DIGITAL MARKETING: Session 5

Quality Score and Ads

 Learning Objectives

• Adwords Bidding process

• What is Quality Score?

• Importance of Quality Score

• Tips for a good Quality Score

• Components of Adwords Ad

• Considerations while creating Ads

• Ad Extensions

• Types of Ads
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 The Adwords Auction Process

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zStNy_PImyQ

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 The Adwords Auction Process

• Every advertiser sets a bid (price they are willing to pay per click) for every
keyword they wish to enter into the auction. This is called Maximum CPC.

• In real-time, Google, based on the search query, match type and other
settings, decide which of the advertisers will enter into the auction.

• The Ad Rank is calculated based on the Bid and Quality Score.

• The actual CPC an advertiser pays is dependent on the Ad Rank of the

advertiser immediately below them and their own Quality Score.

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 The Ad Auction Process

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 Quality Score

• Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords and landing
pages

• Quality Score is reported on a 1-10 scale

• The exact algorithm behind Quality Score is not known, but three factors are
important:
• Expected Click Through Rate
• Ad Relevance
• Landing Page Experience

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 Why is Quality Score Important?

• Quality of Ads plays a key role in determining Ad Position and Average CPC

• If Advertiser 1 has a Quality Score of 6 and has a maximum bid of $2.00 for a
keyword, the Ad Rank for that keyword is 2 X 6 = 12

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 Ad Rank Exercise

• Let’s assume there are 4 advertisers bidding on the keyword [Quality Score]
• Their Max CPCs and Quality Score are below:

Advertiser Max CPC Quality Score

A 3 9
B 4 8
C 6 5
D 8 3

• What will be the relative ranking of these 4 advertisers based on Ad Rank?

• Who will win the 1st position?

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 Ad Rank Exercise Solution

Advertiser Max CPC Quality Score Ad Rank

B 4 8 32
C 6 5 30
A 3 9 27
D 8 3 24

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 Impact of Ad Rank on Cost per Click

• Ad Rank also impacts the actual cpc paid by advertisers

Source: https://searchengineland.com/new-adwords-ad-ranking-formula-what-does-it-mean-174946

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 Ad Rank and CPC Exercise

• Let’s calculate actual CPCs for the same exercise as previously:

Advertiser Max CPC Quality Score Ad Rank Actual CPC

B 4 8 32
C 6 5 30
A 3 9 27
D 8 3 24

• What will be the actual CPCs paid by each advertiser above?

• Actual CPC = Ad Rank of advertiser below you / your Quality Score + 0.01

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 Ad Rank and CPC Exercise - Solution

• Let’s calculate actual CPCs for the same exercise as previously:

Advertiser Max CPC Quality Score Ad Rank Actual CPC

B 4 8 32 3.76
C 6 5 30 5.41
A 3 9 27 2.68
Above
D 8 3 24 minimum
• What will happen if A increased Max CPC to 4?

• Actual CPC = Ad Rank of advertiser below you / your Quality Score + 0.01

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 Ad Rank and CPC Exercise - Solution

• Let’s calculate actual CPCs for the same exercise as previously:

Advertiser Max CPC Quality Score Ad Rank Actual CPC

A 4 9 36 3.57
B 4 8 32 3.76
C 6 5 30 4.81
Above
D 8 3 24 minimum
• Actual CPC = Ad Rank of advertiser below you / your Quality Score + 0.01

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 How to work with Quality Score?

• Focus on your important keywords and identify the ones with lower Quality
Scores

• Review their performance on the three parameters (CTR, Ad Relevance and

Landing Page)

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 How to work with Quality Score?

Improving Ad Relevance:

• Match the language of your ad text more directly to user search queries

• Move keywords to smaller ad groups with more targeted creatives

• Look for ad groups with disparate keywords that can’t possibly be addressed
by the same ad, and give below-average keywords their own, new ad group
with ads that better speak to the user’s queries

• Speak more directly to the intent embedded in a user’s query

• Add negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing on queries you
don’t want

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 How to work with Quality Score?

Improving Click Through Rate:

• Create more compelling ad text. Expected CTR is about ad creative that

inspires action on the results page

• Highlight a unique benefit of your product or service

• Experiment with different calls to action

• Be more specific in your ad text

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 How to work with Quality Score?

Improving Landing Page Experience:

• Send traffic to landing pages that are more closely related to a user’s query.

• Try to ensure that the Landing Page continues the conversation started in the
ad

• Look at the Conversion Rates – try to improve them

• Optimise the Landing Page for mobile devices

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 Case Study - Quality Score

How a Search Manager was able to improve Quality Score of an Account

When this manager took over the management of an account, it had already
been managed by a few other people previously and the Quality Score of their
keywords was not very good.

The Solution:
The new manager reviewed the account and made a few changes:

Create tightly themed Ad Groups: The Brand campaign had one only 1 ad
group but 27 keywords ranging in Quality Score from 3 to 7. It contained
keywords that were targeting competitors and general campaigns. These were
having lower Quality Score and were moved to different campaigns.

https://www.ppchero.com/case-study-improving-low-quality-score-accounts/

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 Case Study - Quality Score

Optimise Ad Text – Include keywords in Ad Copy: While creating ads for the
new ad groups, the manager reviewed historical performance of all existing ads
to identify the ones that were having higher Click Through Rates. The headlines
and descriptions of the best performing ones were analysed to determine
which phrases were to be used in the new ads.

Review Landing Pages: The manager downloaded the list of all Landing Pages
and organised them for keywords. This helped identify the right Landing Pages
for the new ads. Doing this exercise also helped identify one URL that was
misspelled and taking users to another site.

The Results:
Within a week of making these changes (and letting them run undisturbed),
the Quality Score of the poorer keywords had already moved up by 1 to 2.
https://www.ppchero.com/case-study-improving-low-quality-score-accounts/

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 Components of An Ad

Headline

Body / Description

Display URL

Tracking Parameters

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 Components of An Ad

• Headline:
• Consists of up to 3 phrases
• Appears in blue text on the Google Search Results Page
• Separated by a vertical pipe (“|”)
• May show differently depending on user device

• Body / Description:
• Highlight details of your product or service

• Display URL:
• Made up of the domain from your final URL and the text in the optional “Path”
Fields
• Doesn’t have to match the Final URL
• Helps the user understand what to expect from your landing page.
• Usually displayed in green text immediately below the Headline

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 Character Limits

Google now provided advertisers with the following character limits

Field Max length

Headline 1 30 characters
Headline 2 30 characters
Headline 3 30 characters
Description 1 90 characters
Description 2 90 characters
Path (2) 15 characters each

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 How to check my Ads?

Ad Preview Tools

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 Considerations for Ads

Google requires that all ads, extensions, and destinations meet high
professional and editorial standards.

• Spelling and Grammar

• Punctuations & Symbols

• Capitalisation

• Repetition

• Unacceptable Spacing

• Phone numbers in text ads

• Unidentified business
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 Some More Considerations for Ads

• Adult Content
• Alcohol
• Copyrights
• Counterfeit goods
• Dangerous Products or Services
• Financial Products and Services
• Gambling and Games
• Healthcare and Medicines
• Inappropriate Content
• Misrepresentation
• Trademarks
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 What if My Ad gets disapproved?

• Google takes policy violations very seriously

• Review your new ads regularly to check their status – all new ads get
reviewed

• If ad is disapproved, edit it so that it complies with the policy

• Please note that an account can get suspended if you have multiple violations
or a serious violation

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 Best Practices for Ads

• Start with the customer path to purchase

• What stage of the funnel are they in? What need are they trying to fulfil on
Google?

• Create messages that appeal to the user needs and benefits

• Highlight what makes you unique

• Take full advantage of character limits

• Focus on headlines
• Include at least one of your keywords

• Test & Learn

• Have multiple ads per ad group (3-4)

• Keep in mind the Display URL Path

•27Use Ad Extensions
 Best Practices for Ads

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 Ad Extensions

• Extensions are features provided by Google for advertisers to include more

information in their ads

• By including these, ads can get greater visibility on the Search Results Page.

• This can result in higher clicks

• There are many extensions – Google decided which one to show depending
on the context of the search, etc.

• It is therefore, a good practice to include as many as possible

• Please note that just having extensions won’t guarantee that they will show –
Google decided when to show these depending on predicted impact of
performance and Ad Rank

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 Sitelink Extensions

• Add more links to your ads

• Up to 8 links
• With headline and text

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 Callout Extensions

• Space to provide more information about your products or services

• Up to 6 per ad
• Non clickable

• Callout extensions examples

• 24/7 Customer Service
• Free Cancellation
• No Service Fees

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 Price Extensions

• Showcase your specific offerings

• Users can click and land straight to that product

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 Promotion Extensions

• Showcase your sales or promotions

• Users can click and land straight to that promotion

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 Location Extensions

• Help people find your location

• Needs linking with Google My Business Account

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 Message Extensions

• Users can click to send you a message

• Only on phones that can send and receive text messages

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 App Extensions

• Link to your app from your text ads

• Great option if your goal is to drive app installs

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 Tracking Parameters

• These are parameters you can add to the Adwords Final URL to enable further
tracking
• Especially useful if you are using a web analytics source other than Google
Analytics
• Or if you want to capture additional information about the click for use with
your internal reporting

• Example:
https://www.trivago.in/?iSemThemeId=10982&iPathId=94410&sem_keyword=hotels%2
0in%20mysore&sem_creativeid=285143550708&sem_matchtype=e&sem_network=g&
sem_device=c&sem_placement=&sem_target=&sem_adposition=1t2&sem_param1=&s
em_param2=&sem_campaignid=149342663&sem_adgroupid=6901299863&sem_targe
tid=kwd-
453449281&sem_location=9061998&cip=9119000439&gclid=CjwKCAjwq57cBRBYEiwAd
px0vd8-
nYDmrt9sSYrQBZDAMB745eKHLBvaIx4LcM46ady8o0mrw_xUgxoCg5cQAvD_BwE

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 Value Track Parameters

• Easiest way to start tracking information about your ads

• Each parameter is a piece of text that starts and ends with braces ({}),
like {matchtype}.
• Once someone clicks on your ad, Google Ads replaces the ValueTrack
parameter with a value that’s based on the details of the ad when it was
clicked.

• Example:
• Assume you are running a campaign for website www.abcxyz.com and want to
track the device that users are using when they click on your ad
• You will add the parameter {lpurl}?device={device} to the tracking template in the
URL options
• When someone clicks on the ad from a mobile, the URL they click through will
look like this – www.abcxyz.com/?device=m

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 Value Track Parameters

Some of the other parameters available include:

• The {keyword} parameter will tell you the specific keyword that triggered your
ad.
• The {matchtype} parameter records the match type of the keyword that
resulted in the ad click ("b" for broad or modified broad, "p" for phrase, or "e"
for exact).
• The {creative} parameter records the creative ID of the ad that was displayed.
• The {adposition} records the position on the page that your ad appeared in,
with a value like “1t2″(this means page 1, top, position 2)

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 Keyword Insertion

• Lets you automatically update your ads with the keywords in the Ad Group
• Can help make the ads more relevant, potentially increasing Click Through
Rates
• Be aware of any potential challenges such as incorrect grammar, trademark
violation, etc.

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 Dynamic Search Ads

• Google uses your website to fill in gaps in your keyword lists

• Ideal for large websites
• Google will select the landing page and headline to be displayed
• Body text has to be entered by advertiser
• Targeting options available:
• All pages
• Categories
• List of Pages

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 Case Study - Dynamic Search Ads

A leading retailer of repair products in the US with an inventory of over one

million individual products was finding it a challenge to efficiently manage their
extensive keyword lists.

The Solution:
They used Google Dynamic Search Ads to extend their advertising reach.

The Results:
They found that these ads generated a significant improvement in Click
Through Rates, Conversions and Return on Ad Spend compared to their non-
brand search ads.

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/search/retailer-grainger-uses-dynamic-search-ads-and-remarketing-to-
extend-its-reach/

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 Shopping Ads

Previously called Product Listing Ads

• A type of ad with information about product such as image, title, price and
link to the site

• Especially useful for ecommerce sites

• Product information is submitted through a linked Google Merchant Center

Account

• Shopping Ads use the Merchant Center Product Data, not keywords, to
display your ads

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 Shopping Ads

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 Hotel Ads

Similar to Shopping Ads, but targeting travellers

Provides option for travellers to book a hotel room

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 Responsive Search Ads (beta)

• Responsive Search Ads adapt to show more relevant messages to users

• Enter multiple headlines (at least 5) and descriptions (at least 2)

• Google will automatically test different combinations and learn which works
best

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 Let Us Sum Up

• The actual price per click you pay on Google Adwords depends on the
Maximum Bid and Quality Score of you and other advertisers for the same
auction.
• Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords and landing
pages.
• A good ad can result in higher Click Through Rates and improved Quality
Score.
• We looked at the components of an Ad and discussed some best practices
while creating Ads.
• Ad extensions can help advertisers provide more information in their ads,
which could lead to higher clicks.
• Ad formats such as Shopping Ads, Hotel Ads, Responsive Search Ads can be
utilised in appropriate circumstances.

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