Quality Score is a keyword-level diagnostic in Google Ads, reported from 1 to 10 and split into three parts: expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. It summarizes how well your account answers the search. It is not the number the auction uses, which is why it is best read as a hint about where to look.
Briefly explained
- A 1-10 diagnostic, split into three components.
- It reports on relevance between keyword, ad and page.
- Better relevance can hold the same position for less money.
- The score is a symptom. The components tell you what to fix.
What do the three components measure?
- Expected click-through rate: Whether people are likely to click your ad for this search, compared with competitors in the same auction.
- Ad relevance: Whether the ad text matches what was typed.
- Landing page experience: Whether what the ad promised is actually waiting there, fast, on a phone.
Each is reported as above average, average or below average. That label is more actionable than the number beside it.
Why does it change what you pay?
Because position is decided by bid and relevance together. Two businesses bidding on the same search rarely pay the same. A tightly built account can sit above a competitor who bids more, and pay less for the privilege.
On expensive searches, that gap often decides whether paid search makes money at all. See pay-per-click for how the auction prices a click.
What actually moves it?
These are the levers, roughly in order of effect.
- Narrow ad groups. One theme per group, so a single ad can answer every keyword in it honestly.
- Ads that repeat the searcher’s wording. Not clever copy. The same words.
- A landing page per service. Someone clicking for one job should not arrive on a page about everything you do.
- Page experience. Load speed, a layout that works on a phone, a visible phone number. See Core Web Vitals.
What will not move it?
- Raising the bid. It buys position, not relevance.
- Rewriting the ad for the fifth time while the page stays generic.
- Adding keywords to a group that is already too broad.
- Chasing a 10 on a keyword that already produces work at an acceptable cost.
What do the terms mean?
- Ad rank: Bid combined with relevance. What actually orders the ads.
- Expected CTR: A forecast of clicking, made before the ad has run.
- Ad relevance: The match between ad text and search.
- Landing page experience: How well the destination answers that search.
- Below average: The label worth acting on, wherever it appears.
Owner questions
