What is the optimization score?
The optimization score is Google's estimate of how well your account and campaigns are performing. This performance estimate ranges from 0 to 100%. A score of 100% means you are fully leveraging every available lever and your account is in great shape. Conversely, a score of 70% means Google estimates there is still 30% optimization potential left.
This optimization score applies to Search, Shopping, and Display campaigns.
What is this estimate based on?
It is calculated in real time based on all available statistics: your campaign history, recommendation follow-through, account settings, volume, and trends on Google.
This score can be found in 2 places:
- In the All campaigns tab > Recommendations, which shows your overall account score and groups all recommendations together.
- At the campaign level. The score is clickable and takes you to the recommendations specific to the selected campaign. The column may not be displayed by default, so you will need to go to your summary table display settings; the optimization score is found under the Attribute subcategory.
What is this estimate used for?
The optimization score gives you an idea of how your account is performing. But it is an estimate made by Google! It is therefore important to apply a critical eye to the recommendations provided, as they can sometimes conflict with the strategy you have put in place with your client or with the resources available to you.
There is no obligation to follow these recommendations. You can apply them or ignore them. However, as an agency, doing so matters for several reasons:
- It remains a meaningful starting point for account optimization, and the recommendations are relevant most of the time.
- It sends a positive signal to Google regarding your diligence and consideration of the platform's suggestions.
Example of a recommendation:
In the example above, Google recommends increasing budgets. This is not always possible if you have a limited budget available. You will therefore need to ignore that recommendation. The missed opportunity is displayed in the top right of the card, 1.5% in this case.
Note that if you ignore a recommendation, you will still gain the associated percentage, and the recommendation may be shown to you again later if Google deems it relevant.
How often should you check these recommendations?
Based on experience, we recommend checking them roughly twice a week so you don't miss any potential gains and stay informed about Google's trends.
It's worth noting that it is not necessarily strategic to address all recommendations at the same time, as doing so could disrupt the algorithms and therefore the results of your campaigns. We recommend filtering recommendations by one of the themes offered by the tool and spreading the work across several days:
- Repairs: site loading speed, navigation smoothness
- Bids and budgets: budget limitations, bidding strategy automation.
- Keywords and targeting: adding or removing keywords, new audiences.
- Ads and extensions: existing or available extensions that can be optimized, number of ads per ad group (ETA, RSA, DSA).
- Automated campaigns: New campaigns.
If your account is well managed, it is entirely possible to achieve scores above 90%. The only limiting factor may be your strategy, business constraints, current priorities, or recommendations that simply don't apply to your line of work.
Note that this optimization score has nothing to do with the Quality Score.
The Quality Score is a rating out of 10 assigned to your ads based on keywords. It takes into account, among other things, three pillars: expected click-through rate, landing page quality, and ad relevance. Along with budget and ad extensions, it determines your position in search results.
In conclusion, the optimization score is a useful performance indicator that highlights missed opportunities in your accounts, but it obviously cannot account for external factors such as your maximum budget, your strategy, and so on. It may therefore sometimes offer recommendations that conflict with your action plan. In those cases, do not hesitate to ignore them. That said, we think it is wise to aim for a minimum score of 80%.
Want support with Google Ads or your digital marketing strategy more broadly? Feel free to reach out!
By Ronan Lecointre
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