In this article
- What is an optimisation score?
- How does Google Ads calculate optimisation score?
- Personalise your optimisation score
For subtitles in your language, turn on YouTube captions. Select the settings icon at the bottom of the video player, then select 'Subtitles/CC' and choose your language.
What is an optimisation score?
Optimisation score is an estimate of how well your Google Ads account is set to perform. Scores run from 0–100%, with 100% meaning that your account can perform at its full potential.
Along with the score, you’ll see a list of recommendations that can help you optimise each campaign. Each recommendation shows how much your optimisation score will be impacted (in percentages) when you apply that recommendation.
Note: Optimisation score is available at the Campaign, Account and Manager Account levels. Optimisation score is shown for active Search, Display, Video Action, App, Performance Max, Demand Gen and Shopping campaigns only.
Quick start
Check your optimisation score to evaluate recommendations.
How does Google Ads calculate optimisation score?
Optimisation score is calculated in real time, based on the statistics, settings and the status of your account and campaigns, the relevant impact of available recommendations and recent recommendations history. Applying or dismissing these recommendations changes the overall optimisation score of your account.
Optimisation score and available recommendations can change based on many factors, ranging from your settings to trends in the ads ecosystem. You may see a different score and a new set of recommendations when these changes happen.
Details about your optimisation score
At the top of the page, you’ll see a few details about your optimisation score:
1. The focus of your optimisation score, which can be conversions, impression share, clicks, etc.
2. The basis of your focus: either a bid strategy that you've set or a recommendation from Google Ads.
3. Status icons, illustrated below:
|
Green checkmark Google Ads understands your bid strategy, and has focused on a goal based on that bid strategy. |
Yellow question mark Google Ads does not understand your bid strategy and your focus is based on recommendation. |
Red minus Your optimization score has defaulted to a conversion focus, which can be remedied by setting a new bid strategy. |
Optimisation score focus
Optimisation score and recommendations are focused on your business objectives, such as maximising conversions or conversion value. Recommendations are tailored to your unique campaign data and Google’s forecast models, and a recommendation will only exist for a particular account or campaign if it drives towards that business objective.
Optimisation score is able to determine your campaign’s goal through your bid strategy. If your campaign is in the optimal fully-automated Smart Bidding strategy, your goal is openly expressed. If your campaign is not in such a strategy, your campaign goal is derived from the recommended Smart Bidding strategy, which is based on your account and campaign data.
Example 1
If your campaign bid strategy is target ROAS, optimisation score is geared towards driving more conversion value at a similar ROAS, like expanding targeting and ensuring the budget isn’t constraining additional high value conversions.
Example 2
If your campaign is using Maximise clicks and is reporting conversions, you may see a recommendation to adopt a performance-focused Smart Bidding strategy, like target CPA, to help you drive more conversions.
Personalise your optimisation score
You can control your performance objective through choosing max conversions, max conversion value, target CPA, target ROAS or target IS. In other words, you can override the system's inferred strategy. You can adjust which conversions will be used for optimisation to match your business goals with the 'Include in "Conversions"' setting.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I improve my optimisation score?
Optimisation score comes with recommendations on how to improve the performance of your campaign. These recommendations are based on performance history, campaign settings and Google search volume and trends.
Each recommendation comes with a score uplift, which is a value from <0.1% to 100%. Score uplift reflects the estimated impact of the recommendation on overall campaign metrics, when possible.
It may be possible that the total score could add up to more than 100 if all individual recommendation scores were summed up 100. This is because when you apply some recommendations, they’ll invalidate a few other recommendations.
For example, when you're on the Recommendations page for your account and apply a recommendation that has a score uplift of 5%, your account’s optimisation score increases by 5%. Your account can reach an optimisation score of 100% by applying or dismissing all recommendations.
How can I apply recommendations?
Recommendations can help you get more out of your budget by improving your bidding, keywords and ads, which may increase the overall performance and efficiency of your campaigns.
To apply a recommendation, go to the Recommendations page in your Google Ads account. Select View on the recommendation that you want to use, and then select Apply. To apply all recommendations within a specific type, select Apply all in the recommendation.
How can I dismiss recommendations?
If a recommendation doesn’t seem relevant to your ad campaign, you can dismiss the recommendation. To dismiss a recommendation, hover your cursor over the top right-hand corner of the recommendation, and then select the X to dismiss the recommendation.
To dismiss all recommendations within a specific type, select the 3-dot icon 
What's the difference between optimisation score and Quality Score?
Optimisation score is shown for active Search, Display, Video Action, App, Performance Max, Demand Gen and Shopping campaigns only. Optimisation score is not used by your Quality Score. Quality Score is a diagnostic tool meant to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers.
While both scores are meant to provide actionable feedback to help improve the effectiveness of campaigns, optimisation score provides a more holistic view of your account’s health.