Quality elements in paid search bidding: a third-generation auction Andrew Goodman Page Zero Media.
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Transcript of Quality elements in paid search bidding: a third-generation auction Andrew Goodman Page Zero Media.
2SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Three generations of paid search ad ranking• (1) GoTo.com / Overture model: pure bid-for-
placement– Variation 1: AdWords 1.0, CPM-based, fixed– Variation 2: Overture folds in “click index”
• (2) AdWords 2.0: Max Bid X CTR– Various approaches to CTR “cutoffs” and other
factors
• (3) AdWords 2.5, 2.6: Quality-Based Bidding– Yahoo’s version coming soon, too
3SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
This session may mean very little to you if…• You have high QS across the board (this is normal)• In this ad group, 9 of 428 keywords were deactivated.• As it turns out… 8 of 9 were being bid at .01, and the
min bid is .03 • The only “rotten result” was for the keyword
“yahtzee” – for some reason min bid is .30• This is a normal, granular, relevant campaign
4SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
How it Works
• Two Quality Scores– One affects minimum bid (keyword status)– One affects ad rank
5SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
QS and keyword status
• Predictive or historical CTR• “Other relevancy factors”– Tightness of relationship keyword – ad – landing
page
• ***Landing page and site quality***• Types of keywords? Editorial policies?• Result of low QS: high min. bid
7SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
If you fix it, it won’t necessarily activate (changed destination URL’s to be more granular)
8SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
How it Works: Landing Page and Site Quality Assessments
• See Google’s guidelines• Human coders used to train algorithm• Principles for ad quality raters are derived
from user feedback on a large scale• Yes, Virginia, “arbitrage makes up a high
proportion of the complaints we receive”• AdsBot crawls landing pages looking for
“markers” – a formula will determine likelihood of poor user experience etc.
9SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
QS and Ad Rank – CTR’s still key
• CTR and Max Bid still predominant• Other factors? How important? Unclear• Landing Page Quality not used here• Position based mainly on bid + CTR• CTR is still normalized for ad position
10SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Which does lead us to the next question…
• Is Google really targeting arbitrage, or not? Just look at all those eBay ads etc… (we’ll get to that answer shortly)….
11SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
[…and don’t even get me started on the quality of the organic SERP’s]
12SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Case #1: Fix What’s Broken
• Advertiser (a sports training facility) using separate page to test response on different domain
• AdsBot clearly believes this is a spammy, shifty site– No business info disclosure– Looks like a templated “come-on” page– An orphan page, no conventional navigation
• Solution: simply revert to original domain which has a similar landing page with full disclosure & conventional navigation;
• If necessary alert Google to the change
13SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Case #2: Don’t Be Stoopid
• Advertiser X panics with low quality score– Cranks up bids to $100– Ponders landing page design in minute detail– Finally admits, a popup was to blame– And the popup said… “next time you come back to
the site, don’t use a search engine… each click costs us money!”
14SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Case #3: Cheesy Landing Pages + Deceptive Offers – “There is No Sanctuary”
• AdsBot flags offer as being unrelated to keywords• Editorial review confirms this• Company is well known in “data collection”• Google hates “data collection”• Google is a leader in “data collection”• Solution? Really there is no quick fix if you’re
substantively at odds with Google; it’s an editorial issue and your account is flagged
• Consider a long term plan to rebuild the business model around original content and a genuinely interested audience (permission marketing)
16SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Interesting Trivia
• Google may relax minimum bid amounts:– “In countries where market is less mature”– In various countries, for other reasons
• Upshot is, study global opportunities
19SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
With the world’s most indispensable resource on… er… Overture links to ads about jelly beans.
20SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
Who’s to say what quality is?
• Is Google acting arbitrarily?• Or are users providing feedback? Users seek
real content or real shopping, not another page of links.
• Search engine results and ad results quality dictate repeat usage of search engines; search engines must protect their real estate
21SES Chicago Dec. 2006 – Day 1
User behavior & response can be measured over time
• “Although paid search and Google Search operate independently, Google’s thinking about quality is by no means siloed”– Nick Fox, Product Manager, Ads Quality, Google