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The short answer
An ad group shows the same ads for all its keywords. If Google rates them below average for some keywords and fine for others, those keywords are about something else. Oppy names the words they share and prepares an ad group of their own.
Why it matters
Ad relevance is one of the three parts of Quality Score. A keyword whose ads miss it can cost more per click and show less often.
Take a plumber's ad group where boiler keywords were added later. The ads talk about leaks, and the boiler searches get ads that don't answer them.
How Oppy decides
Oppy reads 30 days of keywords in Search campaigns, with Google's ad relevance rating for each. It looks at ad groups with four keywords or more.
An ad group is listed when its below average keywords take 15% or more of its impressions. Those keywords must also share words that no well rated keyword uses. Brand words, numbers and filler words are ignored.
A rating split with no shared word is not a second topic. It is left to the check on Quality Score parts.
Checks that weigh money or clicks judge what they find on your own account's numbers, not on one figure applied to every account, so what counts as a problem on a small account is not the same on a large one. Checks on settings read how the account is set up.
When there is too little to go on, the check says so instead of guessing. A finding always comes with the rows behind it, so you can read the evidence before you decide.
| This check | |
|---|---|
| Step of the audit | Structure |
| What it reads | Keywords report |
| Needs trustworthy conversions | No. It does not wait for the tracking step. |
| What happens next | Reported in the audit with the rows behind it. The decision stays with you. |
Check it yourself in Google Ads
- In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Audiences, keywords and content, then Search keywords, for the last 30 days.
- Add the Ad relevance column, under Quality score.
- In each ad group, set the keywords rated Below average beside those rated Average or Above average.
- Note the words the weak keywords share that the others never use.
What to do about it
Move the keywords that share the second topic into an ad group of their own, with an ad that uses their words. Pause them in the old ad group.
Give the new ad a few weeks of impressions before reading the ratings again.
Other checks in this area
The checks next to this one in Campaign structure, each with its own page.