Ad quality uplift

Improving ad quality from Average to Good was expected to increase Top % / Abs. Top %, CTR, CR and reduce CPA if relevance offset CPC pressure.

A/B testSplit: 50/5011 performance snapshots
A/Btest design
Split50/50
KPICTR / CR / CPA-CPO / ROAS-CAC
PeriodDec 4–28

Experiment context

Hypothesis. Improving ad quality from Average to Good was expected to increase Top % / Abs. Top %, CTR, CR and reduce CPA if relevance offset CPC pressure.

How the test ran. New and old ads ran in parallel from 04.12–28.12 in the same campaigns with fixed Google quality status; results were checked by project, region and direction.

Traffic split. 50/50.

Visual summary — best winning variants only

This summary keeps only the clearest winning ad-quality variants so the table points directly to rows worth reviewing in the detailed results.

Detailed table rowCTRConversion signalPosition signal
game-1 — service11+8–15%More qualified trafficAbs. Top improved
US — game-2 — service6+5%Stable efficiencyPositions stable
EU — game-4 — service5-5%CR nearly 2×Stronger intent
US — game-4 — service6+50%Higher engagementPositions stable
Performance results11 snapshots · Click to expand
game-1 — service7
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new53310.69%573.17$180.74$3.4352.74$6.01%81.58%24.01%113.07$69.95%89.53%62.64%98.45%61.73%58.14%106.24%92.75%97.07%76.32%125.72%
old76211.94%913.22$292.78$5.9049.64$6.48%84.04%31.46%89.94$

Result. Unsuccessful: CTR decreased 10.5%, conversions fell 42%, and CPA increased 6%; retain the old ad.

game-1 — service10
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new eu263.85%12.23$2.23$00$0.00%61.90%28.57%0$118.18%42.35%50.00%190.60%95.71%N/AN/AN/A108.33%100.00%N/A
old eu229.09%21.17$2.33$00$0.00%57.14%28.57%0$
new us1118.18%23.28$6.55$00$0.00%80.00%30.00%0$91.67%218.25%200.00%97.91%195.52%N/AN/AN/A133.33%75.00%N/A
old us128.33%13.35$3.35$00$0.00%60.00%40.00%0$

Result. Inconclusive: the sample contains only a few clicks, so no rollout decision should be made.

game-1 — service11
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new eu11118.02%201.85$36.91$00$0.00%96.15%36.54%0$60.00%107.52%64.52%100.54%64.81%N/AN/AN/A107.65%117.61%N/A
old eu18516.76%311.84$56.95$00$0.00%89.32%31.07%0$
new us8315.66%131.90$24.67$3.556.94$27.34%87.93%22.41%57.04$98.81%119.54%118.18%98.96%116.81%N/AN/AN/A94.82%205.41%N/A
old us8413.10%111.92$21.12$00$0.00%92.73%10.91%0$

Result. Successful: the new ads improved CTR and absolute-top visibility; replace the old ads.

game-1 — service11
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new eu54210.70%581.82$105.42$3.2732.26$5.63%67.94%45.59%53.37$175.97%183.22%322.22%100.00%322.29%N/AN/AN/A99.77%91.75%N/A
old eu3085.84%181.82$32.71$00$0.00%68.10%49.69%0$
new us3187.55%241.83$43.99$0.5087.98$2.08%54.84%24.88%17.99$158.21%116.69%184.62%102.81%190.43%49.02%388.95%26.50%102.62%108.65%33.24%
old us2016.47%131.78$23.10$1.0222.62$7.85%53.44%22.90%54.12$

Result. Successful: the new ads received more traffic and improved CTR by roughly 10–15%.

game-1 — service11
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new eu11914.29%171.96$33.30$3.0610.87$18.02%88.06%34.33%36.12$110.19%118.69%130.77%103.70%135.42%N/AN/AN/A98.30%86.74%N/A
old eu10812.04%131.89$24.59$00$0.00%89.58%39.58%0$
new us708.57%61.96$11.75$111.75$16.67%93.75%21.88%35.98$106.06%113.06%120.00%100.00%119.78%N/AN/AN/A120.12%89.71%N/A
old us667.58%51.96$9.81$00$0.00%78.05%24.39%0$

Result. Successful: CTR improved by roughly 8–15% with a balanced traffic split.

game-1 — service11
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new eu40212.94%521.92$99.78$00$0.00%91.58%33.17%0$820.41%90.55%742.86%107.87%802.74%N/AN/AN/A102.56%92.89%N/A
old eu4914.29%71.78$12.43$00$0.00%89.29%35.71%0$
new us34814.94%521.80$93.41$246.70$3.85%87.75%17.16%171.83$1,513.04%N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A122.85%60.06%N/A
old us230.00%00$0$00$0.00%71.43%28.57%0$

Result. Successful: Google strongly preferred the new ads and CTR improved.

US — game-2 — service6
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new4,11913.72%5651.56$878.73$41.8521$7.41%83.62%49.60%3,168.55$180.82%104.89%189.60%100.00%188.88%180.70%104.58%95.37%99.12%88.92%342.46%
old2,27813.08%2981.56$465.23$23.1620.08$7.77%84.36%55.78%925.23$

Result. Successful in US: CTR improved about 5% with stable positions; retain the new ad.

EU — game-4 — service5
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new31812.89%411.02$41.83$141.83$2.44%78.34%33.64%4$54.83%95.84%52.56%100.00%52.49%100.00%52.49%190.63%100.29%96.58%32.00%
old58013.45%781.02$79.69$179.69$1.28%78.11%34.83%12.50$

Result. Successful in EU: CTR fell 5%, but CR nearly doubled; retain the new ad for its stronger purchase intent.

game-4 — service8
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new eu94716.16%1532.30$352.62$3117.54$1.96%91.17%85.33%102.46$35.87%126.94%45.54%96.64%44.14%150.00%29.43%326.67%101.42%113.37%655.95%
old eu2,64012.73%3362.38$798.82$2399.41$0.60%89.89%75.27%15.62$
new us1,24713.07%1632.82$459.71$2229.86$1.23%69.29%55.48%52.17$43.37%111.80%48.51%101.44%49.13%23.64%207.81%48.81%94.76%110.58%38.83%
old us2,87511.69%3362.78$935.70$8.46110.61$2.52%73.12%50.17%134.35$

Result. Successful: CTR improved 8–12% and absolute-top visibility increased; roll out the new ads.

EU — game-4 — service6
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new97012.47%1210.86$103.49$14.537.12$12.01%87.14%12.14%549.29$113.58%84.54%96.03%103.61%99.17%75.21%131.85%78.34%100.39%123.63%70.22%
old85414.75%1260.83$104.36$19.325.40$15.33%86.80%9.82%782.27$

Result. Successful in EU: lower CTR was offset by a 23% improvement in absolute-top visibility.

US — game-4 — service6
new/oldImpr.CTRInteractionsAvg. CPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. valueImpr.CTRInteractionsCPCCostConversionsCPAConv. rateImpr. (Top) %Impr. (Abs. Top) %Conv. value
new66216.92%1122.09$233.99$12.0819.38$10.78%87.79%31.37%637.84$92.59%151.21%140.00%105.56%147.78%167.55%88.29%119.51%98.85%97.45%207.58%
old71511.19%801.98$158.34$7.2121.95$9.02%88.81%32.19%307.27$

Result. Successful in US: CTR increased 50% with stable positions.

Conclusions

Overall verdict: mostly successful. New ads performed most consistently in game-1 service11 and game-4 service6/service8. US game-2 service6 improved CTR while maintaining stable positions, and EU game-4 service5 nearly doubled CR despite a small CTR decline. Retain the old ad for game-1 service7 and treat game-1 service10 as inconclusive because of the limited sample. A stronger Google quality rating should still be validated against CTR and downstream conversion performance before rollout.