Google Adwords Quality Score Improvements

Google has incorporated some enhancements to the way the quality scores are displayed in Adwords accounts. While this was announced a while ago, the changes have taken effect (for all advertisers) very recently.

So, what are the changes?

1. The quality scores are now dynamically updated

Every time a search is made, the quality score is evaluated. The quality score is evaluated based on the quality of the landing page and click through rate (CTR). The Google Adwords blog states that the landing page quality is evaluated less frequently even though the over all quality score is evaluated at the time of the search.

2. "Minimum bids" are now replaced with "first page bid estimates"

The first page bid estimate is the approximate CPC bid required so that your advertisement shows up in the first page of Google search results. This is displayed as "Estimated bid to show on the first page".

If you are already bidding more than the first page bid estimate, the value will be displayed only on the Keyword Analysis page. This is accessible from Details and recommendations link (see the screen shot).

3. All keywords are active

This is more of a cosmetic change. There will not be any "inactive for search" status for your keywords. This doesn't mean that there will be impressions for all keywords.

Read more about the changes at the official Google Adwords blog - Quality Score improvements to go live in coming days