What is Ad Rank?
The Ad Rank scoring as used by platforms like Google Ads determines exactly where your ad appears on search engine results pages (SERPs) and how much you pay for each click (CPC). It’s the cornerstone for the whole ad auction process, from whether your ad is ever going to run to where it ultimately ends up when it does. The higher your Ad Rank, the better your position (as well as your chances of seeing your target audience). This means you must do more than set a high bid — create an ad that resonates with users and still does what the platform’s algorithms want.
Why does Ad Rank matter so much?
It tells your ad where exactly it will be placed on the SERP and, as you would expect, this will affect your ad’s visibility. Higher Ad Rank ads are more likely to show up in top positions (above the fold), where they’re shown first and clicked more. In essence, it means that more people see your page, which means better click-through rates and more conversion opportunities.
In addition, accounting for Ad Rank impacts your CPC. Your campaigns become more cost-effective with a strong Quality Score because you can pay less per click while you stay in a prime location. Ad Rank can be the differentiation for your business if you are competing in a market that is already overcrowded.
Pillars of Ad Rank
Ad Rank is determined by three main factors:
- Bid: Your bid is the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click. Bidding higher means better results.
- Quality Score: It is a measure of how relevant and of high quality your ad is. It includes several sub-factors like Predicted Click-through Rate (CTR) which predicts how likely users will click on your ad and Ad Relevance is the degree to which your ad matches the search query; landing page experience includes whether your site is user-friendly, relevant, and fast loading.
- Ad extensions: The third, and to my mind the best of the three factors, is ad extensions and formats, which add value and visibility to your ads. Sitelinks, callouts, and location info are extra features for your ad, and ad extensions allow these to be more informative and interesting.
In addition to helping improve the user experience, these elements increase the likelihood of a click which improves your overall Ad Rank. Put another way, platforms like Google have an ad bias that values ads most likely to get value from the user — relevance and quality over pure spending power.
Last Word
Ad Rank is a measure of how well your ads satisfy user expectations and platform requirements and thus you have concluded. If you can concentrate on relevance, quality, and user experience, you’ll end up with a higher Ad Rank, lower cost, and better results for your business. As a never-ending story of digital advertising, the journey of staying ahead Ad Rank should be the goal for all that aspire long term success.
