Google Ads Quality Score: how it works and how to improve it

Quality Score is a diagnosis from 1 to 10 per keyword, not a factor in the auction ^[1]. It summarises three components: expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance and landing page experience ^[1]. Improve the component rated "Below average" on keywords that cost money, and judge the result on your cost per enquiry.

Google explicitly says the score is not a KPI to optimise for ^[1]. Yet you read, even from Belgian agencies, that with a score of 3 or lower you sometimes pay double ^[2]; Google publishes no such table. If your Google Ads agency or manager chases the score without looking at the cost per enquiry, they are optimising the wrong number.

Which component do you improve, and how?

Google itself gives five ways, from more relevant ads to a better landing page ^[3]. Per component, it comes down to this:

Keywords and search terms are different. Your keyword is what you set up, the search term is what someone actually typed; with broad match your ad also appears for searches that don't contain your keyword ^[6]. So read the search terms report every week ^[7]. Good ad groups start with keyword research, by the way.

Speed matters, but there is no magic threshold. Nowhere does Google say that a load time over three seconds costs you points ^[8]. The landing pages report does show which pages perform less well on mobile ^[9]; how to measure speed is explained by my colleague Bert in Core Web Vitals explained.

Language counts too. If you work in Dutch and French, create separate ad groups per language, with ads and landing pages in that language. That is my reasoning, not a Google rule, but the three components measure exactly that match.

Where do you start in an existing account?

1. Add the columns. Under Campaigns, Keywords, choose the Columns icon and, in the Quality Score section, the score and its three components; the columns marked "(hist.)" show how they evolved ^[1]. Put cost and cost per conversion next to them.
2. Filter on what costs money: keywords with costs in the last 90 days, from expensive to cheap.
3. Find the weakest component. If the same component scores low on many keywords, the problem lies in the structure, the copy or the page.
4. Change one thing at a time and only judge after a few weeks, because the score is based on historical impressions ^[1].
5. Judge on your cost per enquiry. Google itself recommends reading the score together with clickthrough rate, conversion rate and engagement on your site ^[3].

If you are unsure where to start, the free Google Ads audit looks at account structure, keywords and negative keywords, bid strategy, conversion tracking, budget allocation and ads, with read-only access.

What the score measures, and what it doesn't

• A comparison. The rating compares you with other advertisers whose ads showed for the same search over the past 90 days ^[1]. My reading: a 5 in a busy sector can be a better ad than an 8 in a quiet niche.
• Exact searches. The score is based on impressions for searches that exactly match your keyword, so a different match type doesn't change it ^[1].
• A dash is not an error, but a sign that there are too few exact searches ^[1]. In a small market like Flanders you see this more often.
• Not everything is included. Device, location, time of day and assets such as sitelinks are part of ad quality, but according to Google may not be reflected in the score ^[1].

How ad quality does affect your cost per click

For every search, Google determines your Ad Rank with six factors: your bid, the quality of your ads and landing page, the Ad Rank thresholds, the competitiveness of the auction, the context of the search and the expected impact of your assets ^[10]. So quality does count, just not as the number in your account. You pay what is minimally required to clear the thresholds and beat the competitor directly below you, often less than your maximum bid ^[11].

According to Google, higher quality ads "typically cost less per click", and with low quality your actual CPC can be close to your maximum "even when there is low competition" ^[12]. Google doesn't say how large that effect is: any percentage you read is an estimate. What this means for your budget is in how much does Google Ads cost in Belgium.

Four misconceptions

• A higher bid gives a better score. Your bid affects your Ad Rank, not the assessment of your ad quality ^[12].
• More conversions raise your score. Reported conversions have no effect on ad quality ^[12].
• Moving an ad group resets the score. Moving to another campaign or another account with the same ads and keywords has no impact ^[12].
• Ad Strength is a second Quality Score ^[13]. That rating from Incomplete to Excellent (the Ad strength column) doesn't count towards Ad Rank, Quality Score or auction wins ^[14].

When a low score doesn't matter

• Keywords without impressions or costs. There is nothing to gain.
• A competitor's name. On that, you are by definition less relevant than the competitor itself.
• Keywords that convert well. If a keyword with a 4 brings in enquiries at a cost that works, don't change it for the sake of the number.
• Shopping and Performance Max. Google describes the score for keywords in Search campaigns ^[1]. Shopping works with your product data ^[15], Performance Max with asset groups and search themes.

If you are just starting to advertise, you don't have scores yet. Start narrow and with good landing pages, as in Google Ads for SMEs.