Last checked against Google’s documentation on 29 September 2026.
What is Quality Score in Google Ads?
Google Ads Quality Score is a 1–10 rating, shown for each keyword in a Search campaign, of how your ads and landing pages compare with other advertisers’ for the same searches. Google’s Quality Score help page says it is built from three components: expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience. A higher score means your ads and pages are more relevant and useful than others for that keyword.
The most important thing to know: Google says Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction. It is a diagnostic. Use it to find the keywords where the ad or the landing page is weak, then fix the ad or the page. Don’t treat the number itself as the goal.
The three components
Each component is rated Above average, Average, or Below average, based on a comparison with other advertisers over the last 90 days for the exact same searches.
| Component | Google’s definition | What usually drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Expected CTR | The likelihood your ad will be clicked when shown | How compelling and specific the ad is for the searches it shows on |
| Ad relevance | How closely your ad matches the intent behind a search | Whether the ad group’s keywords share one theme and the ad speaks to it |
| Landing page experience | How relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click | Whether the page delivers what the ad promised, quickly, on mobile |
Because the comparison is against other advertisers on the same searches, a component can drop without you changing anything: a competitor may simply have improved.
Where to see keyword Quality Score
- In the Campaigns menu, go to Keywords.
- Select the columns icon in the upper right of the table.
- Open the Quality score section and add Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Exp.
- For past values in the reporting period, add the historical versions, such as Quality Score (hist.). Segment the table by day to see daily changes. Select Apply.
- Add Cost and Conversions next to them, and sort by cost.
A dash (“—”) means there aren’t enough searches that exactly match the keyword to calculate a score. That is normal for low-volume keywords. Google documents Quality Score for Search campaigns, and it is reported per keyword.
A diagnostic, not an auction input
Google is explicit: Quality Score “is not an input in the ad auction.” It describes it as a diagnostic tool and suggests thinking of it as a general indicator of which areas to focus on, “rather than a score to be optimized.”
That doesn’t mean quality is irrelevant to cost. Google’s page on Ad Rank says the auction uses auction-time quality, including expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience, alongside your bid, Ad Rank thresholds, competition, the search context, and the expected impact of assets. It also says higher quality ads can often lead to lower costs per click. So the score is a delayed, averaged summary; the live quality signals are what the auction uses.
Quality Score vs Ad Strength
People often search for “ad score” and mean one of two different things. They are not the same.
- Quality Score is per keyword, 1–10, and reflects expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience compared with other advertisers.
- Ad Strength is per responsive search ad, rated Incomplete, Poor, Average, Good, or Excellent. Google’s Ad Strength page says it gives feedback on your headlines and descriptions, recalculates when you change keywords or assets, and is not used to calculate Ad Rank, Quality Score, or auction wins.
A “Poor” Ad Strength is a prompt to add more varied, relevant headlines. It doesn’t lower your Quality Score by itself. But writing better, more relevant headlines often helps both.
How to improve Quality Score, component by component
Start with keywords that spend the most and have a component rated Below average. Improve the component, not the number. Google’s 5 ways to use Quality Score and optimize your ads and landing pages pages are the source for most of these steps.
Expected CTR: Below average
- Read the search terms the keyword triggers. Irrelevant searches get shown the ad and rarely click it. Add them as negatives; see how to find negative keywords.
- Put the searcher’s wording and your offer in the headlines. Google suggests making the offer more compelling and using a clear call to action.
- Add assets: sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets make the ad larger and more useful. Google says assets can help visibility and CTR.
- More on this in our guide to Google Ads CTR.
Ad relevance: Below average or Average
- Split ad groups that mix themes. Google suggests grouping keywords by theme and splitting ad groups so ads match the searches more closely.
- Match the language of the ad text to the keywords and the search terms, especially in headlines.
- Check the search terms report: if broad keywords pull in searches the ad doesn’t speak to, either narrow them or give those searches their own ad group.
Landing page experience: Below average
- Send each ad group to the page that best matches its keywords, not the home page.
- Make the page deliver what the ad promised: the same product or service, offer, and price.
- Give useful, original information about what you’re advertising, and make the next step easy.
- Check the page on a phone: load speed, readable text without zooming, no pop-ups blocking content.
When to ignore Quality Score
- The keyword converts profitably. A keyword with a middling score and a good cost per conversion is doing its job. Don’t pause it to lift an average.
- The score shows “—”. There isn’t enough exact-match data. Judge the keyword on its results.
- The keyword barely spends. Improving a component on a keyword with little cost won’t move the account.
- The keyword is deliberately broad or competitive. A competitor’s brand term or a generic term may never score well and can still be worth buying.
- You’re chasing an account average. Deleting low-score keywords to raise an average improves a report, not the business.
A 20-minute Quality Score review
- Add the Quality Score and component columns to the Keywords view, plus cost and conversions.
- Sort by cost and look at the top keywords with any component rated Below average.
- For expected CTR, read their search terms and add negatives; strengthen headlines and assets.
- For ad relevance, check whether the ad group mixes themes and split it if so.
- For landing page experience, open the page on a phone and compare it with the ad.
- Change one thing per ad group and compare the historical columns after a few weeks.
In Boxoo, the search terms and keywords agent reads search terms and keyword performance every day and can prepare negative keywords, new keywords, or pausing a keyword that wastes spend. The creative and landing pages agent reviews ads, assets, and landing pages; it can prepare a new responsive search ad or sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets, and hands you exact steps for things the API can’t change, such as editing existing ad text or a landing page. Nothing changes until you press Apply.
Run a free Google Ads audit to see which of your keywords have quality problems that cost money.
