What Quality Score is, and what it is not
Quality Score is a diagnostic tool for Search campaigns. Google gives each keyword with enough data a score on a scale of 1 to 10. A higher score means your ad and landing page are more relevant and useful for that search than those of other advertisers whose ads showed for the exact same search. The comparison looks back over the last 90 days.
Two points are widely misunderstood. First, Google states plainly in its article About Quality Score for search campaigns that Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction. In each auction Google assesses quality in real time, for that search, device and moment. The score is an after-the-fact summary meant to show you where to improve. Second, it is not a performance target in itself. The number on its own earns nothing; conversions do.
So why pay attention? Because the underlying quality does affect where your ad appears and what you pay per click. Think of the score as a smoke alarm: you do not optimise the alarm, but you would be unwise to ignore it.
The three components of Quality Score
Each component receives a status of above average, average or below average. Those statuses are more useful than the overall number, because they point to where the problem sits.
| Component | What Google assesses | What you can change |
|---|---|---|
| Expected click-through rate | The likelihood that your ad is clicked when it is shown | Headlines that answer the search, a clear offer, a distinct reason to choose you, relevant assets |
| Ad relevance | How closely the ad matches the intent behind the search | Tightly themed ad groups, keywords and copy that belong together |
| Landing page experience | How relevant and useful the page is to people who click | A page about exactly that subject, fast on mobile, easy to use, with an obvious next step |
How Quality Score relates to Ad Rank
Ad Rank decides whether your ad is eligible to show and in which position. Google lists six factors:
- your bid;
- the quality of your ads and landing page;
- Ad Rank thresholds, the minimum an ad must reach to show;
- the competitiveness of the auction;
- the context of the search, such as location, device and time;
- the expected impact of your assets and other ad formats.
Quality and bid work together. An advertiser with a more relevant ad and a better landing page can win a higher position than a competitor bidding more. And because you usually pay what is needed to beat the advertiser below, better quality can also mean a lower cost per click for the same position; our guide to Google Ads cost shows how that reaches your budget. Raising a bid is a cost you pay on every click. A better ad and page keep working.
Click-through rate: what it tells you and what it does not
CTR is clicks divided by impressions. Shown 1,000 times and clicked 50 times, an ad has a CTR of 5%. It is among the most watched figures in Google Ads, and among the most misread.
Why an average CTR means little
Lists of average CTR by industry circulate widely; we do not repeat them. CTR depends heavily on position, on whether the search contains your brand name or a generic term, on device, on the number of competitors and on how much ad space the results page shows. A CTR that looks weak for brand searches may be strong for a generic term. Compare against yourself: the same campaign over time, or ads within the same ad group.
Expected CTR is a different measure
The expected CTR component is Google's estimate of how likely your ad is to be clicked when shown, judged against other advertisers on the same search. It is not your observed CTR, so a high CTR in a top position does not automatically earn an above-average status, and the reverse also happens.
A high CTR is not always good
An ad that appeals to everyone attracts clicks from people who will never buy. Stating clearly who the offer is for can lower CTR and raise enquiry quality. Always read CTR alongside conversions and cost per conversion.
How to improve ad relevance
Ad relevance is usually the quickest component to fix, because it is mostly a matter of structure.
- One subject per ad group. Keywords about "loft conversion" and "roof repair" do not belong together. Each subject deserves its own ads.
- Use the searcher's language. Include the words people type in a few headlines, without forcing repetition.
- Answer the question behind the search. Someone searching "cost" wants to read about price or how pricing works. Someone searching "emergency" wants to know how quickly you can come.
- Clean up search terms. Exclude searches that do not fit. Broad keywords that trigger on anything drag relevance down.
How to choose, group and exclude keywords is set out in our guide to Google Ads keywords.
How to improve landing page experience
This component lives outside Google Ads, on your own website, which is exactly why it is so often neglected. An ad that sends someone searching for a specific service to the home page makes them hunt. Many will not.
- Send traffic to the page about that keyword. If none exists, build one; our landing page design work starts there.
- Keep the ad's promise. If the ad mentions a service, area or condition, repeat it prominently on the page.
- Speed and mobile. A page that loads slowly or works poorly on a phone loses visitors before they read a word.
- One clear next step. A call, a form or a booking.
- Trust. Show who you are, how you work and how to reach you. Use only genuine reviews.
- Transparency. No hidden conditions and no pop-ups covering the content on arrival.
Google's own article on using Quality Score to improve performance points in the same direction. A better page also raises the share of visitors who enquire or buy, which is what conversion rate optimisation is about.
Where to find Quality Score in your account
Quality Score is not shown by default; you add it as columns.
- Open the search keywords view of a Search campaign.
- Choose to modify columns and open the Quality Score section.
- Add Quality Score and its three components: expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience.
- Optionally add the historical columns to see how scores developed over a period.
A dash instead of a number means there are not enough searches exactly matching the keyword to calculate a score. That is normal for new or rarely searched keywords and says nothing about quality.
Then sort by cost, not by score. A keyword scoring 4 that receives little budget matters less than a keyword scoring 5 that absorbs a large share of spend.
When a low score matters, and when it does not
Not every low score demands action. Some have an explanation you can accept.
- Low volume. A keyword with a handful of impressions has an unreliable score.
- Competitor brand terms. If you bid on a rival's name, your ad is by definition less relevant than the brand owner's own.
- It converts well. A keyword with a middling score that produces clients at a good cost should not be cut for the sake of the number.
Low scores do matter on keywords that take a large share of budget, or when landing page experience is below average across the account, which usually points to a structural website problem.
Charities using Google Ad Grants face a stricter rule: Google's Ad Grants policy compliance guide requires keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2 to be paused or removed. Our guide to Google Ad Grants covers the programme rules. To see where quality leaks across your account, a Google Ads audit reviews structure, search terms, ads and landing pages together.