Search Lost Impression Share (Rank) represents the percentage of time your ad didn’t appear because of a low Ad Rank.
Ad Rank isn’t just about how much money you spend; it’s a calculated score determined the moment someone performs a search to decide if and where your ad shows up.
Factors Affecting Lost IS (Rank)
Several variables influence your Ad Rank and, consequently, your lost impression share:
Bid Amount: This is the maximum you are willing to pay for a click. If your bid is significantly lower than your competitors, you will lose impressions.
Quality Score: This is Google’s estimate of the quality of your ads and consists of three components:
Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR): The likelihood that your ad will be clicked.
Ad Relevance: How closely your ad text matches the user’s search query.
Landing Page Experience: How useful, fast, and relevant your website is to the person clicking the ad.
Ad Assets (Extensions): Including additional information like phone numbers, sitelinks, or location info improves your expected performance and Ad Rank.
Ad Rank Thresholds: These are the minimum quality “bars” your ad must clear to appear in certain positions.
Search Context: Real-time factors like the user’s location, device, time of day, and the nature of other ads on the page.
How to Reduce Rank-Based Losses
If you see a high percentage in this column (e.g., above 30–40%), you can improve it by following these steps:
Improve Quality: Optimize your ad copy to be more relevant and ensure your landing page loads quickly and answers the user’s query.
Increase Bids: If your quality is already high, increasing your bid is the fastest way to capture more impressions.
Add More Assets: Use at least 4–5 different ad assets to make your ad larger and more useful to users.
Adjust Bidding Strategies: If using Smart Bidding (like Target CPA), increasing your target gives the system more flexibility to bid higher in competitive auctions.