There is new information for Google Ads users and PPC experts running Google Ads campaigns. If you haven’t noted, there is an innovative Optimization Score that is now viewable in the Recommendations tab of your accounts. Google first announced plans for including an Optimization Score feature in the new AdWords at the Google Marketing Live event this July.
Your optimization score and recommendations help you prioritize the most impactful actions to improve performance in your account. Advertisers who increased their account-level optimization score by 10 points saw a 10% increase in conversions, on average. Google optimization recently expanded the count to include Shopping campaigns. They are an addition to Search campaigns. The aim is to provide more, real-time recommendations for improving overall account performance.
We are going to have a look at what the new Optimization Score means for your Google Ads accounts and how much you should read into it.
It’s a Score Based on Google’s Recommendations
Your Optimization Score is an estimate of your performance based on Google’s recommendations. The scores range between 0% and 100% for PPC marketing agency. They entirely depend on your implementation of these suggestions. Google’s optimization support page notes that the score gets calculated in real-time and based on several different factors. Considerations in the optimization score include:
Statistics, settings, and the status of your account and campaigns
Relevant impact of available recommendations
Recent recommendations history
Trends in the ad’s ecosystem
Google looks at each category and then weighs recommendations believed to improve the performance of your Google Ads campaigns.
Implementing recommendations increases your optimization score
Your score comes alongside with a list of recommendations from Google, with each proposal displaying how much it can increase your count. According to Google’ssupport page, applying or dismissing these recommendations changes the overall optimization score of your account. You can find the optimization score available at the Campaign, Account, and Manager Account levels. It’s also worth to note that the Optimization Score is still in beta and only displays for Search campaigns.
Clicking each recommendation reveals more details
Each proposal displays additional information, such as changing bidding strategies, implementing specific ad units, using extensions, among others. Google also shows the estimated impact of each recommendation if executed. Besides, it also displays the reasoning behind the suggestion initalic text. It’s a new, somewhat elementary analysis of what can get improved from Google’s perspective.
Senior Paid Search Manager at CPC Strategy, Erick Smith notes that for now, optimization recommendations will only display for Target CPA. It is likely because the majority of Google’s conversion data comes from lead-gen conversions. They may roll out suggestions for Target ROAS in the future.
Treat Optimization Recommendations with Scrutiny
The Optimization Score is a novel addition to the new suite of AdWords features. However, search specialists note that the recommendations aren’t always necessary. That’s why it’s best to evaluate your suggestions on a case-by-case basis.
This feature can be useful to a PPC expert company, but you should treat it with heavy scrutiny. Some suggestions make sense while others may not, like placing specific keywords into an ad group that already includes them. It also got noted by Erick Smith, Senior Paid Search Manager at CPC Strategy
What will happen if you don’t implement the recommendations
You don’t have to enforce any of the proposals, as there is an option to dismiss them. If you choose to reject a suggestion, it will still count toward your Optimization Score. The Senior Retail Search Manager at CPC Strategy Chris Pezolli said that Dismissing any of the recommendations will again increase the overall Optimization Score. They will, however, show up as a grayed-out portion in the bar.
The Two Levers of Growing Ad Revenue with Google Shopping
The two factors of Google Shopping success have been repeatedly to influence campaign performance.
Quality Score
The quality score is pivotal to Google’s decision of where your products rank. When a search query triggers a product, the highest bid does not automatically win. Google wants ads that are relevant, useful, and safe for the user. It does this by calculating a quality score. Stores with a high bid, but a low-quality score may not win the auction. How your products rank is a combination of quality and effort.
The quality score for shopping ads is vaguer than search ads. Google has kept the formula of quality score for shopping ads a secret. They often refer to it in their support documentation as “product history” or “feed quality.” One possible reason is to counter its competitors like Bing from duplicating their advertising system. The more likely reason it seems is to protect their network from marketers in the same way their algorithms for organic search are blurred. However, like SEO best practices, Google educates its users so we can improve a store’s presence on the channel. It boils down to how you can better serve the person Googling.
There are more instant ways and best practices to improve your quality score. Review all attributes of your feed to see how they can get promoted. The most influential include title, description, product category, unique product identifiers, and images.
Bids
The second major element of shopping campaign success is bidding. Pay too much for a click to gobble up your PPC solutions profits. Pay too little, and your ad will fall short of the impressions or clicks required to get sales.
The goal is to apply the right bid to the right products at the right time. Segmentation of ad groups and product groups lets you use the correct offer to products. It is where you need to see what products get the impressions and clicks then appropriately segment your product groups so you can apply the right bids. Bid adjustments then let you use the correct proposal for people at the right time. The four major bid adjustments for shopping campaigns are devices, locations, ad schedule, and audience lists.
