Google Ads Quality Score: How to Check and Improve It

Expected click-through rate (CTR)

This is Google's prediction of how likely someone is to click your ad when it appears for that keyword. It's based on the keyword's historical CTR in your account, adjusted for ad position. Google strips out the effect of position so a top-of-page ad and a bottom-of-page ad are compared fairly.

A Below Average expected CTR usually means your ad copy isn't compelling enough for the keyword, or the keyword is too broad relative to what your ad promises.

Ad relevance

This measures how closely your ad copy matches the intent behind the keyword. If someone searches "waterproof hiking boots" and your ad talks about general outdoor gear, ad relevance will be low. If your ad headline says "Waterproof Hiking Boots" and your description addresses waterproofing specifically, ad relevance goes up.

Ad relevance is about alignment between what the searcher typed and what your ad says. It's not about keyword stuffing. Google can read intent, not just exact match words.

Landing page experience

This is Google's assessment of what happens after someone clicks. Does the landing page deliver on the ad's promise? Is it fast? Is it mobile-friendly? Is it easy to use? Does it have original, useful content related to the keyword?

Landing page experience is the component most advertisers neglect, and it's often the one dragging their Quality Score down.

How Quality Score affects your CPC and Ad Rank

Google Ads uses an auction system, but the highest bidder doesn't always win. Your ad position is determined by Ad Rank, which Google calculates using several factors:

• Your bid amount - the maximum you're willing to pay per click
• Ad quality - real-time evaluations of expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience
• Ad Rank thresholds - minimum quality bars that ads must clear to appear in certain positions
• Auction competitiveness - what other advertisers are bidding and how good their ads are
• Search context - the user's query, location, device, time of day, and other signals

The old shorthand of "Ad Rank = Bid x Quality Score" is outdated. Google's actual system is more nuanced. But the core principle holds: better ad quality means you can pay less for the same position, or get a better position for the same bid.

The price you actually pay per click is determined by the Ad Rank of the advertiser below you, divided by your quality signals, plus one cent. This means higher quality directly reduces your cost per click.

According to Google's documentation, the average CPC at a Quality Score of 5 (the midpoint) is roughly the baseline. Moving from a Quality Score of 5 to 7 can reduce your CPC by 28-50%, depending on auction dynamics. Moving from 5 to 3 can increase it by 25-67%.

The savings compound. If you spend $10,000 per month on Google Ads and improve your average Quality Score from 5 to 7, you could save $2,800 to $5,000 monthly while maintaining the same traffic volume. That's $33,600 to $60,000 per year from the same keyword list. For context on where your spend fits relative to the market, see our breakdown of US digital ad spend.

Quality Score vs Ad Rank

These two get confused constantly, so let's be clear.

Quality Score is the 1-10 diagnostic number you see in your Google Ads account. It's updated periodically. It exists to help you identify problems.

Ad Rank is the real-time score Google calculates for every auction. It determines whether your ad shows, where it shows, and what you pay. Ad Rank uses live quality evaluations that are far more detailed than the three-component Quality Score summary.

You can't see your Ad Rank directly. You can see its effects: impression share, average position (in older interfaces), and top-of-page rate. Quality Score is the closest proxy you have for the quality side of the Ad Rank equation, but it's a simplified proxy.

The important implication: you can have a Quality Score of 7 and still lose auctions if your bids are too low, your ad extensions are weak, or the search context doesn't favor your ad. Quality Score is one input, not the whole picture.

Does Quality Score matter with Smart Bidding?

Roughly 86% of Google Ads campaigns now use some form of automated bidding. Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions - Smart Bidding handles the bid math for you. So does Quality Score still matter?

It matters more, not less.

When you used manual bidding, you had two levers: bid amount and ad quality. You could compensate for mediocre quality with higher bids. With Smart Bidding, Google's algorithm sets bids automatically. The main levers you still control are ad copy, landing pages, and account structure. Those are exactly the things Quality Score measures.

Broad match plus Smart Bidding makes this even more important. When Google decides which queries trigger your ads, you can't control the match between query and keyword. What you can control is whether your ad copy and landing page are relevant enough to perform well across a wider range of queries. Poor landing page experience or weak ad relevance becomes a bigger liability when you're matching to queries you didn't explicitly choose.

What you still control with automated bidding:

• Ad copy quality and relevance (RSA headlines and descriptions)
• Landing page experience, speed, and relevance
• Account structure (campaign and ad group organization)
• Negative keywords (still essential for filtering bad traffic)
• Audience signals and creative assets (see our retargeting guide for audience strategy)

If your Quality Score components are Below Average, Smart Bidding can't fully compensate. The algorithm will either bid lower (giving you less traffic) or bid higher (giving you worse ROI). Fix the quality inputs, and Smart Bidding has more room to perform.

How to improve Quality Score

Improving Quality Score means fixing the specific component that's Below Average. Each component has different levers. Here's how to raise each one.

How to improve expected CTR

Write ads that make a specific promise related to the keyword. Generic ads get generic results.

Use the keyword in your headline. This sounds obvious, but many accounts use a handful of ad variations across dozens of keywords. Responsive Search Ads help, but only if you write enough distinct headlines that Google can assemble a relevant combination for each query.

Test different value propositions. "Free Shipping" might outperform "20% Off" for one keyword group and underperform for another. Run at least three ad variations per ad group and let performance data guide you.

Use ad assets (extensions). Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, and other assets increase the size and informativeness of your ad. Google has reported that ad assets can improve CTR by 10-15%.

Tighten your keyword groups. If an ad group contains 50 keywords, your ad copy can't be relevant to all of them. Break large ad groups into smaller, thematically tight clusters where a single ad can speak directly to the searcher's intent. If you need help identifying the right clusters, our keyword research guide covers intent-based grouping.

Pin your strongest headlines to position 1. RSA headlines rotate, but Google favors some positions. If you've got a headline that consistently drives clicks, pin it so it always appears first.

How to improve ad relevance

Ad relevance is largely a function of ad group structure. The closer the relationship between your keywords and your ad copy, the higher your relevance score.

Match ad copy to keyword themes, not just individual keywords. If your keyword group is about "running shoes for flat feet," your ad should address flat feet specifically, not just running shoes in general.

Use keyword insertion carefully. Dynamic keyword insertion can boost relevance, but it backfires when the inserted keyword creates an awkward or misleading headline. Always preview how your ads read with each keyword inserted.

Check search terms reports. Your ads might be triggering on queries that have nothing to do with your ad copy. Add negative keywords aggressively to keep irrelevant queries out. Every irrelevant impression where your ad appears and nobody clicks hurts your CTR and signals to Google that your ad isn't relevant.

Review RSA asset combinations. Google Ads shows you which headline and description combinations appear most often. If the top combination doesn't include your most relevant headline for a keyword group, consider pinning or rewriting.

How to improve landing page experience

This is where most of the wins are hiding, because most advertisers send ad traffic to pages that weren't designed for the specific keyword.

Send traffic to a relevant page, not your homepage. If your ad is about "waterproof hiking boots," the landing page should show waterproof hiking boots, not your entire product catalog. Every extra click between the ad and the answer is a drop in both conversions and Quality Score.

For a deeper look at building pages that convert, see our guide to PPC landing page optimization.

Improve page speed. Google explicitly considers load time in landing page experience. A page that takes three seconds to load will score lower than one that loads in one second. Compress images, minimize JavaScript, and use a CDN. Run your landing page through our free SEO analyzer to check performance alongside other technical factors. Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) are increasingly part of the evaluation.

Make the page mobile-friendly. Over 60% of Google searches happen on mobile devices. If your landing page is difficult to use on a phone, landing page experience will suffer.

Provide original, useful content. Thin pages with nothing but a form and a headline score poorly. Give visitors enough information to make a decision. Product pages need specs, reviews, and clear pricing. Service pages need explanations of what you do and why someone should choose you.

Make your page trustworthy. Clear contact information, privacy policies, and security badges (for e-commerce) all contribute to landing page experience. Google wants to send users to pages they can trust.

Match the page to the ad promise. If your ad says "50% Off Running Shoes," the landing page better show running shoes at 50% off. Message mismatch is the single fastest way to tank landing page experience. Use the free meta analyzer to verify your title tags and descriptions align with what your ads promise.

Seven Quality Score myths, debunked

Quality Score has been around since 2005. Two decades of misunderstanding have produced some persistent myths.

Myth 1: Quality Score is used directly in the auction

It isn't. Google runs a real-time quality evaluation for every single auction. The 1-10 Quality Score in your account is a simplified, periodic summary. Google has explicitly stated that "Quality Score is not used at auction time to determine Ad Rank."

Myth 2: There's an account-level Quality Score

There isn't. Quality Score is calculated at the keyword level only. Google doesn't aggregate a score across your account. That said, consistently poor performance across many keywords can make it harder for new keywords to build positive history quickly. But there's no hidden "account Quality Score" that Google applies.

Myth 3: Pausing keywords hurts Quality Score

It doesn't. When you pause a keyword, it stops accumulating data. The Quality Score freezes at its last calculated value. When you unpause it, Google resumes evaluation based on new performance data. There's no penalty for pausing.

Myth 4: Higher ad position improves Quality Score

Google normalizes for position when calculating expected CTR. An ad in position 1 naturally gets more clicks, but Google accounts for that. You won't improve your Quality Score by bidding more to get a higher position. That's putting the cart before the horse.

Myth 5: Match type affects Quality Score

Quality Score is match-type neutral. Whether a keyword is set to broad, phrase, or exact match doesn't directly change its Quality Score. However, broad match keywords trigger on a wider range of queries, which can indirectly affect CTR if many of those queries aren't relevant to your ad.

Myth 6: You should always aim for 10/10

You shouldn't. Diminishing returns kick in hard above 7. The CPC savings from moving a keyword from 7 to 10 are marginal compared to moving from 4 to 7. Spend your time fixing Below Average components on high-spend keywords, not chasing perfect scores on keywords that already perform well.

Myth 7: Quality Score updates in real time

It doesn't. Quality Score is a periodic snapshot. Google recalculates it at intervals, not after every auction. You can make changes to your ads or landing pages today and not see the Quality Score update for days or even weeks. This is another reason to treat it as a diagnostic, not a live performance metric.

How to check Quality Score in Google Ads

Quality Score data isn't visible by default. Here's how to find it.

Adding QS columns to the keyword view

1. Go to Keywords in your Google Ads account
2. Click the Columns icon (the three-column grid)
3. Click Modify columns
4. Expand the Quality Score section
5. Add: Quality Score, Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, Landing Page Experience
6. Optionally add the historical versions: Quality Score (hist.), Expected CTR (hist.), etc.
7. Click Apply

Reading the component breakdowns

Each component shows one of three values: Below Average, Average, or Above Average. Focus on Below Average components first. Those are the ones costing you money.

• Expected CTR: Below Average - Your ad copy needs work for this keyword. Test new headlines and descriptions.
• Ad Relevance: Below Average - Your ad doesn't match the keyword's intent. Restructure your ad groups or rewrite copy.
• Landing Page Experience: Below Average - Your landing page is slow, irrelevant, or hard to use. Fix the page or send traffic to a better one.

Viewing historical Quality Score data

To see how Quality Score has changed over time, use the Segments dropdown on the Keywords tab and segment by day, week, or month. The historical QS columns show you whether recent changes improved or hurt your scores. This is useful for confirming that an optimization you made actually worked.

When Quality Score matters less

Quality Score isn't equally important for every campaign.

Brand campaigns. If you bid on your own brand name, you'll almost always score 8-10. Your ad is the most relevant result, your CTR will be high, and your landing page is obviously relevant. There's little to optimize here.

Very low volume keywords. Keywords with minimal search volume may show a Quality Score of "N/A" or may not have enough data for Google to calculate a meaningful score. Focus your optimization efforts on keywords that drive significant spend and traffic.

Display and Video campaigns. Quality Score as a 1-10 metric applies to Search campaigns. Display and Video use different relevance signals. The principles are similar (relevant creative performs better and costs less), but the specific Quality Score metric and its three components are a Search feature.

Common mistakes that lower Quality Score

Using broad match without negative keywords. Broad match keywords trigger on a wide range of queries. Without negative keywords to filter out irrelevant searches, your ads show to people who have no interest in what you offer. Impressions without clicks destroy your expected CTR.

Sending all traffic to one page. A single landing page can't be relevant to 200 different keywords. Build dedicated landing pages for your highest-spend keyword groups.

Ignoring landing page speed. You can write perfect ad copy and still get a Below Average landing page experience because your page takes four seconds to load.

Not testing ad copy. Running a single ad per ad group means you have no data on what messaging resonates. You need variation to find what works.

Checking Quality Score once and forgetting it. Quality Score changes over time as your performance data accumulates and competitors adjust. Review it monthly and prioritize keywords where a small improvement could meaningfully reduce costs. If you need help deciding which metrics to track alongside QS, our marketing KPIs guide covers the 15 that matter most.

Restructuring too often. Every time you create a new keyword or ad group, you reset the performance history. Constant restructuring means Google never accumulates enough data to give you accurate Quality Scores. Make deliberate changes, then give them time to stabilize.

Using AI to monitor and improve Quality Score

You can do Quality Score analysis entirely within Google Ads. The columns, segments, and reports are all there. But if you're managing more than a handful of campaigns, conversational analysis saves hours.

Ooty Ads connects your Google Ads account to AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini via MCP. Instead of exporting spreadsheets and building pivot tables, you work through natural language.

What Ooty Ads surfaces for QS optimization:

• Keyword performance with QS breakdown - See Quality Score, expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience for every keyword, sorted however you want. Ask something like: "Show me all keywords with Quality Score below 5, sorted by spend."
• RSA asset performance - Check which ad headlines and descriptions Google labels as Best, Good, or Low performing. Weak assets drag down expected CTR and ad relevance.
• Search terms analysis - Surface the actual queries triggering your ads. Irrelevant queries that generate impressions without clicks are the fastest way to hurt expected CTR. Finding and negating them is tedious in the UI but trivial with conversational queries.
• Anomaly detection - Flag sudden CTR drops before they show up in your Quality Score. A CTR drop today becomes a Below Average expected CTR rating in two weeks. Catching it early means fixing it before QS degrades.

This is especially useful for large accounts where manually reviewing hundreds of keywords is impractical. AI tools can surface the keywords where a Quality Score improvement would save the most money, ranked by spend, so you know where to focus first.

For the full workflow, see our Google Ads analysis with Claude tutorial. If you're using ChatGPT instead, our ChatGPT Google Ads guide covers that setup. For broader PPC automation with AI, see our ChatGPT for PPC guide. And if you're new to MCP tools entirely, start with the getting started with MCP for marketing tutorial.

The bottom line

Quality Score is a diagnostic tool, not a vanity metric and not a KPI. It tells you where your ads, keywords, and landing pages need work. The advertisers who understand this distinction fix the right things and pay less for the same traffic. The ones who either ignore it or obsess over the number itself waste time and money.

Focus on the three components. Fix Below Average ratings on high-spend keywords first. Build landing pages that match your ad promises. Write ad copy that earns clicks. And don't chase 10/10 scores when 7/10 is already saving you money.

The Google Ads benchmarks for 2025 can help you contextualize where your account stands relative to industry averages.