say “that’s why”.
But then, how come the “poor” one ranks well in organic? (if true).
Because you're leaving one very essential piece out of the puzzle - the AD. With organics, you don't have to worry about running good and relevant ads; with PPC, you do.
Your Keywords, Ads and landing page all have to be extremely tightly focused to each other - leave one out, and your QS will almost certainly tank.
If you are confident that your landing page and your loading times are good (and you can check what Google thinks of these things in your AdWords Preview when you mouse over the magnifying glass) then you need to take a look at your ad text, and possibly your campaign organization.
I posted this in the other QS post in this forum (maybe they should be stuck together or one closed or something):
I had some keywords that were hovering between ok and poor, and I had an idea what was wrong with them, but they were of lesser priority so were at the bottom of the list. Went to look at them now, and it told me exactly what I needed to do - which is what I suspected - loading time fine, landing page fine, but the ad text wasn't quite relevant enough to the keyword. They're more specifically-themed keywords in a general-themed ad group, so now I know I need to move them into their own group, write ads specifically for them, and they should be fine.
the AD
The reality is that AdWords is putting some considerable weight onto ads. I personally disagree with that weight. I think it’s too much.
Ads should carry weight as they are the only thing people see when they use AdWords. They don’t see sites until they click onto an ad.
Still, having (in old times) QS of a keyword going from OK (0.15) to Great (0.05) just after a little tweak, that’s something I do not welcome.
Going back to the comment – you’re absolutely right, “organic” people have to think about that side of the complete PPC world.
We all have two choices – to complain and express ourselves here and elsewhere – or to adapt and figure what can be done so we continue to perform.
“Who Moved My Cheese” has not been sold in millions of copies for nothing.
Get back to work... and do something.
Thanks Netmeg
prior to the change the majority of my scores were "Great" with a few "Ok". Pretty seamless transition here, I've noticed many more "ok" but thats due to the timing of an extensive reorganization effort of our accounts. I actually spotted keywords with 9/10 scores which was great knowing they had only been in the account under a week.
...but I doubt it.
