Base Quality Score!

Hey Guys

We, as paid search marketers, new or old, have always pondered and came to many conclusions(both rational and irrational) when it comes to "Quality Score" or more popularly known as "QS" in paid search marketing circles. I would also not disagree with the fact that the theories and experiences of individual advertisers, seldom have been concurrent when it comes to discussions on QS.( They often take an ugly form)

In this post,I would not be discussing generic topics as to how it is calculated for the keywords,the factors on which it is dependent or the account optimization techniques or best practices one can follow to improve upon it, if it is dwindling of course! One can find numerous articles catering the same topics already.

Moreover, I plan to discuss a very interesting aspect of it, which our less inquisitive comrades often ignore. I can also re-frame that the QS transition happens too fast for the "not so keen" to notice.

BASE QS??

Now, when you add new keywords for a matched ad you must have noticed that they all are assigned a QS instantly !! Be it any figure in the range of 1-10. Now,the question is, how these keywords are assigned a QS without even any performance? or without even knowing how well they match user search queries when they have not even went live!! Ain't this QS is all about?-How well your keywords match user search queries!

You can refer this initial QS as "Base QS". This is the QS which is assigned to your new keywords based on how they have performed for other advertisers. It is this QS which you have to take forward.

Sometimes, initially a keyword is assigned a QS of "7" but the moment it enters live ad auction it dips to 3 or 4 !

THINGS YOU COULD INFER

IF BETWEEN(5-10):-

If the base QS of your newly added keyword is a good figure (between 5-10), you can broadly interpret that the particular keyword has done good for other advertisers, it would be a good traffic generator, it would accrue good CTR, it would be profitable in terms of ROI and also a caution that it would bring stiff competition!

WHEN BELOW 5:-

If it is a low figure from the start, you can interpret that it has not done too good historically and most advertisers have refrained to carry on using it because of the unprofitable output it brings.

Such keywords would normally be low in competition because of mentioned reasons. As an advertiser, you will have be to be extra smart in using and spending on them because they would more often than not, eat more money with unimpressive return on investment.

CONCLUSION

Either you will be building on the base QS or will help it fall even more. In both cases you have got to be patient and focus more on the effort rather worrying about an unimpressive "QS". Focus on having a decent CTR for your keywords, test multiple ad copies, bid intelligently and rest all will fall in place automatically.

Hope it helps.

Cheers

  

 

Click To Teleport Extension- What Good Is It??

Google recently launched the Click To Teleport Ad Extension (beta) to adwords and DoubleClick with a strong message that it will shorten the online to store channel as compared to the already present valuable extensions like call and location, not forgetting that they both can be used in conjunction for an even more powerful impact on users on high end mobile phones (smart phones).

Google's David kaufman  has tried hard to market and portray this new ad extension in his own witty way and using scientific aspects of time and space travel associated with teleportation. Pheww..He has even signed off the blog post with a designation of Teleportation and Time Travel Marketing Manager ! Now,that is fancy!!

Frankly, I have not used this extension and just moments back I acquainted myself with this new development and by no means I am trying to criticize this new "beta extension" because technically, I am not in a state to, till the time I try it out myself. But with the look of things there are certain questions which are arising in my mind about the same which are just pushing me to say that this teleportation might not be as special as portrayed!

What I fail to understand is that with this new extension how well would google be able to preserve their concrete ideology about providing the best "user search experience" and that the user is the one of prime importance to them?

This question arises due to the fact that the settings of the new "click to teleport extension" can be tailored by the advertiser to suit his advertising needs ie. "optimize to nearest location", "optimize to conversion" and "rotate evenly" but the poor user has no idea where he is going to be teleported after clicking the extension!

Isn't it a bit of misguidance on the advertiser's part that it is his will if he wants to take the user to a location page or a conversion page or can even rotate different business locations to avoid rush on one specific location without actually declaring in the ad itself where the user will be "teleported" after he clicks the ad!

The already present ad extensions in the adwords interface are humble enough to at least let the users know where they are being taken and can very proficiently perform all tasks which this new "click to teleport" extension promises to deliver. To elaborate, it will be another webpage for a click on a sitelink with the search ad, it will be dial pad redirect with a call extension, it will be a location of a business with a location extension click and so on.

But,I might be wrong with all this. A fancy blue colored "Teleport Me" button with the search ad might actually bring a lot with it to users as well as advertisers. Don't forget, there already are success stories from people using this new extension and I must say these "successful" people are pretty quick for a post which was made public on 31 March 2012. Hats off!!

Cheers!!