[ad_1]
Ad power is not a “major factor” in preventing a keyword from being auctioned, despite what some advertisers may think. This is what Google Ads contact person Ginny Marvin says.
Advertising strength. Marvin responded to a post on wrote:
- “Ad strength is not used Ad position and is *not* a factor that prevents a keyword from going to auction due to ad rank.
- “Ad strength is a distinctive diagnostic tool. And again: it plays no role in the auction. It simply helps indicate the diversity and relevance of the items available, maximizing the number of ad combinations that can appear on a search query. Having more combinations available usually means you have more opportunities to show relevant ads in more auctions.”
Why we care. Ad strength scores don’t always correlate with performance. Many see that ads with poor Ad Strength Scores perform well. Others who believe that ad strength doesn’t matter may not be looking at this issue from the right lens.
Ad position versus ad strength. Why the confusion?
PPC influencer Sara Stemen suggested that it is a matter of what we can see versus what we cannot see.
- “PPC experts have tracked and tried to improve ad ranking (black box) for years, but Google pushes ad strength (transparent), which does not (always) improve results.
- “It is confusing for veterans and challenging to teach new PPCers. Ad Rank’s secrecy, combined with Ad Strength’s prominent position on the platform, creates more questions than answers,” said Stemen.
Agency owner Menachem Ani said the confusion stems from the lack of understanding of how each can impact campaign performance.
- “They both use a rating system, which ultimately drives your campaign. Ad rank is more directly related, while ad strength is a more useful tool for showing where improvements can be made,” said Ani.
Google Ads coach Jyll Saskin Gales blame Google for making it complicated:
- “Google has a knack for making things complicated and choosing bad naming conventions. Ad rank is one of the most important, foundational concepts in Google Ads, while ad strength merely highlights the best practices to consider before enabling your ads,” Gales said.
Google vs. opinions of advertisers. The industry has many opinions about how important advertising strength is. Some of them were shared in our “Google explains why ad strength is ‘so important’ as it addresses industry concerns” article.
Some advertisers dismiss the importance of the power of advertising. Some advertisers believe it’s not worth our concern, while others call it a total time waster.
But Brendon Kraham, Google’s vice president of Search & Commerce, told Search Engine Land that the power of advertising is “really important” and “at the core of what we’re trying to do, because creative is going to be incredibly important, and advertising strength will be the mechanism we use to evaluate that, both in Performance Max and in channels like search.”
[ad_2]
