Do outbound links have a tiny effect on Quality Scoring?

Shiraha · 08-08-2010, 05:42 AM

Most of the more publicized information around state that the vast majority of the Adwords Quality Scoring system is made up of:
1) How relevant your ad is to your keywords to your landing page. A 3 way circle if you must
2) How tightly themed your ad groups are
3) A MAJOR part of QS being affected by historical CTR

However, we do know for a fact that Google did not reveal everything about QS. I've read from places like Affilorama and some others that even OUTBOUND LINKS have a small effect on QS.

Can anyone else confirm this? It's something completely new to me for sure.

Lucid · 08-08-2010, 08:20 AM

I don't believe so and here's why. The only way Google can judge quality is by CTR. In other words, searchers are effectively voting on the ads. If your keywords are relevant to the search (ie, you don't bid on "cat food" when the search is on "dog food") and that the ad is attractive to the searcher, your quality goes up because more people click on it.

CTR is about two thirds of the QS score, about another quarter is relevancy which leaves only about 10% to other factors. One of these other factors, and perhaps the only one, is page loading time. If there are other factors, their weight is small and there's no way they can increase your QS a significant amount.

Outbound links is surely not a factor. It is not a quality that can be measured as related to your ad. Adwords is not SEO.

paulgl · 08-08-2010, 10:04 AM

Adwords is all about click-thru rate.

Your ads have got to be spot on for the searches you are bidding for.
Your pages have to be spot on for the searches you are bidding for.

You have got to test ads, keywords, etc. Kill the ones that hurt.
Boost the ones that help.

And be sure to be aware of negative keywords. They can be killers
to your ctr.

The stuff on your page is what google will either approve of or disapprove of.
But they would do this up front most likely and you would know.

The caution here is having outbound links to banned or crazy stuff, boosting
your quality score, then having google find out and kill your account.

Like I always say, if you have ask, don't do it. Err on the side of caution.

So, they won't affect qs, but may eventually get you slapped.

And don't think about adding them later, just because you think the
heat is off. The heat is never off.

Improve your ctr and everything else becomes a dream come true.

paul

08-08-2010, 05:42 AM	#1
Shiraha Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 34 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	Do outbound links have a tiny effect on Quality Scoring? Most of the more publicized information around state that the vast majority of the Adwords Quality Scoring system is made up of: 1) How relevant your ad is to your keywords to your landing page. A 3 way circle if you must 2) How tightly themed your ad groups are 3) A MAJOR part of QS being affected by historical CTR However, we do know for a fact that Google did not reveal everything about QS. I've read from places like Affilorama and some others that even OUTBOUND LINKS have a small effect on QS. Can anyone else confirm this? It's something completely new to me for sure.

08-08-2010, 08:20 AM	#2
Lucid Senior Warrior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1,143 Thanks: 11 Thanked 129 Times in 121 Posts	Re: Do outbound links have a tiny effect on Quality Scoring? I don't believe so and here's why. The only way Google can judge quality is by CTR. In other words, searchers are effectively voting on the ads. If your keywords are relevant to the search (ie, you don't bid on "cat food" when the search is on "dog food") and that the ad is attractive to the searcher, your quality goes up because more people click on it. CTR is about two thirds of the QS score, about another quarter is relevancy which leaves only about 10% to other factors. One of these other factors, and perhaps the only one, is page loading time. If there are other factors, their weight is small and there's no way they can increase your QS a significant amount. Outbound links is surely not a factor. It is not a quality that can be measured as related to your ad. Adwords is not SEO.
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08-08-2010, 10:04 AM	#3
paulgl Plundering the Web War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 4,849 Thanks: 804 Thanked 1,199 Times in 886 Posts	Re: Do outbound links have a tiny effect on Quality Scoring? Adwords is all about click-thru rate. Your ads have got to be spot on for the searches you are bidding for. Your pages have to be spot on for the searches you are bidding for. You have got to test ads, keywords, etc. Kill the ones that hurt. Boost the ones that help. And be sure to be aware of negative keywords. They can be killers to your ctr. The stuff on your page is what google will either approve of or disapprove of. But they would do this up front most likely and you would know. The caution here is having outbound links to banned or crazy stuff, boosting your quality score, then having google find out and kill your account. Like I always say, if you have ask, don't do it. Err on the side of caution. So, they won't affect qs, but may eventually get you slapped. And don't think about adding them later, just because you think the heat is off. The heat is never off. Improve your ctr and everything else becomes a dream come true. paul
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