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My Quality Scores Dropped From 7/10 to 3/10. What Happened?

by ShaunAllen
14 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I've had a great campaign going with around 300 clicks per day that went live 1 week ago.

However, today all of my scores dropped to 3/10 from 7/10. However, I did change about half of the copy on my website today too. I also changed some other things besides the copy such as graphical elements. Do you think this is the problem? Or did Google find get around to my site and not like something?

One more thing. My ads are still all showing even though it says that I need to bid $2.00 or whatever to get on the first page. They're not only showing but they're still in the top 2 positions for adwords.

It also shows-

Keyword Revelance- Good
Load Time- Good
Landing Page- Good


Any ideas on what the deal is? Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow (it's past my bed time) and things will be back to normal or I'll have completely lost all of my traffic which obviously would suck.

Any help would be appreciated.
#3 or 10 #7 or 10 #dropped #happened #quality #scores
  • Profile picture of the author Defunct
    Sounds like manual review and you were given a low quality score for the landing page, if its a squeeze page or review page with affiliate links and little content that could be why.

    If you are ads still showing for the same price you shouldn't care then, probably low competition keywords?
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    • Profile picture of the author ShaunAllen
      An update for anyone interested and I'll continue to update to see if things go back.

      I talked to Google today and the lady helping said that everything looks good for landing page, ctr, etc... My ads are still running well even though it says to bid more. And thank heavens they're still running.

      She said that the drop may be because all of those keywords are deemed not to do well on the Google system. So in a sense, people targeted those same keywords before and they haven't done well with them.

      But there are still 10 advertisers in this niche so it's not like they're shutting people down. I don't know what the deal is but as long as I don't all of the sudden start getting traffic I am fine with it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
        Originally Posted by DaveJ13 View Post


        She said that the drop may be because all of those keywords are deemed not to do well on the Google system. So in a sense, people targeted those same keywords before and they haven't done well with them.
        .
        So Google deems that you should pay more for keywords because your ads are less effective? LOL

        I know there are people who will disagree but despite all the reasons and explanations and defense of quality scores it has always come off as a ripoff to me - a thin excuse to force people to pay more especially for words that have next to no competition.
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        • Profile picture of the author ShaunAllen
          What I thought was funny, is that I've been making sales everyday with those same keywords. Then again, when you're talking to these people you have to treat them like a God so I wasn't going to argue about it. I also wonder if there is a big disconnect between the techie Google and the business Google.

          I've heard that the guy with the grad degree in Computer Science is worshipped whereas the guy at Google with the MBA is looked down upon. So in a sense maybe the person helping really has no idea what his/her techie counterpart is putting in the algorithm.


          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

          So Google deems that you should pay more for keywords because your ads are less effective? LOL

          I know there are people who will disagree but despite all the reasons and explanations and defense of quality scores it has always come off as a ripoff to me - a thin excuse to force people to pay more especially for words that have next to no competition.
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        • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

          So Google deems that you should pay more for keywords because your ads are less effective? LOL

          I know there are people who will disagree but despite all the reasons and explanations and defense of quality scores it has always come off as a ripoff to me - a thin excuse to force people to pay more especially for words that have next to no competition.
          I was not even going to touch that but yes if this has happened people are probably paying double if not more for clicks right now

          position should not be affected for any one as it seems on par in all accounts and all changes / affects would be global

          but very possible the income would have doubled yes ? one for the G to sort i think.
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          | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
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          • Profile picture of the author ShaunAllen
            The lady told me that I could try and bid higher, but there is no way I was going to do that when all of my campaigns were running perfectly and I still had the same ctr and ad position. Glad to know I am not going at this alone.



            Originally Posted by tryinhere View Post

            I was not even going to touch that but yes if this has happened people are probably paying double if not more for clicks right now

            position should not be affected for any one as it seems on par in all accounts and all changes / affects would be global

            but very possible the income would have doubled yes ? one for the G to sort i think.
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        • Profile picture of the author Lucid
          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

          So Google deems that you should pay more for keywords because your ads are less effective?
          You've just defined Quality Score. It's not just Google too. All the major PPC search engines use this formula. They are not forcing you to pay more. They are trying to force you to improve quality of your ads, quality as measure by your click rate. It's better for you, better for them and better for those clicking the ads.
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          • Profile picture of the author paulgl
            One week is a blip for anything on adwords.

            If you got 300 clicks, how many times was the ad shown?
            300 clicks might be a drop in the bucket.

            Of those 300 clicks, how many clicked right back because they
            did not find what was promised?

            A new campaign would expect to see the QS drop or rise, depending
            on a lot of things.

            If you can't stomach paying the high bid, then don't use adwords.
            Harsh but true. In the long run, you will be rewarded with a much
            lower cost if your QS is high enough.

            It has to do with how google perceives relevancy and quality.

            Paul
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            If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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            • Profile picture of the author ShaunAllen
              Already been answered.

              Quality Score crashed from 7/10 to 3/10 - AdWords Help



              Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

              One week is a blip for anything on adwords.

              If you got 300 clicks, how many times was the ad shown?
              300 clicks might be a drop in the bucket.

              Of those 300 clicks, how many clicked right back because they
              did not find what was promised?

              A new campaign would expect to see the QS drop or rise, depending
              on a lot of things.

              If you can't stomach paying the high bid, then don't use adwords.
              Harsh but true. In the long run, you will be rewarded with a much
              lower cost if your QS is high enough.

              It has to do with how google perceives relevancy and quality.

              Paul
              Signature

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          • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
            Originally Posted by Lucid View Post

            You've just defined Quality Score. It's not just Google too. All the major PPC search engines use this formula.

            You missed the point. it wasn't that HIS ad was inferior in quality. She told him that historically (which has nothing to do with his site or ad) the keywords haven't done well

            They are not forcing you to pay more. They are trying to force you to improve quality of your ads, quality as measure by your click rate. It's better for you, better for them and better for those clicking the ads.
            I don't think there is anyone in this thread that has not heard that Google brainwashing line before. Look it couldn't be easier to see through this. If google cared about quality then the tool would tell you "your ad does not meet the guidelines for high placement please improve your site/ad"

            PERIOD.

            By telling you to raise your price as a possible solution they are point blank telling you that they care about the quality right up to and no further than when you pay them more to accept your low quality.
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...sT4LtU7Lad1sCS

    posted about it here

    Skooner Level 1
    1:09 AM

    No time for resolution yet, they simply said - and I quote - they are "working diligently to find a resolution"...
    and this just came into my email

    this is a temporary glitch and our technical team is
    currently working diligently to find a resolution. I will send you an
    update as soon as I hear from the technical team on a resolution.
    Sincerely,
    The Google AdWords Team

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    | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    adwords has just announced it is a glitch, it does not affect anything other than the q score shown in the cp / and are working to fix it

    Known Issue: Drop in Quality Score for high performing keywords around 24th/25th October - AdWords Help
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    | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    Mike, QS is a measure of how well you are doing compared to others. Therefore, if your QS = 5, it means that your quality (again, measured by CTR) is not as good as someone with a QS of 6 or more. Doesn't matter what others have historically done. In fact, that's what is being measured, your click rate vs the historical average, taking position into account. Therefore, you need to increase your CTR to increase QS. I don't care that the vast majority of advertisers have done poorly. I care about doing better than that.

    A low QS is telling you to improve quality. Your QS is used to calculate your first page bid estimate as well. It's another way of saying "hey buddy. Improve quality. Otherwise, you have to pay more to maintain your position". Of course, it's up to the advertiser to decide to pay more or increase quality.

    If you do the math, you see that search engines want you to increase quality. Let's say two ads in the same position. One has a 8% CTR and bidding $0.50. The other has a 4% CTR which means they have to bid $1 for that same position. However, your actual cost depend on the next advertiser's bid and QS. Let's say it's $0.40 for the first and $0.70 for the second.

    The first advertiser with better quality generates revenues for the search engine of $3.20 per 100 impression while the second generates only $2.80. But if the higher bidding advertiser increases his quality, say to 6%, he could reduce his bid to about $0.70 for the same position. His costs would go down to about $0.50. He now generates revenues of $3.00, twenty cents more. The advertiser gets more clicks, he did not have to bid more, in fact, he's paying less per click and the search engine makes more money. I call that a win-win.
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  • Profile picture of the author OnlineAlready
    Personally, I'd wait until the glitch is fixed. Why pay for clicks if you don't have to.
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