Information
The user intent can also be information seeking. Either looking for how-to’s, recipes, answers or other information. Like all other intents, the Ad Creative should promise to lead the user to where they find the information they are seeking, without extra steps or, worse, being led to a non-dedicated 3rd party search engine.
Example 1
The user query is: [how to make app games]
Click here to view the Search Results
This is the corresponding Ad Creative:
Step 1
Rate the Ad Creative
The user query cannot be addressed with a simple list of steps, given that “making app games” is a long process that can be addressed in different ways. Also, the user could mean either iOS or Android apps (or to a lesser extend Windows OS or such).
The Ad Creative promises to lead the user to a website dedicated to learning how to make mobile games in the Android (or unity) environment. This is a plausible intent (to that later more), and the Ad Creative promises to lead the user to where they can find information, tools and such.
This is a Very Promising result for the user’s query.
Step 2
Evaluate the Landing Page
The Ad Creative rating is followed by the Landing Page: Click to view the LP
The LP is the games developing dedicated subpage of Firebase. The user can choose the platform they want to design on. They can also access an extensive documentation with guides around platforms, testing and much more.
A Satisfaction is very Likely for users with the above query.
Example 2
The user query is: [rack of lamb recipe]
Click here to view the Search Results
This is the corresponding Ad Creative:
Step 1
Rate the Ad Creative
The user is looking for a recipe for a specific meal.
The Ad Creative corresponds to that query and promises to lead the user to a recipe by a known and reputable chef. While the text of the AC doesn’t highlight the query, the headline is a good indication and we can here assign a medium to low Very Promising.
Keep in mind: if the user would look for [rack of lamb recipeS], a single recipe result should be rated Somewhat Promising, given that in that case the user is looking for a list of results, and a single result would not be an exact match to the query.
Step 2
Evaluate the Landing Page
And in the next step you are asked to rate the Landing Page: Click to view the LP
The landing page is a step by step guide, extensively written, on how to prepare and cook a rack of lamb. There is at the end an extensive list of ingrediencies. Additionally, there are helpful hints on presenting and serving the food. Overall this is a very helpful result for the query and should be rated with Satisfaction Likely.
Multiple Plausible Intents
A user query can have multiple, equally plausible, intents. It might then be difficult to establish what the user wants. However, the instructions say: “If an advertiser assumes a particular meaning in an ad or on a landing page, and it is a reasonable meaning, assume that is the meaning that the user intended.”
Let’s highlight this with a few examples.
Example 1
The user query is: [nike]
Click here to view the Search Results
The following Ad Creative is shown in response:
Step 1
Rate the Ad Creative
The user could be looking for the company Nike, the company’s website and/or products, either sold by the company directly or by a retailer.
The Ad Creative promises to lead the user to an online retailer, and there to a subpage dedicated to the queried company’s products. It addresses one of the equally plausible intents, and therefore we assume that seeking products is the user intent. The AC is for a well-known retailer, the sought company is mentioned in the headline. The sub links offer to lead the user to different dedicated product groups.
Overall the AC seems to lead the user to exactly where they want to go, so a rating of Very Promising is applied. We do not assign the Navigational Bullseye flag! This would only be assigned if the AC would be for the official homepage of the queried company.
Step 2
Evaluate the Landing Page
The second step is evaluating the Landing Page: Click to view the LP
The Landing Page is a subpage of a known online retailer, dedicated to products by the company the user is querying for. From here the user can navigate to different product groups, find information or purchase products. The same reasoning used for the Ad Creative applies also here: the result is an exact match for one of the plausible meanings of the query, and therefore we assign here Satisfaction Likely.
The following example you might remember from the Search Ads and Landing Page Evaluation instructions. Following it are some Ad Creatives to give you a better visual experience and explanation of the concept.
Example
The user query is: [java]
The instructions say:
“This query could refer to an island, coffee, or a computer language. With no additional information available, it is impossible to say which meaning the user intended. Ads that respond to any of these meanings are acceptable since all three meanings are reasonably plausible.”
Let’s go through this with some examples.
Ad Creative
Example 1:
Step 1
Rate the Ad Creative
This Ad Creative responds to the coffee seeking intent, so one of the equally plausible intents. It offers to lead the user to a well-known auction and e-commerce platform. The headline and the text refer to the coffee. Since it addresses one of the equally plausible intents, we assume, following the instructions, that this is the user intent and we assign Very Promising for this Ad Creative.
Step 2
Evaluate the Landing Page
The next step is the Landing Page: Click to view the LP
On the Landing Page the user can find matching coffee to purchase. We follow the same reasoning as above and assign a rating of Satisfaction Likely.
Ad Creative
Example 2:
Step 1
Rate the Ad Creative
The Ad Creative addresses the plausible intent of seeking information or such about the programming language Java. It promises to lead the user to a subpage of a well-known professional network, dedicated to learning Java. The sub links promise to lead the user to other, more in depth, subpages. The programming language Java is one of the equally plausible intents, and with the Ad Creative addressing this concept, we assume that this is the user intent. The AC promises to lead the user to a matching and very helpful result, and we assign Very Promising.
Step 2
Evaluate the Landing Page
After that you will have to evaluate the Landing Page: Click to view the LP
The Landing Page is exactly what the Ad Creative promises. On the page the user can sign up for several courses around the programming language, as indicated at the top of the website. While registration is required to see more information, we do assume, also given that it is a trustworthy and well-known website, that the user after registration will exactly see what is mentioned. Overall we follow the same reasoning as with the Ad Creative and assign Satisfaction Likely.
Ad Creative
Example 3:
Lastly, we come to the island example:
Step 1
Rate the Ad Creative
The Ad Creative again addresses one of the plausible intents, this time the island Java in Indonesia. The Ad Creative is rather short, but the visible URL, the title as well as the text refer to the query and promise to lead the user to a website dedicated to travels to Java. Again, we assume, based on the Ad Creative, that the plausible meaning is the user intent, and assign Very Promising.
Step 2
Evaluate the Landing Page
Here is the associated Landing Page: Click to view the LP
The Landing Page has extensive information on Java and offers trips and tours to and around Java. This addresses the plausible intent, the island Java, in a great way, and is exactly what a user with that query and intent would look for. The best rating here is Satisfaction Likely.
Now let’s have a look at this Ad Creative:
Summary
Often with Search Ads Evaluation tasks, it is a good idea to not only check Ad Creatives and Landing Pages with the “rater eyes”, but also putting yourself in the user’s position.
We assign Very Promising (and equally Satisfaction Likely) only for results, that are an exact match, expected and plausible, and offer immediate access to what the user wants.
If you think a user would be surprised by the Ad Creative / Landing Page or even irritated, then take this as an indicator, that very positive ratings might not be correct.
To summarize: follow the instructions, refer to them, but also trust your own judgement.
Happy rating!