Digest...

Google urges advertisers to use Quality Score as a guide, but to avoid making it the "focus of account management." Part of the reason for that is that it is only an indicator, not a "detailed metric." (This more or less acknowledges that we only see rough summaries of Quality Score data, and we can only control Quality Score outcomes to an extent.)

Quality Score is still pretty important, but Google reminds advertisers that it's going to be virtually impossible to manage to it, since reported information is not "detailed information." Looking at that number might give you a general sense of where you have room to improve, but that's about it.

Google continues to stand behind its Quality Score reporting as a handy guide to relevance, but otherwise, seems to be asking third parties to climb down from overly ambitious claims related to engineering accounts around Quality Score. Quality Score "experts" - that is to say, the very third parties who have touted their own tools' legendary abilities to "reverse engineer Quality Score," and the like - aren't having it. Their clever tactic seems to roughly amount to (1) tout Quality Score insight as lead generation tactic for their tool and/or agency services; (2) read Google's white paper; (3) ignore Google's white paper; (4) go right back to saying whatever it is they were saying before.

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Excerpt...

Earlier this week, Google published a whitepaper, "Settling the Quality Score," and updated the famous 5-year old Hal Varian-AdWords Quality Score video…

1. Google Is Trying to Downplay the Importance of Quality Score

If anything, we've seen the significance of Quality Score increase as the average Quality Score has drifted lower over the years – the CPC savings associated with above-average Quality Score keywords is now worth up to 200 percent more than it was four years ago.

2. Mobile Optimization & Device Targeting Influence QS

Mobile ads have lower average expected CTRs than their desktop counterparts. But Google takes that into consideration when calculating the Quality Score of your keywords/ads.

3. The Performance of Related Keywords DOES Matter for Newly Launched Keywords

You need to bring your overall account health and performance up to give your new keywords a chance. Or, alternatively, you should consider deleting the junk keywords in your account that are dragging everything else down.

4. The Impact of Ad Formats on Ad Rank Matters – But Probably Not as Much as Google Says

The use of Ad Extensions improves the new "Ad Format Impact" variable in the AdRank calculation, but probably isn't as influential or heavily weighted as Google suggests.

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Looking for Quality Score hacks? Here are three easy, sneaky ways to increase your Google AdWords click-through rates and Quality Scores.

Digest...

Quality Score Hack #1: Use Site Extensions

If the three rules of real estate are location, location, location, the three rules of Google ads are extensions, extensions, extensions. Ad extensions are free to use and pretty much guaranteed to increase your click-through rates. Which extension you should use depends on what your goals are, so check out our Ad Extensions Cheat Sheet for more info, and remember that you can combine multiple extensions.

Quality Score Hack #2: Bid on Brand Terms

There are a number of good reasons to bid on branded terms in AdWords. Two of them are all about saving you $$$:

1. Branded terms are dirt cheap due to low competition.
2. Branded terms get super-duper high CTR’s and Quality Scores, so they lift your account-wide average, saving you even more money.

You’re also highly likely to rank in the top position for brand terms, which means your sitelinks will display. Branded terms seem to be especially favored when it comes to the new Enhanced Sitelinks.

Quality Score Hack #3: Put an Exclamation Point in Every Ad

Google only allows you to use one exclamation point in your ad, but dadgumit, make sure you use your allotted exclamation point! Something about a vertical line and a dot just makes people more likely to click your ad. It’s almost like people can actually hear your ad shouting louder than the other ones. Test it out for yourself – run two ads that are exactly the same except for a single punctuation mark, one with an exclamation point and one without. I bet you $10 the one with the exclamation point gets a higher CTR.