Google Ads Quality Score is a 1–10 diagnostic rating that Google assigns to each keyword, based on how relevant your ad and landing page are to that search and how likely people are to click. It is not a direct bidding input, but the signals behind it (expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience) are what Google uses to calculate Ad Rank in every auction. In plain terms: a higher Quality Score means you pay less for the same position, and a low one means you overpay or get pushed off the page.
If your account is full of 3s and 4s, you are leaving money on the table. In our experience, moving a core keyword from 4 to 7 typically cuts its CPC by a double-digit percentage and raises impression share, with no change in budget. This guide explains what the score measures, how to diagnose it in your account, and the exact fixes that move each of its three components.
Short version: find low-score keywords with high spend, tighten ad groups so the keyword appears in headlines, rewrite ads to match search intent, and make landing pages fast, relevant and honest. Everything else is detail.
What Google Ads Quality Score actually measures
According to Google’s own Quality Score help page, the score is calculated from three components, each rated “Below average,” “Average” or “Above average”:
- Expected click-through rate (CTR) — how likely your ad is to be clicked when shown for that keyword, independent of position and extensions.
- Ad relevance — how closely your ad copy matches the intent behind the search.
- Landing page experience — how useful, relevant and easy to navigate the page is for people who click.
Two things trip up many advertisers. First, Quality Score is a keyword-level diagnostic based on historical performance, not a live auction factor; Google uses real-time versions of the same signals at auction time. Second, the score is only reported once the keyword has enough impressions, so new keywords will show “—” for a while. Treat the number as a report card, not a lever you pull directly.
Why Quality Score drives your CPC and position
Ad Rank determines where your ad shows and how much you pay. It combines your bid, auction-time ad quality, Ad Rank thresholds, the competitiveness of the auction, search context and the expected impact of assets. Because ad quality is a multiplier on your bid, two advertisers bidding €2.00 for the same keyword can land in very different positions and pay very different amounts.
The practical consequence: if your competitor has an “Above average” rating on all three components and you have “Below average” on two, you may need to bid significantly more to appear above them. On commercial keywords in the US, UK or Germany where CPCs already run high (see our breakdown of how much Google Ads costs for a small business), a two-point Quality Score difference often matters more than any bid adjustment.
How to see Quality Score in your account
- Open Google Ads and go to Campaigns → Audiences, keywords and content → Search keywords.
- Click the Columns icon, open Quality Score and add Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad relevance and Landing page exp. You can also add the “(hist.)” versions to see the last known values over a date range.
- Sort by cost, descending. Your target list is any keyword with meaningful spend and a score of 6 or lower.
- Export the list and note which of the three components is “Below average” for each keyword. That tells you which fix to apply.
A quick benchmark: branded keywords usually sit at 8–10, well-managed non-brand keywords at 6–8, and anything at 1–3 is either a poor keyword-to-ad match or a landing page problem. Do not obsess over pushing 7s to 10s; the bigger wins come from fixing the 2s, 3s and 4s that eat budget.
Improve expected CTR
Expected CTR is the component most tied to ad copy and keyword selection. The levers that typically work:
- Tighten match types. Broad-match keywords that trigger loosely related searches drag down CTR. Review the search terms report, move converting queries into phrase or exact match, and build out your negative keyword list so irrelevant searches stop showing your ad.
- Put the keyword in the headline. Responsive search ads let you pin a headline containing the keyword to position 1 or 2. Searchers click what mirrors their query.
- Use specific offers and numbers. “Free shipping over $50,” “Same-day repairs,” “4.9★ from 1,200 reviews” outperform generic “Best quality service” lines.
- Add every relevant asset. Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, images and prices increase ad real estate and give people more reasons to click.
- Pause chronic underperformers. A keyword with hundreds of impressions, almost no clicks and no conversions is better paused than “fixed.”
Improve ad relevance
Ad relevance is almost always an account structure problem. If one ad group contains “emergency plumber,” “water heater installation” and “drain cleaning,” no single ad can be highly relevant to all three. The fix is to group keywords by intent, not by product category.
- Split ad groups until every keyword in a group could reasonably share the same headline.
- Write at least 8–10 headlines and 3–4 descriptions per responsive search ad, with the group’s core term in several headlines and in the first description.
- Check the Ad strength indicator, but do not chase “Excellent” at the expense of relevance; a focused “Good” ad usually beats a diluted “Excellent” one.
- Use the search terms report monthly to spot new intents and give them their own ad group.
This is also where many accounts that are “spending but not converting” get fixed. If that sounds familiar, our guide on why Google Ads are not converting walks through the full diagnosis.
Improve landing page experience
Landing page experience is the slowest component to change and the one most advertisers ignore. Google’s landing page experience guidance highlights relevance, original useful content, transparency, trustworthiness, ease of navigation and load speed. In practice:
- Send each ad group to its most specific page. “Women’s running shoes” should land on the running shoe category, not the homepage.
- Repeat the keyword and the ad’s promise above the fold. If the ad says “20% off this week,” the page must show it immediately.
- Fix Core Web Vitals. Compress images, defer scripts, use a CDN. Mobile speed matters most, because mobile is where most clicks happen for local and e-commerce searches.
- Add trust signals. Contact details, reviews, returns and privacy policies, and a clear cookie consent banner (especially for EU traffic under GDPR and Consent Mode v2).
- Reduce friction. One clear call to action, short forms, visible pricing where appropriate.
Quality Score fix matrix
| Component rated “Below average” | Most likely cause | First fix to try |
|---|---|---|
| Expected CTR | Loose match types, generic ad copy | Add negatives, pin keyword headline, add offer-based headlines |
| Ad relevance | Mixed-intent ad groups | Split ad group, rewrite RSA around the core term |
| Landing page experience | Generic page, slow load, weak trust | Dedicated page per ad group, speed fixes, visible trust signals |
| All three | Keyword does not fit the offer | Pause keyword or build a separate campaign with its own page |
What does not improve Quality Score
A few persistent myths. Raising bids does not change the score. Device, location or ad schedule targeting does not change the score. Pausing and re-enabling keywords does not reset it. Moving keywords into a new campaign copies historical signals rather than wiping them. And the score of one keyword does not directly change another keyword’s score, although account-wide CTR history is one of the factors Google considers for new keywords.
Also note that Performance Max and Shopping campaigns do not show a Quality Score at all; the same quality concepts still apply there through product data and landing pages. If you run both, our comparison of Google Shopping vs Performance Max explains where each one fits.
A 30-day Quality Score improvement plan
- Week 1: Export keywords with their three component ratings. Flag every keyword with spend above 5% of monthly budget and a score of 6 or lower.
- Week 2: Restructure the affected ad groups by intent. Rewrite responsive search ads with the keyword in pinned headlines. Add negatives from the last 90 days of search terms.
- Week 3: Build or adjust landing pages for the top five ad groups by spend. Run a speed test before and after.
- Week 4: Compare Quality Score, CTR, CPC and conversion rate against the baseline. Expect expected-CTR and ad-relevance ratings to move within two to three weeks; landing page ratings may take longer.
FAQ
What is a good Quality Score in Google Ads?
Anything 7 or above is generally considered good for non-brand keywords. Branded terms should be 8–10. A score of 5 or lower on a high-spend keyword is a signal to act.
Does Quality Score affect how much I pay per click?
Indirectly, yes. The quality signals behind the score feed into Ad Rank, and your actual CPC depends on the Ad Rank of the advertiser below you divided by your quality. Better quality means you need a lower bid to reach the same position.
How long does it take to improve Quality Score?
Expected CTR and ad relevance typically respond within two to four weeks of restructuring and new ads. Landing page experience can take longer because Google needs to re-evaluate the page and gather new user behavior.
Why does a new keyword show no Quality Score?
Google needs enough impressions and clicks on the exact keyword before it reports a score. Until then you will see a dash. The ratings will appear once there is sufficient data.
Should I delete keywords with a Quality Score of 1–3?
If they also fail to convert, yes. If they convert profitably despite the low score, keep them but move them into a dedicated ad group with a tightly matched ad and landing page, then watch whether the score and CPC improve.
Does Quality Score exist in Performance Max or Shopping?
No. Quality Score is reported only for Search keywords. Shopping and Performance Max rely on product feed quality, landing page relevance and historical engagement instead.
Need help with your campaigns?
If your account is full of low scores and rising CPCs, a structured review usually pays for itself quickly. Our Google Ads Audit covers account structure, keyword quality, ad copy and landing pages with a prioritized fix list, and our Google Ads Management service handles the ongoing optimization for you. Prefer a quick look first? Request a free mini-audit or book a free 30-minute call.