• Inside AdWords, Friday, March 7, 2008 2:15 PM

Just when you thought you had a better grip on the whole AdWords Quality Score thing, Google throws in another curve ball. Landing page load times will now factor into an ad's Quality Score.

Makes sense actually--as the length of time it takes for a landing page to show up truly does have an impact on the user experience. Using tactics like interstitials or multiple redirects are bad for consumers who just want to get to the point and find the offer, the product info, or make a purchase. The same goes for slow servers--as pages that take long to load are more likely to be abandoned.

Over the next few weeks, AdWords users will find landing page load time evaluations on the Keyword Analysis page in their accounts, and they'll have one month to review their site and adjust if necessary. The load times will be incorporated into an ad's Quality Score equation after that month-long probationary period--with poor load times leading to higher minimum bids, and vice versa.

Read the whole story at Inside AdWords »