High Average Position with Low Impression Share!?

[consultant1027]

I've been noticing something more and more starting about two or so months ago.

I'm seeing a high average position on Ad Groups that have a an Impression Share under 60%, sometimes as low as 40%. I have alerts setup anytime my daily cost on any campaign exceeds 80% of the budget and am receiving no alerts! I confirmed it isn't a budget issue as the Lost IS (budget) is 0% - it is lost to rank but this is on campaigns showing an average position of 1.x and 2.x !!!

I did some testing. I took an keyword that was showing Average position of 1.2 when looking at Today (to make sure I was looking at current data that wasn't historically skewed.) I then went and searched for the keyword on Google and the ad was showing up in position 9! I thought, what the heck?!

Realizing the search results take a lot of things into consideration, I then went to the Ad Preview and Diagnostic Tool and for that keyword, it is saying it is currently not ranking on the first page of results. I refreshed several times on both the Ad Preview tool and Google itself and no change. (Not surprising considering if you keep using the same keyword, ads that are not clicked on will be preferred less and less).

I spoke to an Adwords "Expert" and Google and he said there are actually two decisions that Adwords makes. First it decides if the keyword will even be entered into the auction, then the second decision is the auction result itself (where you will be displayed.)

But I asked how can a keyword with average position of 1.2, 2 or even 3 have only a 50 o 60% impressions shares. Wouldn't keywords receiving a low impressions share be more "on the bubble" meaning the bid, quality score, etc. are such that the average position would be pretty low. I just don't understand how a high average position ad group (pos 1-3) can have a 60% or less impression share? I've never seen this before (or maybe just never noticed it.)

The problem is, I do keyword bid management based on looking at not only conversion rates but also average position. I've got automated rules setup to raise and lower the bid by these factors. What looks like what may be happening is the automated rule has lowered the bid to the minimum to still get the average position I want but at the same time has dropped my impression share. Unfortunately impression share is not a factor you can use in Automated Rules which essentially defeats the purpose of using Automation rules to maintain a position (since the position preference setting was removed.)

Could there be some strategy going on behind the scene at Google that is discouraging users from being able to maintain a position for the lowest cost, in order to produce more revenue? It just doesn't make sense to me a high avg pos ad group would have a low impression share.

[jordanmcclements]

Here is one simplified scenario that may explain.

Your ad shows at position 1.
Your ad qualifies to show at position 17 (but it doesn't get an impression because in this case the user doesn't go as far as the second page ).
Your ad qualifies to show at position 27 (but it doesn't get an impression because in this case the user doesn't go as far as the third page ).

Therefore your average position is 1 - as you got one impression in position 1. But your impression share is low as you got fewer impressions than you would have done if your ad rank was higher.

It may be helpful to look at 'exact match impression share' as well as you may be ranking better for broad matched terms than you are for the actual keywords you are targeting...

[virginiasem]

It's likely the quality score. Your bid x quality score puts you at position 1 because your bid is high enough. However your a low quality score means Google won't show your ad as often. Low QS=low CTR=crummy ad/keyword combo=poor experience for Google users. When the QS drops below 3 for a keyword, it includes a warning that the ad is rarely shown.

Bruce Moore
Internet Ad Management, Inc.

[jordanmcclements]

QS does play a big part in ad rank - but it's more to do with bids and keyword match types I would imagine as consultant1027 doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would have really low quality scores on his keywords...

[virginiasem]

Maybe it's both quality score and match type as broad match can be less relevant and have lower ctr which results in a lower QS.

It doesn't have to be the ad manager's fault that there is a low quality score or ctr. On a new campaign on a new website, you inherit the QS of every novice who ever bid that word. Additionally you might have a low ctr/qs keyword that is profitable.

[jordanmcclements]

Maybe it's both quality score and match type as broad match can be less relevant and have lower ctr which results in a lower QS.

It doesn't have to be the ad manager's fault that there is a low quality score or ctr. On a new campaign on a new website, you inherit the QS of every novice who ever bid that word. Additionally you might have a low ctr/qs keyword that is profitable.

Match type doesn't affect QS, but you're right about new campaigns.

[virginiasem]

You are very quick to respond. Like myself, you are very intrigued by these type of issues. Google says match type doesn't affect - it but it does. Broad matches often match irrelevant searches and therefore result in poor CTR which is the primary factor in quality score.

[deepsand]

It's likely the quality score. Your bid x quality score puts you at position 1 because your bid is high enough. However your a low quality score means Google won't show your ad as often.
Huh? That's contradictory.

The product of QS & Max. Bid determines position; Max. Bid alone simply caps your Cost-per-Click at $0.01 greater than next highest Max Bid.

[deepsand]

Match type doesn't affect QS, but you're right about new campaigns.


You are very quick to respond. Like myself, you are very intrigued by these type of issues. Google says match type doesn't affect - it but it does. Broad matches often match irrelevant searches and therefore result in poor CTR which is the primary factor in quality score.
Match type does not directly affect QS, just as is the case with your choice of keywords/phrases and/or Max. Bids.

It is the performance that results from the combination of all of these factors that affects QS.

[deepsand]

I have observed precisely the odd Google reported results as the OP. And, this with QSes in the 8 to 10 range.

Moreover, I have seen numerous instances where ads are reportedly not being displayed for one or more keywords/phrases, but are in fact being displayed in positions 1 to 3.

As for the being "temporarily shoved off of the page" explanation, that's not realistic, as it would require that too many competitors simultaneously make really stupid bids; and, then, only when I'm not looking.

[virginiasem]

It's a distinction of frequency vs. position. You should be able get position 1 with a low quality score if you bid high enough- just not frequently meaning your ad will not show often.

[deepsand]

It's a distinction of frequency vs. position. You should be able get position 1 with a low quality score if you bid high enough- just not frequently meaning your ad will not show often.
Your QS is not a transient value of the moment, not so volatile as to allow of your being in 1st place one moment and invisible the next.

If (QS x Max. Bid) = 1st place now, then, unless a sufficiently large number of other advertisers suddenly come on the scene, all of which have higher (QS x Max. Bid) products, you are not going to suddenly vanish from sight.

[jordanmcclements]

Match type does not affect QS. (Full stop / period).

Adding negative keywords does not improve quality score.

If someone else finds evidence to the contrary - please report back here....

Also - there is 'Quality Score' and 'visible quality score' which are not the same thing and we'll probably never know the actual quality score.

I agree with deepsand's last comment. Though particularly if you are using broad match or phrase match your position may vary a lot (say you do not have "free" as a negative and all your competitors do - its likely you'll appear a lot higher if someone searches for "free widgets" rather than "widgets") - anyway there are a thousand different things that could affect your position a lot - that is just one example.

I also agree with his comment about Google lying to you sometimes about your ads is not showing for certain keywords (not sure how they explain this one).

[virginiasem]

It's not a question of rank, it's a question of impression share. Your ad will show less frequently when the ad-keyword combination has a low quality score. Hence the warning from google when it dips below 3. No matter how much you bid, even if it enough to make rank one, Google will show your ad less frequently when the quality score is low.

[virginiasem]

Match type does not affect QS. (Full stop / period).

Adding negative keywords does not improve quality score.

If someone else finds evidence to the contrary - please report back here....
.

That is a very misleading statement. It's like saying shooting yourself in the head doesn't cause death. It causes blood loss which may result in death. Many broad match keywords cause low CTR and that results in low QS. If you sell only "mens pink tennis shoes" and your ad says "mens pink tennis shoes" and you bid on the a broad match keyword that matches "shoes", then your ad will have a low CTR (not low QS) BUT low CTR. Low CTR results in low QS. However if you bid on exact match "where to buy mens pink tennis shoes" you will have a much higher CTR.

[deepsand]

It's not a question of rank, it's a question of impression share. Your ad will show less frequently when the ad-keyword combination has a low quality score. Hence the warning from google when it dips below 3. No matter how much you bid, even if it enough to make rank one, Google will show your ad less frequently when the quality score is low.
To repeat, your QS is not a transient value of the moment, not so volatile as to allow of your being in 1st place one moment and invisible the next.

If (QS x Max. Bid) = 1st place now, then, unless a sufficiently large number of other advertisers suddenly come on the scene, all of which have higher (QS x Max. Bid) products, you are not going to suddenly vanish from sight.

[virginiasem]

To repeat, your QS is not a transient value of the moment, not so volatile as to allow of your being in 1st place one moment and invisible the next.

If (QS x Max. Bid) = 1st place now, then, unless a sufficiently large number of other advertisers suddenly come on the scene, all of which have higher (QS x Max. Bid) products, you are not going to suddenly vanish from sight.

The competition doesnt have to change and quality score doesn't have to vary, its a matter of impression share. Ads do not show every time they are eligible. In your AdWords dashboard, click on in the campaign tab view, click "All Online Campaigns", then under the "column" pull down and select the impression share. This will show you the percentage of time your ad shows relative to the number of times it is eligible (triggered by a keyword search). If it is 60% then depending on ad rank, it might show at number 1 for 60% of the time, then not show at all 40% of the time.

[deepsand]

The issue under discussion is, not what is reported, but how to explain it.

If (QS x Max. Bid) = 1st place now,
and QS and Max. Bid remain unchanged,
then how can (QS x Max. Bid) = not visible a minute from now?

[deepsand]

That is a very misleading statement. It's like saying shooting yourself in the head doesn't cause death. It causes blood loss which may result in death. Many broad match keywords cause low CTR and that results in low QS.
Which, as jordan and I have stated, can make broad match an indirect cause.

[virginiasem]

The issue under discussion is, not what is reported, but how to explain it.

If (QS x Max. Bid) = 1st place now,
and QS and Max. Bid remain unchanged,
then how can (QS x Max. Bid) = not visible a minute from now?

You make a good point, I was wandering off the original question.

The ad is not visible a minute from now because of limited impression share. Google will not show your ad every time it is eligible. Two known factors in determining impressions share - 1) quality score, 2) budget.

Quality Score
If your quality scores is 2 you will get a warning in your adwords dashboard that the ad will rarely show. You could still make a high enough bid for it to show at #1 but it will not show frequently regardless of the bid.

Budget
You can make campaign settings to either show the add as frequently as google will allow, but your budget may be exhausted by mid day and your ads will cease to show for the remainder of the day. The other option is to show it at a frequency that allows the budget to last all day. This has nothing to do with rank, just frequency.

It's easy to make an ad rank high but show infrequently- just bid high and have a low daily budget relative to the click cost. For example if at your existing QS, you can acheine #1 by bidding $5 per click, and you set your daily budget to $10 you may reach your daily budget in only 2 clicks. Google will automatically lower the frequency the ad is shown to try to make that budget busting last click of the day - late in the day.

If your QS is 2, your ad will not show frequently, regardless of your budget. Google does not want to burden users with irrelevant and low CTR ads that no one is interested in.

[deepsand]

The ad is not visible a minute from now because of limited impression share. Google will not show your ad every time it is eligible. Two known factors in determining impressions share - 1) quality score, 2) budget.
Per the OP, both the QS and budget were more than adequate for the ad being displayed continuously.

And, as I have related, I too have observed the same phenomenon.


If your quality scores is 2 you will get a warning in your adwords dashboard that the ad will rarely show. You could still make a high enough bid for it to show at #1 but it will not show frequently regardless of the bid.
The frequency of display will not be decreased if the Max. Bid is sufficiently high.

Listings are ordered, not by Max. Bid alone, but by the product of QS & Max. Bid.


Google does not want to burden users with irrelevant and low CTR ads that no one is interested in.
Google is interested only in not displaying ads that users do not click on with sufficient repetitiveness. Ad listings are simply ordered so as to maximize the expected revenues.