Every day, Google receives 3.5 billion queries, and 84 percent of individuals use Google at least three times each day to look for information.
When a user enters a search query on Google, Google Advertisements conducts a brief auction to select which ads will appear for that question and where they should appear. Every time an ad is qualified to show for a keyphrase out of the billions queried per day, this ad auction is conducted.
Google employs a metric called Ad Rank to evaluate if an ad is qualified to appear in the Google search results and where it will appear. If an ad doesn’t fulfil the Ad Rank requirements, it won’t be shown.
The CPC (cost per click) that the company paid for a click on their ad is also determined by Ad Rank.
The Social Lions will examine the primary elements that Google uses to decide an ad’s Ad Rank during the auction in this blog, as well as what those characteristics represent for your ad campaign.
Getting a Sneak Peek at Google’s Ads Auction
The Google Ads auction and how it works –
When a user enters a search term, Google Advertisements conducts a divided auction of all ads that include keywords that are related to the search term. This will define which advertisements are eligible to be displayed, their ad performance in relation to competitor advertising, and the cost-per-click (CPC) that the advertisers will spend for a click on their ad.
Advertisers select whatever keywords they wish to bet on and set their maximum CPC bid while building up Google Ads pay per click (PPC) advertising campaigns. Keyword-based ad groups and relevant advertising are also created by the marketer. When a search query is submitted, the Google Ads auction begins.
According to Google, the auction procedure is as follows:
- Google Adverts discovers all the ads whose keywords are similar to the search queries for each search query.
- Advertising that are ineligible for that area, as well as any ads that have been disapproved, are ignored by the system.
- The Ad Rank of the remaining commercials will be used to assess them. The maximum CPC price, ad quality, Ad Rank thresholds, search context, and the ad addons and forms utilised all contribute to the Ad Rank.
The SERP displays the eligible advertisements that won the auction depending on its Ad Rank. The Google search results page’s design is continually changing. On every search page, Google now displays three advertising just above organic listings and three ads underneath the search results. Advertising may appear on numerous search results for the search phrase, depending on the prominence of the search term and the amount of eligible ads.
What exactly is Ad Rank and how does it function?
For a suitable search query, the ad with the highest Ad Rank will appear at the top of the search results page. The ad with the second highest Ad Rank comes next, and so forth. Ads which do not fulfil the Ad Rank eligibility criteria will be removed from Google’s search results.
Why should you be careful with your Ad Rank?
Google establishes minimal Ad Rank requirements that decide whether or not an ad is seen on Google in any way.
For example, If four advertisers compete for an ad with Ad Ranks of 24, 20, 12, and 8. Only Advertisers 1 and 2 will appear much above organic results if the required Ad Rank to appear above the results pages is 20. Only advertiser 3 will appear below the results pages if the lowest Ad Rank to appear below the search results is 10. Advertiser 4’s advertisements will not be seen on Google since they do not match the minimal Ad Rank standards.
Advertisers fight to have their brand’s ad appear at the top of the SERP because this results in a greater clickthrough rate (CTR) and more customers. The CTR of an ad varies a lot depending on where it’s placed.
In research, the average CTR across all advertisements on Google Ads is 3.17 percent. However, depending on the business and position, the CTR varies significantly, with an “excellent” CTR for position 1 being 6 % or above.
Even small percentage variations can result in thousands of more clicks for higher-ranked advertisements.
With that in account, let’s go a little deeper into the two key elements that determine your Ad Rank.
What exactly is CPC?
The amount you spend each click on your adverts in pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns is known as the cost per click (CPC).
When you start a Google Ads PPC campaign, you choose the highest CPC bid for the keywords in your profile. The maximum CPC bid can be set at either the keyword or ad group level:
- The maximum CPC is the most you’re ready to spend for a click on your advertisements.
- The ultimate amount you’ll be paying for just a click on your ad is the real CPC. Your real CPC is calculated at the moment of the bidding and may be lower than the maximum CPC.
- The average CPC is the amount you’re charged on average for a click on your ads.
PPC (pay-per-click) is another term for CPC pricing. As a result, Google Ads is known as PPC (pay-per-click) advertising.
The impact of Ad Rank on real CPC –
The real CPC you pay for a click on your advertising is also affected by Ad Rank.
Google Ads use a second-price auction approach. The exact CPC you pay depends on the Quality Metrics and the Ad Rank of the marketer beneath you at the point of the auction. Because the auction is continuous, the real CPC may change from one auction to the next. The formula for determining the Average CPC for Google Ads is kept secret by Google.
What exactly is a Quality Score?
The Quality Score is a monitoring tool that determines how good your ad is in comparison to other marketers.
Ads and conversion tracking with a higher Quality Score are regarded as more topical and beneficial to the search term. This helps to guarantee that more relevant adverts appear higher up on the SERP.
Quality Score is a rating of one to ten that is provided for each term. It’s based on previous numbers for similar keyword searches.
Quality Score is determined by three elements.
The Quality Score is determined by the performance of three primary factors:
CTR to be expected –
The anticipated CTR is an estimation of the ad clickthrough ratio when it appears on Google. Estimated CTR estimates are based on user CTR, which aids in determining which advertisements will work best when displayed for a specific search query.
Experience with landing pages –
The relevance and usefulness of your online landing page to the individual who clicked on the ad is measured by the landing page impression.
Advertisement Relevance –
The relevancy of your ad is determined by how well it fits the specific search intent. It guarantees that only the most relevant advertisements are displayed for each search engine, and the advertisements that are irrelevant to the item or brand are not displayed.
A grade of “Above Average,” “Average,” or “Below Average” is assigned to each of the three Quality Score categories.
In relation to the three elements listed above, Google evaluates other elements like the type of equipment being used, the user’s address, the timing during the day, the influence of ad extensions, and more throughout the real-time auction.
Ways to Check Your Google Ads Quality Score –
To verify Quality Score, Google Ads gives four status elements at the keyword level:
- A high quality rating
- Experience with landing pages
- CTR to be expected
- Relevance of the advertisement
To find out what your Quality Score is in your Google Ads account, go to:
- Go to your Google Ads account and sign in.
- In the left menu, select “Keywords.”
- In the right side corner of the table, click the “Columns” icon.
- Scroll down to the Quality Score area and click “Modify columns for keywords.” To your table metrics, add the following elements.
- Press the Apply button.
- After the columns have been inserted, verify the Quality Score and its components by scrolling to the right on each term in the table.
- If the Quality Score field has a “-,” it signifies that there are insufficient searches that perfectly fit your keywords to establish the Quality Score for that term.
Final words –
The Google Advertisements auction is a real-time auction that is initiated by each and every Google search to select whose ads will be displayed for just that search query and under what rank. The Ad Rank and Quality Score of advertising are key criteria in the ad auction since they assist in deciding whether or not an ad is qualified to appear on Google.
To know more about Google ads auction & why Ad rank is important, get in touch with The Social Lions. We are a digital marketing agency based in Mumbai and certified Google Partners with a 80% optimisation score. We can help you not only with running Google ads but also help you track them and successfully achieving results.
