SEM Campaign Optimization and ROI 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does 'Lost IS (Budget)' in Google Ads mean?
- The percentage of impressions lost because the daily budget ran out (Correct answer)
- The percentage of impressions lost due to low Ad Rank
- The total budget spent on losing auctions
- The reduction in impression share from competitor budget increases
Correct answer: The percentage of impressions lost because the daily budget ran out
Lost Impression Share (Budget) quantifies the share of eligible impressions not captured because the campaign exhausted its daily budget.
Question 2: A B2B campaign targets high-value prospects. Which audience strategy best complements keyword targeting for ROI improvement?
- Layering in-market or CRM audiences with bid adjustments (Correct answer)
- Excluding all remarketing lists
- Targeting broad match keywords only
- Setting demographic exclusions by age
Correct answer: Layering in-market or CRM audiences with bid adjustments
Layering audiences on top of keyword targeting allows bid adjustments to pay more for high-value users (e.g., past site visitors, CRM lists) who are more likely to convert.
Question 3: What is the primary risk of setting Target ROAS too high in a Google Ads smart bidding campaign?
- The algorithm restricts bids so aggressively that impression volume and conversions drop (Correct answer)
- Quality Scores decrease across all keywords
- The campaign exceeds its daily budget rapidly
- Ad Rank improves but CTR declines
Correct answer: The algorithm restricts bids so aggressively that impression volume and conversions drop
An overly aggressive ROAS target forces the algorithm to only bid on near-certain conversions, reducing overall auction participation and starving the campaign of volume.
Question 4: Which conversion action type is most appropriate for a lead generation campaign measuring form submissions?
- Website conversion tracking a thank-you page URL (Correct answer)
- Phone call from ad with 60-second minimum duration
- Store visit conversion
- App download conversion
Correct answer: Website conversion tracking a thank-you page URL
Tracking a thank-you page view after form submission directly measures the desired lead action on the website.
Question 5: An advertiser notices cost per click has risen 40% over two months with no bid changes. What is the most likely cause?
- Increased competition or lower Quality Scores raising the auction clearing price (Correct answer)
- Conversion tracking was paused
- The campaign switched to broad match keywords
- Ad extensions were removed
Correct answer: Increased competition or lower Quality Scores raising the auction clearing price
CPC is determined by Ad Rank and Quality Score relative to competitors; rising CPCs without bid changes suggest either more competitors entered the auction or Quality Scores declined.
Question 6: What is the difference between view-through conversions and click-through conversions in Google Ads reporting?
- View-through conversions occurred after a user saw (not clicked) an ad; click-through occurred after an actual click (Correct answer)
- View-through conversions track video completions; click-through tracks text ads
- View-through is for display; click-through is for search only
- View-through counts unique users; click-through counts all sessions
Correct answer: View-through conversions occurred after a user saw (not clicked) an ad; click-through occurred after an actual click
View-through conversions credit an impression (ad seen but not clicked) with a later conversion, while click-through conversions trace directly from a click to a conversion.
Question 7: A campaign using phrase match keywords begins capturing many irrelevant queries. What is the most targeted fix?
- Add specific irrelevant terms as exact match negatives (Correct answer)
- Switch all keywords to exact match
- Pause the campaign and restart with new keywords
- Lower bids across all keywords
Correct answer: Add specific irrelevant terms as exact match negatives
Adding exact match negatives surgically blocks the specific irrelevant queries without disrupting the reach of the phrase match keywords.
SEM Campaign Optimization and ROI 4
What does 'Lost IS (Budget)' in Google Ads mean?