Archive for the ‘Quality Score’ category

AdWords Search Query Report becomes More Transparent?

April 13th, 2011

I may be dreaming…someone pinch me.

We reported here at AdWords Help Experts reported back in May 2010 that Google was had begun to show limited data for queries that did not result in a click but the data was very limited.

This week I have noticed a dramatic change to my search query reports and lots more zero click data.

This week I am seeing more data than ever in client accounts! This is a huge help in identifying negative keywords. I have not confirmed that Google has changed their reporting so if you see increases in your account reporting please comment!

Article by: +Kim Clinkunbroomer

Clinks Web Service a Google AdWords Partner Company

Subscribe: RSS Feeds | Follow me on Twitter

19 comments »

Posted in Keywords, Negative Keywords, New Features, News, Quality Score, Reporting, Uncategorized

Riding the AdWords Quality Score Wave – Sudden Decrease in AdWords Quality Score

November 22nd, 2010

11/24/10 – Well I guess Google just wanted us to feel really thankful this season! QS values are raising. Scores are raising, however, they are not fully back to normal. QS is up throughout the entire accounts but in some groups keywords are not back to their previous QS. What was a 10/10 is current 6/10 (was 3/10 with QS bug) Check your accounts and comment below!

What a way to start the week.

Seems there might be something going on with the reporting of Quality Score in AdWords again.

Little background first.

Last month Google had a problem with the reporting of Quality Score in the AdWords Interface. They issued a Known Issue related to Quality Score. This Known Issue reports that some advertisers were effected between October 26-27, 2010 with a sudden decrease in Quality Score. The low quality score reported did not reflect the performance of accounts and the issue was repaired.

I was surprised last week to see quality score in a client account declining. Quality scores dropped overnight throughout the account. I can prove the keywords were running fine a week ago becaused I has paused some keywords that still sit with the Quality Score as reflected last week (screenshot below). This ‘seems’ to be effecting performance because I am seeing higher first page bid estimates for many keywords. However these keywords still continue to accrue impressions, clicks and are still holding strong at their previous positions. The issue ‘seems’ to be only cosmetic but I am not completely sure.

I am not the only one. There is a pretty full crowd in this thread in the AdWords Help Forum already on the issue.

Another example of 10/10 keywords reduced to 4/10 – sad isn’t it?

The lines highlighted in Yellow represent keywords PAUSED last week. As you can see their Quality Score while paused is 10/10. If I was to enable these keywords their QS will drop.

Now, for the record this is an account that has been running since 2002 and has excellent history, CTR, and qualtiy score, and has been running that way for a years. There has been no decline in CTR on the account. There is no reason for this decline.

Diving into all my client accounts to look things over.

Is anyone else having this issue? Not just low QS, plenty of reasons for that, but QS that suddenly tanked last week?

Comments welcome please!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Google has confirmed that there is indeed a problem. A Google employee stated this today in this AdWords Help Forum thread.

“It is understood that what is being described here is what appears to be a similar but separate issue that folks started seeing on Friday evening, November 19th.

Engineering is taking a look into this, as a priority – and I will report back in this thread when I know more.”

.IMPORTANT NOTE: the effected accounts I have seen still seem to be performing well.

I do have concerns about the future effect from advertiser that do raise their bids unknowingly. Google has yet to make what I would call a proper statement regarding the Quality Score reporting issue. This concerns me as advertisers who are unaware that their account is in fact running fine raise their bids which in turn forces other advertisers to raise their bids to maintain their previous ad rank – AKA Bid inflation.

Hopefully enough advertisers will get the message and sit tight while Google works out the issue instead of increasing bids or panicking.

Good to know Google is on it. I will post again with whatever updates become available.

……….

Article by: +Kim Clinkunbroomer

Clinks Web Service a Google AdWords Partner Company

Subscribe: RSS Feeds | Follow me on Twitter

41 comments »

Posted in AdWords Bugs, News, Quality Score, Reported Known Issues, Reporting

Even Norton Needs Negative Keywords

March 12th, 2010

Looking for some ‘free polling software’ today and I found an ‘AdWords Blooper’.

Norton Anti Virus showing for "free polling software"

Norton (Norton Antivirus) has an ad being served for the search query “free polling software” but Norton does not offer polling software.

This is a great example of the importance of Negative Keywords. If Norton is appearing #4 then I am sure this is not the first time they appeared in error, maybe it is some strange marketing tatic, but I doubt it. I think it is just a simple case of a broad match keyword gone haywire.

How Could this Happen?

This happens when advertisers use broad or “phrase” match keywords because these types of keyword matching options will allow for the keyword to ‘expand’ to other relevant keywords. For instance ‘ballet shoes’ could expand to ‘red ballet shoes’, ‘mens ballet shoes’, ‘adult ballet shoes’, ‘used ballet shoes’, ‘size 13 ballet shoes’ and many others.

Why Should Norton Care?

Two reasons:

first they are receiving impressions for search queries that are irrelevant to their product which lowers their CTR and diminishes quality.
Second, people may actually be curious enough to click on their ads costing Norton needless expense. When I saw the name Norton on the results page I was instantly intrigued thinking that Norton offered some kind of free polling software. I would be more than happy to go with a trusted name like Norton…however they do not offer polling software – only virus protection on the landing page.

What Can Norton do to Prevent This from Happening Again?

Simply add a negative keyword -polling, to the campaign level and it would help prevent the ads from appearing anytime ‘polling’ is included in the search query.

How can you make sure this does not happen to you?

Run a Search Query Performance Report regularly to identify negative keywords to add to your account. It is also a great source of identifying and adding new keywords.

Running a Search Query Performance Report

Special Note: The purpose of this article was not to pick on anyone managing Norton’s account. This happens to the best of us, maybe the account is new, maybe they added a new keyword that they have not reviewed yet. The point of the blog post is Negative Keywords are important and it is important to stay on-top of discovering and adding them to your account, it is a never ending process.
……….

Article by: +Kim Clinkunbroomer

Clinks Web Service a Google AdWords Partner Company

Subscribe: RSS Feeds | Follow me on Twitter

5 comments »

Posted in AdGroups, Improving CTR, Keywords, Negative Keywords, Quality Score

AdWords: First Page Bid Estimates

March 7th, 2010

First page bid estimates are what google approximates you would have to pay to be visible on the first page of search results when the search query exactly matches your keyword. This first page bid estimate (FPBE) is based on your keyword quality score. If your keyword quality is low then you will likely have a higher FPBE than you would have if your keyword quality score were better.

Checking your first page bid estimates is a good way to identify areas for improvement, develop a bidding strategy, and identifying keywords that may be less expensive than others.

There are two ways to view your first page bid estimate.

1. keyword/placement performance report. Customize the report to show the First Page Bid Estimate.

Customizing your Keywords/Placement Performance Report to show First Page Bid Estimate

2. Spreadsheet edit feature is a quick way to review your first page bid estimates.

How to View your First Page Bid Estimates in Spreadsheet Edit.

The spreadsheet edit will display the first page bid estimates like this:

Spreadsheet Edit – First Page Bid Estimates

Again, look at your first page bid estimates from time to time to analyze what effect your quality score has on your account.

Click here to read more about quality improving quality score.

……….

Article by: +Kim Clinkunbroomer

Clinks Web Service a Google AdWords Partner Company

Subscribe: RSS Feeds | Follow me on Twitter

14 comments »

Posted in Quality Score, Reporting

Tags: first page bid estimates

AdWords Negative Keywords = Positive Effect on your Bottom Line

January 12th, 2010

Negative Keywords

Negative = Positive

If your keyword list contains broad or phrase match keywords then negative keywords are most often a must. Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing and potentially receiving clicks from search queries that are not relevant to your product or service. Suppressing impressions (and clicks) from irrelevant search queries will improve your CTR and quality score and allow your keyword list to work harder to bring qualified prospects to your website.

AdWords Offers the Following Negative Match types:

Negative Broad Matched – To create a standard negative keyword, insert a minus sign before a keyword and add it to your ad group or campaign.

Example: -free download

Adding this negative keyword to your account would prevent your ads from showing on any search queries containing the terms free and download Your ads still have the potential to appear for variations of these terms. Your ads will also still show on search queries that only contain one of the terms.

For example, the search queries software download and free software could trigger your ads, while free software download will not.

Negative “Phrase” Matched - To create a negative phrase matched keyword surround the term with quotation marks.

Example: -”free download“

Adding this keyword the system wouldn’t let any search query containing the phrase free download trigger your ads. The search query free download accounting software would not trigger your ads. However, your ads could possibly show on the search query download accounting software or free accounting software.

Negative [Exact] Matched – To create a negative exact matched keyword surround the term with brackets

Example: -[free download]

This negative keyword would only prevent your ads from showing on the search query free download. Search queries such as free accounting software download and free software could still trigger your ads.

It is suggested to add relevant variations of your negative keywords, including both the singular and plural forms. Learn to add effective negative keywords to your ad group or campaign.

Now that we have some familiarity with negative keyword match types the next question is how do we identify negatives to add to the account? AdWords offers two tools to identify negative keywords.

1. search query report.

The search query report is a very helpful report to identifying negative keywords. This report will show advertisers what the actual query was that resulted in their ads being served. You can use this report to identify negative keyword to add to your account.

2. Keyword Tool.

The keyword tool can be used to identify negative keywords.

Select and include your negative keyword.

Adding Negative keywords is easy. They can be added at the campaign level to cover all adgroups or at the ad group level if the negative keywords are specific to one category. Google has even recently added the ability to create negative keyword lists so that advertisers can easily create master keyword lists that can be attached to adgroups or campaigns.

Research your Search Query Reports regularly to identify negative keywords. Negative keywords will improve your CTR and preserve your budget by showing your ads to only the best prospects for business.

……….

Article by: +Kim Clinkunbroomer