Google’s First Page Bid Estimate Is A Farce
We all got excited when Google was getting rid of that dreaded “Inactive For Search” and minimum bid message. The minimum bid was replaced with “First Page Bid Estimates.” Woohoo we thought….the possibility of getting 1 cent clicks would once again return. Then the bubble burst.
First Page Bid Estimates are just another word for minimum bid requirement. Their are plenty of keywords on Google that show 0 ads yet have a first page bid estimate of $5.00. The $5.00 is just a minimum bid requirement because even if their are no ads and you bid .25 cents, your ad is not going to show on that page.
Any way you slice it, Google is going to use quality score, more and more to determine if any ads should show on a keyword or not. Make sure you keep your quality score high or you will be G-Slapped around like a red headed step child.
I’m in a funk – have a ton of campaign (client ones, too) where many got hammered. Looking over the google suggestions, I literally have no clue what the problem could be. For example, a client is a chiropractor in X town. Keyword is on the page multiple times, it’s in the meta, site has plenty of content, even ranks for that keyword in G for those keywords, in the ad text, and the frickin site is around that keyword. Yet, it pulls a “3”.
That is an extreme case, but I’m usually quite diligent on setting up these campaigns and don’t take shortcuts, yet most campaigns where we had “great” are now 7s, “goods” are now 5s or worse. The couple “oks” we had of course get that warning that they barely show.
I’ve done everything you see on the blog circuit about QS and were things I’ve done naturally – make a good site. Most of these rank all over the place for their keywords and are aged domains. Is there something huge I’m missing? If I called adwords would they give me real pointers or the run-around?
Sorry for the ramble – I just though paid search was the one area where I really had my s___ together & now this. 🙁 Any suggestions appreciated.
@M – Google can certainly be frustrating. A big part of QS is click through rate. Another part that is often overlooked is how quickly a visitor is leaving the site and going back to Google. I’ll shoot you over an email with some more help. Maybe I can get you out of your funk.