Optimization score
What is optimization score?
Optimization score is a figure from 0 to 100% that Google Ads shows next to an account and each of its campaigns, together with a list of recommendations. It measures how closely the setup follows Google’s own advice, not how much the advertising earns. The number rises both when a recommendation is applied and when it is dismissed.
Example
An accountancy firm’s account sits at 68%. The recommendation list reads: raise the daily budget by 40% (+4.1%), switch to broad match (+3.2%), turn on automatically created assets (+1.8%), add 12 keywords (+0.9%). Applying all of it at once lifts the score towards 78%, and changes both the budget and the way searches are matched — two decisions with real consequences for spend.
A calmer order runs differently: add negative keywords and the missing assets, because those are genuine improvements; dismiss the budget and match type advice until there is evidence for it; and watch the score rise anyway, because a dismissed recommendation also counts.
Why it matters for a business
The score is useful as a checklist and harmful as a target. Google calculates it from its own recommendations, and several of them widen reach and spend. There is no link between 100% and a lower cost per enquiry: accounts at 60% make money, and accounts at 95% burn budget.
Auto-apply deserves separate attention. When it is switched on, Google can add keywords, change match types and publish assets with nobody confirming. It is the first setting to check when an account changes hands.
The score also feeds Google’s own partner requirements — a manager account needs at least 70% to hold the badge — which is one reason some agencies chase it instead of the result.
What to ask
- Which recommendations were applied in the last quarter, and what did they change in spend?
- Is auto-apply switched on, and for which types of recommendation?
- Which recommendations were dismissed, and is the reason written down?
- What happened to the cost per enquiry after the last change?
In the accounts we run on Google Ads, recommendations are reviewed one at a time and the decision goes into the monthly report.