In an effort to provide more transparent Quality Score reporting, Google AdWords will begin to report on null Quality Scores for both new keywords and keywords lacking recent click and impression data.
AdWords’ Quality Score is generated based on how well ads are performing. It’s based on how many times an ad is served is search results, how frequently the ad is clicked on, and the content of the landing page itself. Without this data it’s not possible to generate an accurate Quality Score.
Currently, when a Quality Score cannot be determined, AdWords defaults to reporting a score of ‘6’. Come September 12, you’ll start seeing dashes in place Quality Scores when you either add new keywords to a campaign, or have keywords in your campaign that do not have any recent activity.
If you’re an advertiser who has a filter on Quality Score data using reports and automated rules, null Quality Scores will be excluded altogether. In order to display null Quality Scores, there will be a new checkbox titled “Include keywords with quality scores of ‘—’” when setting up rules and filters.
If you do not want to have null Quality Score excluded, Google recommends reviewing your campaign’s reports, filters, and scripts before the change goes live.
For more information about Quality Scores, please see our article where a former Google AdWords employee shares everything you need to know.
