Search engine marketing training: Bidding and the Quality Score
When Google led the way on changing the way that search engine bidding worked, they changed the culture in search marketing. The concept of bidding on a term helped those advertisers prepare to spend the most on a click rise to the top of the listings. The application of auction theory to advertising was an incredible invention, but Google kept innovating. When they introduced the Quality Score process they kept the same basic principle but introduced two key variables. The rate of previous clicks and the quality of the landing page (in terms of the language linked to the keywords the searcher had just typed). This achieves a brilliant step change in the effectiveness from the consumer’s perspective because it means that the position in the paid-for listings space is not just about how much an advertiser spends, but also about the quality of the experience for the customer. And that’s how an online media business (which is what Google is) achieves credibility among its primary customers – all of us.