Quality Score - In The Google Algorithm

By Author: Larry Tang
Total Articles: 507
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While organic listings are based on relevancy alone, as evaluated and rated by Google's algorithms, paid search, more specifically, paid search listings also are controlled by relevancy. This may seem counterintuitive when thinking of Paid Search. Paid Search by definition involves a bidding process specific to keywords and basic logic would indicate that the highest bidder would get the highest positions within the Paid Search Listings. However, Relevancy is the most important factor for Google, even as it applies to Paid Search. Google invests billions to make their results more relevant and this extends to its major profit contributor, paid ads. Google wants one thing, above and beyond all else the continued #1 ranking of its search service to continue to dominate the Search Engine Industry. If searchers continue to use Google in overwhelming numbers, advertisers are sure to continue bidding higher and for more keywords.

So in Paid Search, Google does not merely use the top bid to determine presence and frequency of paid ads. Introduced in December, 2005, Quality Score is a key factor in determining where, ...
... when and how often a paid ad is displayed.

Google defines Quality Score as, A dynamic variable assigned to each of your keywords. Quality score is calculated for minimum bid and ad position. Minimum Bid is the minimum amount of Pay Per Click charge for a specific keyword. Ad position is the position your ad appears on the search results page. If you have a high Quality Score, you will have a lower Minimum Bid and a higher Ad Position.

So, what are the factors that determine Quality Score?
1. CTR (Click Through Rate) - Number of clicks your ads receive per impression. Impressions are the number of times your ad appears. This is usually a percentage such as 5% (meaning out of 100 impressions, your ad received 5 clicks) I would say this is the most important factor.

2. Relevance of the Keyword to its Ad Group - It's essential where you place your keywords in the campaign and to establish a good ad group structure where keywords in the ad group are relevant.

3. Landing Page Quality - The relevancy of your landing page is very important both for the Quality Score and your site's conversions. Google is very well aware of this and that's why they have included this factor in calculating the Quality Score.

4. Account Historical Performance - This has to do with how much your spending budget is, your previous CTRs and other factors. Of course, how much money you spend is included in this formula as much as Google would like to deny it.

5. Ad Text - Again, your Ad Text needs to be relevant to your keywords and ad groups.

Quality score, not just the size of your wallet, determines how high your ad is displayed on Google Paid Search Results and your ultimate cost per click. You could pay less than your competition, and appear higher on search results if you have a good quality score. Quality score is also directly proportional to the success of your campaign as it insures relevancy.

For additional information on Optimizing Your Google Quality Score, please contact Optimum7.