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Steve B
09-07-2008, 03:43 AM
Does anyone know why sometimes Google shows 0, 1, or 2 ads in the highlited "sponsored links" section above the organic results? Of course, all the rest go on the right side.

All of the sudden, my ad never seems to appear in the highlited top section. Sometimes there is one in that section and I'll be the top one on the right - which I assume means they bid higher than me. But lately, even if they have nobody in that top area - I'll still be on the right (the very first one).

Steve B
09-07-2008, 04:41 AM
I guess I could have done this before I posted the question. It wasn't hard to find the answer on Google. I don't necessarily understand it completely. At least, I don't understand why my ad stopped showing on top unless all of the sudden my quality score dropped too low. Here is their article on this subject.

How can I make my ads appear above the search results?On Google search result pages, the highest ranking AdWords ads are eligible to appear in the top positions above the search results. While we show only up to three ads above the search results per page, several top-performing ads can be eligible for these positions. Therefore, we cycle through all eligible ads in subsequent pages until there are no eligible ads left; when this happens, we'll return to showing the first competing ad at the top of the page.

Google believes strongly in providing high-quality and relevant advertising to our users. Our system does not rank ads solely on cost, and there is no way to reserve top placement on a search result page.

Ad position on the search network is based on the matched keyword's cost-per-click (CPC) bid times its Quality Score. A keyword's Quality Score for ad position is based on its clickthrough rate (CTR) on Google, the relevance of the ad and keyword to the search query, historical keyword performance, and other relevancy factors.

For ad placement in top positions above Google search results, we use the same formula, based on your Quality Score and CPC bid. However, only ads that exceed a certain Quality Score and CPC bid threshold may appear in these positions. The CPC bid threshold is determined by the matched keyword's Quality Score; the higher Quality Score, the lower the CPC threshold. This ensures that quality plays an even more important role in determining the ads that show above search results.

By adjusting your keywords' Quality Scores and CPC bids, you can better control the position of your ad. Remember: The higher the quality, the lower the CPC, and vice versa.

KristineS
09-07-2008, 10:45 AM
Well, that is interesting. I didn't even know that Google had such a thing as a "Quality Score". It appears that the better the ad is that you place, the more it benefits you. You would assume the better written ads would get more clicks.

billbenson
09-07-2008, 12:12 PM
Its also the quality of the landing page. ad keywords -> ad - > landing page is how you always need to look at adwords.

KristineS
09-07-2008, 03:37 PM
That's true, Bill. Good point.

I have to say I haven't got as deeply into Adwords as I would like. It hasn't, until recently been something we needed to pursue for any of our business ventures. Thanks for the reminder that a landing page is an important part of the Adwords process.

vangogh
09-09-2008, 12:44 AM
Kristine Quality score is a big thing in ads. The quality is mostly determined by the match in ad to landing page I believe. If your ad says auto parts and it points people to a page about buying stock it's not exactly quality.

That's not the only thing affecting quality score of course.

Steve I think this is the part that explains why your ad isn't always first


While we show only up to three ads above the search results per page, several top-performing ads can be eligible for these positions. Therefore, we cycle through all eligible ads in subsequent pages until there are no eligible ads left; when this happens, we'll return to showing the first competing ad at the top of the page.

If your ads are still showing up sometimes then it could just be Google cycling through. If they've disappeared completely from the top it could be a quality score issue.

Steve B
09-09-2008, 05:47 AM
Sometimes my ads are first - but, they are still on the right. In those cases, Google just chose not to put anyone in the top section. I used to be in the top section almost every time. I haven't changed anything, but I guess the quality score can still go down for some reason.

yankeerudy
09-09-2008, 11:14 AM
Google claims the quality score includes the relevance of the landing page, but at the SES in July a presenter showed his ringtones ad with an "great" quality score pointing at whitehouse.gov as his landing page. Not quite sure what that proved, but it would appear that landing pages as a quality score factor are overrated.

BTW you can see your quality scores on the Keywords tab in adwords; click the "customize columns" link then pick quality score from the dropdown.

orion_joel
09-11-2008, 12:23 AM
It was my understanding that the quality score took into account, your bid, and your Click Through Rate as well as the keywords being used. I watched a video on youtube about adwords and getting your ad in that top section. One of the main point's it made was that in most cases the ad at the top matched very well with the keywords that had been searched. But also matched with the quality score.

vangogh
09-11-2008, 12:28 AM
I believe quality score takes a number of things into account and like most things Google they aren't saying what many of those things are.

Steve B
09-11-2008, 06:35 AM
In my case, the website hasn't changed, the landing pages haven't changed, and the keywords haven't changed. I guess my CTR may have changed, or they changed one of the other unknown criteria. I wish I knew what to fix.

vangogh
09-11-2008, 12:54 PM
Steve they could have changed the algorithm too to take something into consideration that they weren't before. It could also be competitors making changes to boost their score.

Steve B
09-11-2008, 07:19 PM
Thanks everyone, and especially billbenson. Your post had me thinking and it prompted a phone call to VG (who handles my website) and we made a change to the landing page. Actually, we just changed which landing page we went to, and within hours I was back in my rightful place at the top of the highlited section.

I guess Google changed some criteria and my quality score dipped below some magic level.

billbenson
09-11-2008, 10:42 PM
Glad it helped and got you babbling some more with VG. He's got some good experience with AdWords. You just have to keep playing with it, because what is good today, might not be good tomorrow. Always those ^&%$ competitors as well.

Steve B
09-14-2008, 08:48 AM
Unfortunately, the problem has returned. It was fixed for a couple of days. Perhaps it was a coincidence that it got better when we changed the landing page. So, I'm back to having no idea why I can't get back in the highlited - top area.