Search Engine Optimization

Barry of Search Engine Roundtable reported new changes to Adwords quality scores Google promised us in October. Changes are in relationship to CTR and Ad Position and to the Ad position above search results.

Quality Score CTR and Ad Position

CRT is a big part of quality score algorithm. The more ad is clicked on (CTR) the higher quality score is assigned to that ad. Ads in more prominent spots usually get more clicks than those less prominent, hence ad position now plays a role in CTR computation.

In the coming days, we’ll update the portion of the Quality Score algorithm that accounts for ad position. This will result in more accurate Quality Scores, ensure that ads compete fairly for position based on their quality and bid, and enable Google to show the most relevant ads to searchers by rewarding high-quality advertisers with better ad positions.

Ads Above Search Results

Those are no doubt the most visible ads on a page. According to Google, it’s now possible for the ad with lower bid but higher Adscore to take first position.

For or instance, suppose the ad in position 1 on the right side of the page doesn’t have a high enough Quality Score to appear above the search results, but the ad in position 2 does. It’s now possible for the number 2 ad to jump over the number 1 ad and appear above the search results.

Sergey Brin, Co-founder of Google said (me remembering): “It’s better to have 1 ad, but 1 perfect ad”. This seems to be the direction Google is headed at the moment. 1 perfect ad over higher bids.

How Do Bids Affect Ad Positions?

The question is, if my bid is $10 bucks, but competitors are at $3-$4 with higher quality score, can I still take the first spot? It would seem logical I should take that spot, after all I paid more.

New system just rolled out so to make good judgments and analysis we have to observe new algo in action and read webmaster feedback.