I’d like to apologize in advance for the length of this post. When writing I try not to be too wordy, but I usually end up putting so much detail into what I’m trying to say that I end up GOING LONG most of the time. I was the guy who turned in a 9 page paper to English class when most of my classmates were having trouble getting the 2 that were required.
I’m trying to learn the ropes of Adwords. I set up my Adwords account last night, but I haven’t started it running yet. I want to try to set this ad up RIGHT the first time. I’ve got A LOT more time than money.
The fideladeloopiedoo experiment along with other posts that talk about UNUSUALLY HIGH minimum bids on keywords has caught my interest. From what I’ve gathered on the subject the bid price for a particular keyword can vary widely even for a nonsensical word that CAN’T have any relevancy to the ad.
I tried the fideladeloopiedoo experiment this mourning and had MIXED results.
I’m trying to better understand this enigmatic QUALITY SCORE that seems to be giving everyone trouble.
The two statements that follow SEEM to be true.
Google's minimum bid price for a particular keyword is ENTIRELY dependent on each keywords quality score.
Quality score for a particular keyword is determined ENTIRELY through factors WITHIN the ad group.
I’m basing my statements mostly on the following quotes from AWA from a VERY INFORMATIVE (and long) post that was made in response to one of the threads that discus the unusual bid amounts.
Simply stated, the minimum bid for a keyword now has no relationship to the number of competitors one has for that keyword. The system is no longer designed that way.
To put it another way, whether there are zero competitors or 150 competitors for a keyword makes no difference to one's minimum bid for that keyword. Rather, minimum bid is now dependent on the Quality Score for that keyword, as it is used in the specific account in question.
In this system, there is a financial disincentive to use poorly chosen keywords and poorly targeted keyword/ad combinations. They tend to have a higher minimum bid.
Does the quality score for a keyword depend on ANY influence outside of an individual ad group?
If the answer to that question is no then the QUALITY SCORE for a particular keyword HAS TO be determined to some point by whether it is used in the ad text or not.
Does Google consider the keyword as being in the ad when someone is using the dynamic method to put the keyword into the ad?
If it does then using dynamic keywords in the ad looks like the BEST WAY to please the Google algorithm that grants good quality scores.
Does Google run an algorithm on the ad text to see whether the keyword FITS contextually with the ad?
If it does then the next two questions become important.
Is it OK to simply have the keyword dynamically entered into the top line ON IT’S OWN or should we try to BLEND in a word or two on the same line to create a better quality score?
Should we try to dynamically blend the keyword into the ad text on the lower two lines in order to improve our quality score?
Another factor that Google might consider when determining a quality score is whether the keyword is being used on the landing page or not.
Is a better quality score awarded to a keyword that is used on the page that the ad links to?
What about hidden words like Meta tags?
I’ve targeted this post for AWA because my questions are dealing with the NUTS & BOLTS that are inside the Adwords algorithms, but I’d appreciate any comments that anyone has about what I’ve said. I’m new to the program, and I’m trying to get a good FIRM HANDLE on things before I jump into this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)
Over the last day or two I think I’ve managed to answer a couple of the most importand questions myself. Just in case anyone is interested, I thought I go ahead and post the answers. It also saves anyone else from the trouble of doing it.
The following statement I made in the earlier post wasn’t true.
Quality score for a particular keyword is determined ENTIRELY through factors WITHIN the ad group.
The answer is.
Quality score depends on several factors some of which do in fack come from outside of the ad group. I’m quoting from the Google Adwords help.
Quality Score = keyword's CTR + relevance of your ad text + historical keyword performance + other relevancy factors
From
[adwords.google.com ]
Historical keyword performance obviously comes from outside of the ad group. As for other relevancy factors I think it’s still anyone’s guess about exactly what those factors are.
I guess that makes a good topic for a new question. Can anyone shed a little light onto the other relevancy factors?
I found an answer to the following question in Webmasterworld, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find it to post a link to. I saw it last night, but I haven’t any idea what post I was on.
Does Google consider the keyword as being in the ad when someone is using the dynamic method to put the keyword into the ad?
There is a post in here somewhere that clearly says that the dynamic word is not considered as part of the ad. The format for dynamic insertion is{keyword:Default Ad Text Here}The default text only shows if the keyword is too long. That default text is used on the content network and it is also what Google looks at when determining the quality score.
With most of my questions answered I’m still left with some that may be of interest.
Another factor that Google might consider when determining a quality score is whether the keyword is being used on the landing page or not.Is a better quality score awarded to a keyword that is used on the page that the ad links to?
What about hidden words like Meta tags?
Does Google look at them to assist in the determination of quality score?
I’m sorry about the length of my previous post, and I’d also like to apologize for asking questions that were actually something that I should have already known. Maybe the questions I’m left with will attract more interest.
Thanks for any input. :)
Steven
Should Google be able to change its extremely poorly documented (thoroughly intentionally) Quality Score without explaining the changes to advertisers?
[Quality Score = keyword's CTR + relevance of your ad text + historical keyword performance + other relevancy factors]"
I do not think that this is proof that factors outside the adgroup are at work. But some of the tests run here seem to proof that. New adgroups inside active campaigns have shown quite different results for minimums. So when doing a predicitve CTR, they pull from surrounding adgroups.
