Google Ads provides a score based on its estimate of how well your Google Ads account is set to perform, this is known as your optimization score. Optimization scores are available at the account level, manager account level, and campaign levels. This score is a percentage ranging from 0% to 100%, with 100% representing that your account is expected to perform to its full potential. The grade an account receives for its optimization score doesn’t have an effect on Quality Scores or AdRank.
How Optimization Score is Calculated
Optimization scores are calculated automatically in real-time using a variety of different factors and can fluctuate based on any changes that are made. These factors include settings, statistics, the relevant impact of any available recommendations, recent recommendations history, and the status of your campaigns and account. Any changes that impact your optimization score can also impact the recommendations that are provided for improving a campaign’s performance.
Google Ads steps in provides feedback on your campaign and essentially marks individual aspects that can be improved upon. This is just like the feedback we can typically expect from speaking to others while creating projects and marking notes and details with a red pen.
The optimization score and the recommendations accompanying it are focused on the campaign goals, which are determined by the bidding strategy that is selected. While viewing your Google Ads account, the Recommendations page is where you can view your current optimization score, what the focus of your optimization score is, what that focus is based on, and a colored status icon.
- Optimization Score
- Current percentage score ranging from 0-100%.
- Focus of Optimization Score
- What Google believes the goal or focus of ad campaigns is.
- Examples of this focus include impressions, clicks, and conversions.
- Basis of Focus
- Why Google believes your focus is what it’s set as.
- This will either be due to a recommendation from Google Ads or the bidding strategy you have set up.
- Colored Status Icon
- Once Google Ads has an understanding of the bidding strategy that is set up, and a focus has been set based on that strategy, it will display a green checkmark status icon.
- If your optimization score defaults to focus on conversion, it will display a red minus status icon. To fix this, a new bid strategy must be set up.
- If Google Ads doesn’t have an understanding of the bidding strategy that is set up, it will base the focus of your optimization score on its recommendation and display a yellow question mark status icon.
Recommendations
As previously mentioned, your optimization score will include recommendations that are provided by Google Ads with the goal of improving a campaign’s performance. The campaign settings, performance history, and Google search volume and trends form the recommendations that are shown. Accompanying each recommendation, a percentage is shown, which is a reflection of the estimated change to your optimization score if that recommendation is applied.
Recommendations help you to improve your ads, bidding, and keywords and phrases, which not only can help your campaign perform to its full potential, but also helps you in using your budget effectively.
Not all recommendations that are shown will ultimately make sense for your business and its goals, and they will need to be dismissed. Dismissing recommendations helps Google in better understanding what recommendations are valuable and should be recommended in the future. Even after dismissing recommendations, Google can still show them again if it’s believed to be relevant.
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