Google Ads Quality Score: What It Is and How to Fix It

Google Ads quality score rates each Search keyword on a 1 to 10 scale. It hints at how your ads and pages compare with other advertisers. Read well, it shows what to fix so your ad spend can work harder.

Many advertisers chase the number itself. Google says not to. This guide treats the score as a diagnostic, with a fix list for each part.

Reporting note: We checked this guide against Google's help pages on November 12, 2026.

Key takeaways

• Quality Score is a 1 to 10 diagnostic, not a goal
• It comes from expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience
• Read the component statuses before the number
• Fix Below average parts on your top-spending keywords first
• Bids and match types don't change the score

What is Google Ads quality score?

Google calls Quality Score a diagnostic tool. You'll find it at the keyword level, on a scale from 1 to 10. A higher score means your ad and page beat rivals' for that search.

Google is just as clear about what it isn't. It's not a key performance indicator. It's not an input in the ad auction either.

So don't report it like a sales number. Treat it like a warning light on a dashboard. It tells you where to look, not how the business is doing.

The three parts behind the score

Google builds the score from three components. Each one gets a status of Above average, Average, or Below average.

Google compares you with advertisers who showed for the same exact search. It looks back over the last 90 days.

Read the statuses before the number. A 5 with one Below average part tells you more than the 5 alone. That one part is where your fix list starts.

How does quality score affect what you pay?

The score itself doesn't enter the auction. The signals behind it do. Google's Ad Rank checks expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience at auction time.

Ad Rank decides whether your ad can show and where it appears. It also decides if extras like sitelinks can show. Your bid is only one part of it.

Google's ad quality page says higher quality ads typically cost less per click. Low quality ads may pay close to their maximum bid, even with little competition. That's the real reason to care about the parts.

Where to find your quality score

The score hides by default. Add the columns once and they stay in your keyword table:

1. Open Campaigns, then Keywords
2. Click the columns icon above the table
3. Open the Quality score section under Modify columns
4. Tick Quality Score and its three component columns
5. Click Apply

The historical columns, marked "hist.", show past scores for your date range. Segment the table by day to see when a score changed. That helps you tie a drop to an ad or page edit.

A dash in the column means too few exact searches for a score. Google suggests broader match types to join more auctions. Match types don't change how Google calculates the score, though.

How to fix low expected CTR

Expected CTR is Google's guess at how often people will click your ad. A Below average status means your ad draws fewer clicks than rivals' ads. The fix lives in your ad text.

• Put the searcher's own words in a headline
• Name one clear benefit, like same-day service
• Use a direct call to action, such as Get a quote
• Match the offer to what the page delivers
• Test specific wording against general wording

Watch for one trap. A catchier ad can raise clicks and still bring weaker leads. Google's own guidance says a more specific ad may get fewer clicks but more conversions.

Our guide to responsive search ads covers how to write and test headlines.

How to fix low ad relevance

Ad relevance asks a simple question. Does your ad speak to what the person searched? It often drops when one ad group holds too many different ideas.

Say a plumber runs one ad group for drain cleaning, water heaters, and leak repair. One ad can't speak to all three well. Split them into three ad groups, each with its own ads.

Google's ad quality help suggests grouping keywords into tight themes. Moving an ad group with the same ads won't change ad quality. New ad text can, so rewrite as you split.

How to fix landing page experience

This part covers what happens after the click. Google's landing page experience status rates how useful your page is to that searcher. Below average is a hint to rework the page.

• Send each ad group to the page that matches it
• Keep the ad's offer visible near the top
• Make the page easy to use on a phone
• Cut slow scripts and oversized images
• Make the next step clear, like a form or call button

The exact search phrase doesn't need to appear on the page. The page just needs to meet the need. Run your page through PageSpeed Insights to check load speed on mobile.

For layout ideas, see our landing page best practices guide. Our web design team builds pages around this ad-to-page match.

What won't change your quality score?

Some changes feel useful but won't move the score. Google's help pages name several of them. Skip these before you spend time on them:

• Raising bids, which affects Ad Rank but not ad quality
• Switching match types, since the score uses exact searches
• Moving ad groups to a new campaign with the same ads
• Showing your ads more often
• Reporting more conversions

Fix your conversion tracking for your own decisions, not for the score. Good tracking shows which keywords bring real leads. That matters more than any single rating.

A simple monthly quality score check

You don't need to review every keyword. Start where the money goes:

1. Sort keywords by cost, highest first
2. Find Below average statuses on your top spenders
3. Fix one component per ad group at a time
4. Give the change time to gather fresh data
5. Judge the fix by cost per lead, not just the score

A low score on a keyword with a few clicks barely matters. A low score on your top keyword can drain budget every week. That's why the check starts with spend.