QS/CPC Fluctuating

Odd situation

[holyearth]

Unique/Odd situation and looking for advice.....

CTR is stable, super high 10%+
QS is fluctuating between 7/10 and 10/10

When the QS is 10/10 I get a minimum bid of $0.01

When the QS is 7/10 the minimum bid is $0.05

I leave the bid at $0.05 but when the QS goes to 10/10 then they still bill me at $0.05 (I don't get to enjoy the $0.01 minimum)...If I leave the bid at $0.01 then when the QS is 7/10 I get no traffic...

The QS fluctuates about half the day at 7/10 and the other half at 10/10 (unpredictably).

I think Google should do something about that since the fluctuating QS/Minimum bid is ending up costing me 5x more...

Thanks for your input!

[alexsel]

Quality score can fluctuate wildly and I have a similar situation where my keyword goes from 10 to 7 repeatedly. Difference is I don't really see any CPC changes. The minimum bid doesn't mean Google is charging you 5 times more, unless you were paying 1 cent per click previously, which I have never heard of.

[holyearth]

alexsel,

Yeah I do get 1c bids (no competition on this keyword, 10%+ ctr) but only when its 10/10 QS. So in effect when it becomes 7/10 QS, I am charged 5x more - 5c.

It's almost like I have to watch it all day and when its 10/10 set bid to 1c when its 7/10 QS set bid to 5c.

It does get quite a bit of clicks so 5c vs 1c makes a big deal.

[alexsel]

Very interesting. Are you using several ads? It could be one of your ads is deemed less relevant and pulling your QS down. I would experiment with running ads individually and see if that stabilizes QS.

[holyearth]

alexsel,

To get where I am now I optimized by using several ads (5+). I am only using 1 though.

[alexsel]

You said your CTR is 10+%. For first place position, you may need to get it a bit higher for Google to give you definite 10. As you know CTR makes a big difference to a keywords QS. Have you tried adding ad site links?

[holyearth]

alexsel,

Yeah the site has plenty of links and resources. It's mostly informational content.

The QS fluctuates between 7/10 and 10/10 randomly....

It's not normal.

[Channel01]

Are you talking about first page bid estimates? If so, those are exactly what the name implies: Estimates. In no way shape or form are they actual amounts. They're just a guiding tool.

Those bids are just supposed to be a rough guideline of what you'd need to grab the last rank on the first page. If you're already above that spot, I can imagine a lot of scenarios where you'd hit a $.05 CPC for the same keywords with both a 7 and 10 QS.