What is the Best Optimization Score for Google Ads? A Practical Guide

**TL;DR:** The "best" optimization score for Google Ads isn't 100%. It's the score that reflects intentional, strategic decisions aligned with your actual business goals. Experienced advertisers often maintain scores between 70-85% because they've deliberately dismissed recommendations that don't serve their campaigns. This guide will show you how to use optimization score as a tool—not a report card—and which recommendations to follow, ignore, or approach with healthy skepticism.

You log into Google Ads, and there it is: that bright orange percentage staring back at you. 67%. Your optimization score feels like a judgment. Google's recommendations are piling up, each one promising to boost performance if you just click "Apply."

But here's the thing: chasing that perfect 100% score might actually tank your campaigns. Google's optimization score is useful, but it's not a test you need to ace. It's a recommendation engine built on Google's priorities—and those don't always align with yours.

Let's break down what optimization score really means, when to listen to it, and when to confidently dismiss it. Because the smartest advertisers aren't the ones with perfect scores. They're the ones making decisions based on data, not anxiety.

How Google Calculates Your Optimization Score

Your optimization score is a 0-100% rating that Google assigns to each campaign and your overall account. Think of it as Google's report card on how well you're following their current best practices.

The score weighs multiple factors across your campaigns. Bid strategies carry significant weight—Google wants to see you using automated bidding like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions. Keyword coverage matters too: are you capturing enough relevant searches? Ad variations get evaluated: do you have multiple responsive search ads per ad group? Extensions factor in heavily: are you using sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets?

Here's what makes this interesting: the score is based entirely on Google's machine learning predictions, not your actual historical performance. Google's algorithms estimate what might improve your results based on patterns across millions of advertisers. But those predictions don't know your specific business context.

The score updates constantly. Make a change to your campaign? The score recalculates. Dismiss a recommendation? Your score drops. Google updates their best practices? Your score might shift without you touching anything. This real-time nature means your score can fluctuate daily, sometimes dramatically.

Each recommendation comes with a percentage value showing how much it would boost your score if applied. A suggestion to add sitelink extensions might offer a 5% increase. Switching to broad match keywords could promise a 12% jump. These percentages are weighted based on Google's assessment of potential impact.

What the score doesn't tell you: whether these changes will actually improve your conversion rate, reduce your cost per acquisition, or increase your return on ad spend. It's measuring compliance with Google's framework, not alignment with your business objectives. Understanding what the optimization score in Google Ads actually represents is the first step toward using it effectively.

This distinction is crucial. A campaign running at 60% optimization score with tight keyword targeting and strong conversion tracking might dramatically outperform a 95% score campaign that accepted every recommendation blindly. The score measures adherence to Google's playbook, not campaign profitability.

Why Chasing 100% Can Hurt Your Campaigns

Let's address the uncomfortable truth: some optimization recommendations exist primarily to increase Google's revenue, not yours.

Google is a business. Their recommendations often push strategies that increase ad spend and broaden targeting—which generates more clicks and more revenue for them. Sometimes those strategies benefit you too. But not always.

Take broad match keywords as a prime example. Google frequently recommends switching phrase match or exact match keywords to broad match, promising expanded reach and more conversions. The pitch sounds compelling: "Why limit yourself when our machine learning can find relevant searches you haven't thought of?"

In reality, many advertisers who make this switch watch their costs explode while conversion quality tanks. Broad match can trigger your ads on tangentially related searches that waste budget. For a B2B software company targeting "project management tools," broad match might show ads for "free project templates" or "project manager jobs"—searches with zero purchase intent. Understanding how keyword match type affects your Google Ads performance is essential before accepting these recommendations.

Budget increase recommendations are another red flag. Google will routinely suggest doubling or tripling your daily budget, claiming you're "limited by budget" and missing conversions. Sometimes this is accurate. Often, it's not. If your campaigns aren't converting profitably at your current spend level, throwing more money at them rarely fixes the underlying issues.

Here's a scenario many advertisers encounter: Google recommends removing "redundant" keywords. The algorithm identifies multiple keywords it considers too similar and suggests consolidating them. Sounds logical, right? Except those "redundant" keywords might have different conversion rates, different average CPAs, or capture different stages of the buyer journey.

One agency managing ecommerce accounts found that Google flagged "running shoes for women" and "women's running shoes" as redundant. They tested removing one. Conversions dropped 18% because the two phrases attracted slightly different audiences with different purchase intent. The optimization score went up. Revenue went down.

Auto-applying recommendations is particularly dangerous. Google offers a feature to automatically apply certain suggestions. This sounds efficient until you realize you're handing control of your targeting, bidding, and budget to an algorithm optimizing for Google's goals, not yours.

The fundamental problem with chasing 100% is that it assumes Google's one-size-fits-all recommendations understand your specific business context better than you do. They don't account for your profit margins, your customer lifetime value, your brand positioning, or your competitive landscape.

A luxury brand might deliberately ignore recommendations to broaden targeting because they need to maintain exclusivity and high conversion quality. A local service business might dismiss budget increase suggestions because they literally can't handle more customers right now. These are smart, strategic decisions that lower your optimization score while improving your business outcomes.

What Score Should You Actually Aim For?

So if 100% isn't the goal, what is? For most well-managed accounts with intentional strategy, a score between 70-85% is perfectly healthy.

This range typically indicates you're following Google's genuinely useful recommendations while maintaining the discipline to dismiss suggestions that don't serve your goals. You're optimizing based on data and strategy, not chasing an arbitrary percentage.

Here's why this range makes sense: you've likely implemented the high-value, low-risk recommendations. You're using ad extensions. You've added negative keywords. Your ads are approved and running. You've got conversion tracking set up properly. These fundamentals push your score into the 70s.

The recommendations you've dismissed—the ones keeping you from 100%—are probably the strategic choices that make your campaigns profitable. You've rejected broad match expansions. You've kept budget controls in place. You've maintained keyword specificity that converts better even if it limits reach.

Context matters enormously here. A brand new campaign might legitimately sit at 45% while you're still building it out. That's not a problem—it's a work in progress. As you add ad groups, write ad copy, and configure settings, the score naturally rises.

Mature accounts with years of optimization often stabilize in the 75-80% range. They've found their sweet spot: following best practices that work while ignoring recommendations that historically haven't improved performance for their specific business. This is what a good optimization score actually looks like in practice.

Lead generation campaigns versus ecommerce campaigns have different optimization profiles. Lead gen often benefits from tighter targeting and more conservative match types, which might mean lower scores. Ecommerce with large catalogs might score higher because broader targeting actually works when you're selling hundreds of products.

Budget size influences appropriate scores too. High-budget accounts ($50K+ monthly) might maintain higher scores because they have the volume to test more aggressive strategies. Small-budget accounts ($2K monthly) often need tighter controls and more conservative targeting, naturally resulting in lower scores.

The key insight: your optimization score should reflect deliberate decisions, not neglect. A 72% score where you've thoughtfully evaluated and dismissed 28% of recommendations is vastly superior to a 95% score where you clicked "Apply All" without thinking.

Track what matters instead: your actual cost per acquisition, your return on ad spend, your conversion volume, your profit margins. If those metrics are hitting targets while your optimization score sits at 73%, you're winning. The score is just a number. Your business results are what count.

Which Optimization Recommendations Are Worth Following

Not all recommendations are bad. Some genuinely improve campaign performance with minimal risk. Let's identify which suggestions deserve serious consideration.

Adding Negative Keywords: This is gold. When Google suggests adding negative keywords based on your search terms report, pay attention. These recommendations help you exclude irrelevant searches that waste budget. If you're selling premium software and Google suggests adding "free" as a negative keyword, that's probably smart. You're filtering out users who will never convert. Learn more about the best way to add negative keywords in Google Ads to maximize this strategy.

Fixing Disapproved Ads: Obvious but critical. If ads are disapproved for policy violations, fix them immediately. You're literally leaving money on the table by not showing ads. These recommendations are straightforward compliance issues, not strategic debates.

Improving Ad Strength: Google's ad strength indicator (Poor, Average, Good, Excellent) for responsive search ads is actually useful. Recommendations to add more headlines, more descriptions, or improve asset variety typically help. More ad variations give Google's algorithm more material to test and optimize delivery.

Adding Relevant Extensions: Sitelink extensions, callout extensions, structured snippets—these increase your ad real estate and click-through rates without additional cost. If you're not using them, you're giving competitors more visible ads. The recommendation to add extensions is almost always worth following.

Enabling Conversion Tracking: If Google flags missing conversion tracking, prioritize this immediately. You're flying blind without it. Proper conversion tracking is the foundation of everything else. No conversion data means you can't optimize bids, evaluate keywords, or measure success. This is fundamental to understanding conversion rate optimization in Google Ads.

Using Responsive Search Ads: Recommendations to create RSAs in ad groups that only have expanded text ads are generally solid. RSAs give you more flexibility and testing capability. They're not perfect for every situation, but they're worth implementing in most campaigns.

The pattern here: recommendations that improve measurement, expand visibility, or refine targeting based on actual data are usually beneficial. They're low-risk, high-reward changes that align your interests with Google's.

How do you evaluate each recommendation? Ask yourself three questions: Does this align with my campaign goals? Do I have data suggesting this change would help? What's the downside if this doesn't work? If you can answer these confidently and the answers are positive, apply the recommendation. If you're uncertain or the logic doesn't fit your strategy, dismiss it.

One more tip: review the "Recommendations" tab weekly, not daily. This gives you enough frequency to catch important suggestions without obsessing over every fluctuation. Treat it like a maintenance checklist, not an emergency alert system.

Red Flags: Recommendations to Approach with Caution

Now let's talk about the recommendations that should trigger your skepticism. These aren't automatically wrong, but they require careful evaluation before accepting.

Budget Increase Suggestions: Google loves recommending budget increases. "You're limited by budget and missing conversions!" sounds urgent. But ask yourself: are my current conversions profitable? If I'm already struggling with high CPAs at my current spend, increasing budget just means losing money faster. Budget increases make sense when you're converting profitably and genuinely can't spend more due to artificial caps. They don't make sense as a solution to poor campaign performance. Understanding what is wasting your Google Ads budget helps you make smarter spending decisions.

Switching to Broad Match: We've touched on this, but it bears repeating. Broad match recommendations often promise expanded reach and more conversions. What they don't promise: maintaining your current conversion quality or cost efficiency. Broad match works in specific scenarios—high-volume campaigns with strong conversion data and smart bidding. For most advertisers, especially those with limited budgets or niche offerings, broad match is a fast track to wasted spend.

Adopting Smart Bidding Without Sufficient Data: Google frequently recommends switching to Target CPA or Maximize Conversions bidding. These automated strategies can work brilliantly—but only with sufficient conversion data. Google's own documentation suggests at least 30 conversions in 30 days for Target CPA to work effectively. If you're getting 5 conversions monthly, Smart Bidding doesn't have enough signal to optimize. You'll likely see erratic performance and inflated costs. Learn more about bid optimization in Google Ads before making this switch.

Removing "Low Search Volume" Keywords: Google flags keywords with minimal search volume and suggests removing them. For major brands targeting broad terms, this makes sense. For niche B2B companies or local businesses, those "low volume" keywords might be your most qualified traffic. A specialty industrial equipment manufacturer might get only 20 searches monthly for their exact product name—but those 20 searches convert at 40%. Removing that keyword because Google considers it low volume would be disastrous.

Expanding to Search Partners Network: Recommendations to enable Search Partners can increase reach, but they also reduce control over where your ads appear. Search Partners include sites like YouTube, Google Maps, and hundreds of third-party search sites. Quality varies wildly. Many advertisers find Search Partners generate clicks with poor conversion rates. Test this carefully rather than blindly accepting.

Increasing Keyword Match Type Diversity: Google sometimes recommends adding broader match types to ad groups that only use exact or phrase match. The pitch: capture more variations. The risk: you've probably chosen specific match types deliberately to control costs and targeting. Adding broad match "diversity" often means adding waste.

The common thread in these red flags: they prioritize volume and reach over efficiency and control. They push you toward spending more and targeting broader audiences. Sometimes that's the right move. But it should be your decision based on your data, not an automatic acceptance of Google's suggestion.

When you encounter these recommendations, dig into your data first. Look at your current performance. Check your search terms report. Review your conversion rates and costs. If the data supports the change, proceed cautiously with testing. If the data doesn't clearly indicate this would help, dismiss the recommendation confidently.

Putting It All Together: A Smarter Approach to Optimization Score

Here's your practical framework for managing optimization score without letting it manage you.

First, reframe how you think about the score. It's not a report card measuring your success. It's a checklist of potential improvements filtered through Google's priorities. Some items on that checklist are valuable. Others aren't relevant to your goals. Your job is to evaluate each recommendation critically, not accept them all reflexively.

Establish a weekly review routine. Set aside 20 minutes every Monday (or whatever day works) to review your recommendations. This frequency is enough to catch important issues without creating daily anxiety over fluctuating scores. During each review, sort recommendations by potential impact and tackle the high-value ones first.

Create your own decision framework. Before accepting any recommendation, ask: Will this improve my actual business metrics (ROAS, CPA, conversion volume)? Do I have data suggesting this change would help? What's the worst-case scenario if this doesn't work? Can I easily reverse this change if needed? If you can't answer these questions confidently, either dismiss the recommendation or test it on a small scale first.

Track the metrics that actually matter. Your optimization score is a vanity metric. Your return on ad spend is a business metric. Your cost per acquisition is a business metric. Your conversion rate is a business metric. If your optimization score drops from 82% to 76% while your ROAS increases from 3.2 to 4.1, you made the right call. Never sacrifice business performance for a higher score. Use a comprehensive Google Ads optimization checklist to track what truly matters.

Document your dismissed recommendations. When you dismiss a suggestion, add a note explaining why. "Dismissed broad match expansion—historical data shows phrase match converts 40% better for our niche audience." This creates institutional knowledge and prevents you from second-guessing yourself when the same recommendation reappears next month.

For agencies managing multiple accounts, this becomes even more critical. Different clients have different risk tolerances, different business models, different competitive landscapes. A 75% score might be perfect for one client while a 90% score is appropriate for another. Don't apply one-size-fits-all thinking across your portfolio.

Here's where efficiency tools make a real difference. Managing recommendations is time-consuming, especially when you're also optimizing keywords, building negative lists, and adjusting bids. The best Google Ads management software streamlines these tasks directly within Google Ads, saving hours while helping you make smarter decisions faster. Instead of juggling spreadsheets and multiple tabs, you can optimize in real-time where you're already working.

The smartest approach: use optimization score as one input among many. Check it regularly. Evaluate recommendations thoughtfully. Accept the ones that align with your strategy. Dismiss the ones that don't. And always, always prioritize your actual business results over Google's percentage.

Final Thoughts

The "best" optimization score isn't a number. It's a reflection of intentional, data-driven decision-making.

A 78% score where you've carefully evaluated every recommendation and made strategic choices beats a 96% score where you clicked "Apply All" and hoped for the best. The former represents real optimization. The latter represents compliance.

Google's optimization score is a useful tool, but it's just that—a tool. It highlights potential improvements and flags issues you might miss. But it doesn't understand your business like you do. It doesn't know your customer lifetime value, your profit margins, your competitive positioning, or your growth strategy.

Focus on the metrics that directly impact your bottom line: cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, conversion volume, customer quality. If those metrics are healthy, your optimization score is secondary. If those metrics are struggling, a higher optimization score won't magically fix them.

The advertisers who succeed long-term aren't the ones chasing perfect scores. They're the ones making deliberate choices, testing systematically, and optimizing based on evidence rather than anxiety. They use Google's recommendations as suggestions, not commandments.

Your optimization score will fluctuate. Google will keep pushing recommendations. New suggestions will appear as algorithms evolve. That's all normal. What matters is maintaining your strategic discipline: evaluate critically, test carefully, optimize continuously, and measure what matters.

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