Coming soon: Simplified keyword states and quality-based minimum bids.
In the coming weeks, your keywords will no longer be evaluated as normal, in trial, on hold, or disabled. Instead, your keywords will either be active or inactive, depending on their quality and maximum CPC. Each keyword will be assigned a minimum bid based on its quality. As long as its maximum CPC meets this quality-based minimum bid, your keyword will remain active and trigger ads. Learn more.
[edited by: eWhisper at 12:00 am (utc) on July 15, 2005]
[edit reason] Please don't copy entire pages. See TOS. [/edit]
If the new system improves the relevancy of ads showing and that means users start to trust the adverts more then I will be happy.
Will editorial hoof out ads that are clearly not relevant?
Could I say that Google will allow lower quality, lower relevance ads in searches if the advertiser pays more
as i read it: yes. advertisers will be able (barring editorial editor blocking) to advertise on not-so-relavent keywords. but, since their CTR will likely be lower, they will have to bid a higher amount to meet the minimum threshold.
in other words, this allows google to monetize all pages, but advertisers will have to pay a premium if the relavence is not too strong.
If the new system improves the relevancy of ads ... I will be happy.
i expect that overall relevancy will improve because it will become more expensive to advertise on not-so-relevant keywords. google will allow it, but they will charge a premium. so only those few advertisers that REALLY want to appear on a not-so-relevant page will get appear there - and to do so, they will have to put their money where their mouth is.
for relavent keywords, it seems that there wont be too much of a difference to what we have now.
your keywords will no longer be evaluated as normal, in trial, on hold, or disabled... the Quality Score, which determines your minimum bid, is a new name for the predicted clickthrough rate which we have used in the past.
Ok, let me make sure I have this figured out.
Part of the system is the same, there has only been a name change. But other parts have changed, such as lowering the bid price to as low as one cent based on CTR.
Ok, I'm cool with measuring things with CTR. The old way was a total disaster because it didn't even let you achieve a CTR before disabling your campaign. I have created campaigns that were disabled right out of the gate, regardless of how high I set my bid. I hope this fixes that issue and allows the best creative to rise to the top.
(runs to AdWords account to fiddle with campaigns...)
if you have any on hold keywords that you do not want to trigger ads, we suggest you delete them from your account. This is because any keywords with a high enough Quality Score and maximum CPC could be activated and accrue ad clicks.
but also
Any disabled keywords at the time of implementation will remain labelled as disabled in your account.
huh? disabled keywords stay disabled but 'on hold' keywords are activated if they meet the minimum quality score - is that right?
a.
Oh, and when is implementation actually going to happen? (more specifically than 'in the coming weeks')
Will the change happen for different keywords at different times, or will someone at Google flip a Big Red Switch and change everything at once?
1. If we set up a campaign and a subset get axed and minimum bids are rasied to disproportionate levels, We would re-write the ads of course. At this point, do we go back to a normal minimum bid, or do we have to run at a higher rate to bring the minimum bid back down - and if so, how long before they get back into line with the other bids?
2. Can you assure us that there is no way that the minimum bids will be based on the competitiveness of the keyword - only the "quality" of the ad?
Dixon.
Does a kw with a 3% ctr drop to 04p min bid, one with 10% ctr drop to 03p and those performing at 30-40% ctr mean Google will pay you? Seriously, what are the scales or parameters for this? How do you rank relevancy?
Syzygy
So how does one improve the quality score for KWs on an ad if isn't shown? No ad, no CTR means no improvement. Which means that the only way to "improve" a keyword is to up the bid.
CATCH 22
Simplified Keyword States: Keywords will be placed in to one of two states – active or inactive. People like the idea of something that’s a little more binary - on/off, day/night, hot/cold – you get the picture.
I pretty much think we like logic, not simplicity. The old normal -weak - disabled system was perfect, as can normal - in trial - disabled be, as long as the rules are made clear. An on/off switch that jumps like the in trial/disabled state now won't make things any better.
Sorry, just started reading. Let's wait for the implementation for definitive comments :)
As long as the maximum CPC meets the minimum bid, your keyword will be active.
Boy, what a confusing email! Could Google please hire a native English-language speaker their communications?! Today’s message reads like it was automatically translated from Google-speak and then mailed out.
I am reassured by the comments on this board. The email itself sounded very ominous.
But after reading everything available I'm generally more positive than in my first post.
Few questions:
- it would be nice to have options to bid "lowest - at any price" and "lowest - up to $99.99"
- can we get optional email notification if an ad falls below minimum bid (like disapporoved ads)?
- will there still be keyword reviews or will we end up with ads for cars on t-shirt searches and ads on mortgages for books searches?
btw thanks for dropping the min CTR!
I don't want to see mortgage adverts on real estate search phrases just because a mortgage company can make money out of it.
I haven't been around that long, but all I've experienced is varying periods of disappointments and loss of ROI whenever there has been a major change.
Eventually, I climb back, but I'm getting a bit battle weary and it's been just under a year.
When I started out, AdWords seemed to have everything running just fine and it was easy to understand the relationship of action to result on my part.
Thanks,
patient2all
My guess, is that including the keyword in lines 2 or 3 gets you points, including it in the headline gets you more points, and including it in BOTH parts gets you max points, as far as wording goes.Scoring the relevancy of ads, especially if it uses a system like this, is really going some. Some of my best ads don't mention the keyword at all--and in the case of trademarks, we often can't.
Google stated that the Quality Score is a new name for the predictive CTR algorithm they have used before, which we know considered historical CTR on a keyword basis, not only for individual advertisers.
If this is the case, keywords that would have been automatically marked 'on hold' or 'disabled', even before giving the advertiser a chance to try, will undoubtedly have minimum CPCs for new advertisers that will make them prohibitive (or stupid) to advertise anyhow-- the only real change then being that you could choose to *buy your way out of it* and hope to establish enough CTR at expensive minimum CPCs to eventually lower it.
Am I missing something here?
Also, finding new and underused keywords becomes way more valuable in this new system, so it will probably help google get money out of more, longer and obscure search terms.
Nobody has really mentioned that AWA has specifically confirmed a couple months ago that part of the relevance algorithm is based on the keywords in your ads and not just the CTR anymore so it might be a good time to polish up some old ads.
My guess is that it a not going to be a big deal though
, at least not yet.
If Google is going to make a minimum CPC per keyword, it's in their best interest to have broad match show for every keyword, not just those who are currently showing for broadmatch (more here: [webmasterworld.com...] )
Will this effect broadmatch & phrae match from being shown only as exact matches in some cases?
[edited by: eWhisper at 5:14 pm (utc) on July 15, 2005]
As an earlier poster very correctly stated, "Right now when I run the keyword estimator tool, it suggests $2.82 for a keyword that I know darn well won't take more than a dime to maintain a healthy, profitable second place. This happens constantly!"
New keywords will no longer be disabled or have a minimum clickthrough rate (CTR) threshold. Instead, your keyword will trigger ads as long as it has a high enough Quality Score (determined by your keyword's CTR, relevance of ad text, historical keyword performance, and other relevancy factors) and maximum CPC.
I am wondering the exact meaning of QS (quality score). So ,it is specific keyword’s Quality Score in an Account (AKQS) and max CPC that will determine whether an ad will be triggered.
Factors affecting QS (has got nothing to do with adrank & ad position here. All about triggering ad):
1. keyword CTR
Is it referring to?
a. specific keyword CTR within an AdGroup? (AGKCTR)
b. specific keyword CTR within a Campaign?(CKCTR)
c. specific keyword CTR within an Account? (ACKCTR)
d. specific keyword CTR of Google (all advertiser) (GKCTR)
e. average CTR of entire keywords in an account (ACTR)
f. average CTR of entire keywords in a campaign (CCTR)
g. average CTR of entire keywords in an AdGroup (AGCTR)
which one of the above will Google use to determine QS?
2. relevance of text ad
(opps! This is subjective, how google decide? base on human judgement)(who give the points?)
3. historical keyword performance
(entire history of the keyword? Last 1000 impression?)
4. other relevancy factors
(what is this "other relevancy factors"?)
Thanks folks.
regards,
With this new bidding process, will this mean that if one bids $1.00 they will actually be paying $1.00 - unlike now when you bid a dollar you never know waht you will actually pay? Will this be taking some of the google craziness out of Google?
will this mean that if one bids $1.00 they will actually be paying $1.00
i dont think this is what is intended. there will be a minimum threshold below which your ad wont be displayed, but that doesn't mean that they are getting rid of the "AdWords Discounter"
... unlike now when you bid a dollar you never know waht you will actually pay? Will this be taking some of the google craziness out of Google?
Man. If you thing this is crazy, then start to learn how to use AdWords!
Will this be taking some of the google craziness out of Google?
You havn't been playing this game very long, have you?
The day they tell me I have to pay a dollar for a click period or I can't play, will be the day the whole system folds. Shopping.com and Shopzilla (or whatever they are choosing to call themselves this week) are finding this out the hard way right now. The reason this system works is because the market determines the price not the company. Markets mostly are realistic. Companies tend to get greedy and over value their service.
I think this system should work out well for A)people who have crafted quality campaigns and B) Advertisers who have lots of money to throw at branding. One will get less competition from junk ads and one will throw even more money at branding.
Unfortunately, it's been one of those days in which I've been away from my desk far more that at it - and I haven't had the chance to post till now. I see some real concerns here since my last post - and I'd like to briefly clarify a number of points.
Here goes:
* The 'auction' will remain the same as before, and the AdWords discounter will continue to work in the same way it always has.
* We're not changing the way that we rank ads. Remember, Ad Rank = maximum CPC x Quality Score. 'Quality Score' is a just another name for predicted CTR
* It is anticipated that the majority of keywords that are active should not see an increase in the minimum bid required to show on Google (currently USD $0.05).
* The minimum bid is entirely independent of the traffic estimator - and the competition. It's 100% based on the Quality Score.
* The minimum bid is specific to your keyword in your specific ad group. Therefore, two advertisers running on the same keyword could have different minimum bids.
* I saw some confusion about 'disabled' keywords remaining in one's account. To clarify, keywords that are currently disabled will remain marked as disabled for a month after the changes are made to the system, at which time they will be deleted. This is so you'll have a month to either delete them yourself, or re-enable them (by first deleting them, then adding them back into your account).
* Once the new program launches, we will no longer disable keywords, nor will accounts be slowed. Most folks here will recognize these as commonly made requests from advertisers, along with the ability to re-use disabled keywords - which we've just discussed above.
Hope that helps to clarify things. ;)
AWA
1) AWA - please quit saying this
There are only 2 components to adrank, CTR and Bid price.
2)
Keywords with a low Quality Score will have higher minimum bids, but the majority of keywords should not see an increase in the minimum bid required to show on Google (currently USD $0.05). "and could even be $0.01Yeah.... sure.... I'm supposed to believe that when I log into all my accounts after the day of the change I'll see no "minimum" bid requirements that force me to raise my bids by significant amounts? I would love to be wrong on this one!
3) AWA - rumor has it that different accounts bidding on the SAME EXACT KEYWORD could have different "minimum" bid requirements due to differences in the "quality of the accounts". Can you shed some light on this?
4) The never being disabled is good news! Some clients have products that are seldom searched for, even less seldom clicked on, BUT PAY BIG WHEN THEY SELL ONE. Kudos to you on this one!
and finally)
If the change is as fair as Google is telling us it will be, this could be a positive change!
Put another way....
If (that's IF) the change is as fair as Google is telling us it will be, this could be a positive change!
This will increase competion as the .05 crowd will grow over time.
With the new minimum bidding (does this have a name yet?), I get a KW out of Hold by increasing the bid. Or can I do this by changing the match type? Is this what you mean by optimizing the KW?
What shall I do about KWs currently in Phrase/Exact status? Change them all to Broad and see what happens with the new min-bid?
"quality of the accounts"
AWA,
Please give careful consideration to JBGilbert's concerns, but in addition, I'd be especially interested in knowing what aspects of AdWords are influenced by "Account Quality" and how is that's defined?
If it's overall CTR, that is something we can only escape over the long term since our early learning experiences are never forgiven. They can only be diluted by an offsetting future history (and that takes some time!). For instance, I have an all-time CTR of 1.3 because it includes long ago deleted campaigns. However, each month of late, I've managed a passable 1.8 Account CTR covering a wide range of areas. Some campaigns can manage 4%, other competitive areas can only do .9% even with considerable effort. Are recent improvements taken into consideration?
Indeed, what else goes into a rating a quality account? Spend?
If we had some true, updated guidelines for what constitutes these designations, no doubt all advertisers would be striving to achieve them. However, with many such definitions held close to the vest as "part of the secret also", we're left to following board "rumors" at best.
Paying advertisers are not going to "trick" the system if they know what constitutes the most effective query matching options, etc. The quality of ads will improve if we're not spinning our wheels wondering how punctuation, matching options and variants of keywords are evaluated.
One can add to that the fact that paying advertisers deserve less tranparancy in many of these areas so everyone's objectives can be best met. Google's supposed quest for "relevant results", the searcher experience and the advertiser avoiding keyword clutter, etc. The Ads Diagnostic tool only does the job 50% on its better days.
Well defined bars of measurement would vastly improve quality all around. What the Help contains about optimization, etc is mostly common sense stuff I didn't need spelled out for me.
Thank You!
patient2all
If something comes around that is not PPC but as effective...I'll remember which companies gouge with my advertising dollars.
Trust me....our budgets will feel this ...and already Google and Overture / Yahoo have almost gouged us out of business before.
In the end this will only be good for the very large companies and will put many many many smaller ones out of contention or even out of business.
Way to go Google.... "Do not Evil" indeed
