Google Ads Quality Score explained

What is Quality Score?

Quality Score (“niveau de qualité” in the French interface) is the Google Ads quality rating. Google describes it as “a diagnostic tool”. It compares the quality of your ads with that of other advertisers, from 1 to 10, at keyword level (Google Ads Help on Quality Score).

It only applies to Search Network campaigns. Sometimes a dash replaces the score: searches that exactly match the keyword are then too rare to assess it.

The same help page sets two clear limits. Quality Score “is not a key performance indicator”. And it “is not used in ad auctions”. It serves to spot the keywords, ads and pages that need work.

How is Google Ads Quality Score calculated?

Each component receives one of three statuses: “Above average”, “Average” or “Below average”. The 1 to 10 score follows from them.

Component	What it measures	Main lever
Expected clickthrough rate	Likelihood that the ad gets clicked when it shows	Ad text, offer, extensions
Ad relevance	How closely the ad matches the intent of the search	Ad group structure, reuse of search terms
Landing page experience	Relevance and usefulness of the page for the person who clicks	Page content, speed, mobile readability

Google also explains what matters for ad quality, and what does not:

• The user’s device is taken into account when assessing quality.
• Account structure changes nothing as long as it does not change the user experience.
• Targeting the Display Network or Search Network partners does not affect ad quality.
• Expected CTR is normalized for the actual position of the ad on the page.

How are Quality Score, Ad Rank and CPC linked?

For each search, Google calculates an Ad Rank. It decides whether the ad shows and in which position. It combines six factors: the bid, the quality of the ad and the page, minimum thresholds, the competitiveness of the auction, the context of the search and the expected impact of assets. Google notes that higher quality ads “can often” lower the cost per click.

Ad Rank uses measurements taken at the time of each auction: expected CTR, relevance, landing page. The Quality Score shown in the interface remains a diagnostic rating. It signals a trend; it does not set your CPC.

How do you improve your Quality Score?

Google recommends reading the three components. Deal first with those marked “Below average” (5 ways to use Quality Score). The goal is not the score itself. Google sees it as an indicator of what to improve, “rather than a score to optimize”.

Make the ad more relevant

Use in the headline the terms that users actually type. If an ad group mixes different intents, split it so that each ad answers a specific theme. Work on keywords and ads is the first lever.

Raise the expected clickthrough rate

Make the offer clearer and more attractive: concrete benefit, price or lead time, explicit call to action. Google advises sorting your ads by clickthrough rate and by conversions. This way you spot the ones to replace (Google Ads Help on optimizing ads).

Take care of the landing page experience

The page must keep the promise of the ad. A search for a specific product lands on that product, not on the home page. Speed and mobile readability also count. Google publishes thresholds on web.dev: LCP of 2.5 s or less, INP of 200 ms or less, CLS of 0.1 or less. Our page on Core Web Vitals details the measurement. The conversion rate optimization pillar covers the rest of the page.

1. Filter: add the columns for the three components. Isolate the highest-spending keywords with a “Below average” status.
2. Diagnose: identify the component at fault for each keyword.
3. Fix: ad, ad group structure or landing page, one change at a time.
4. Check: track clickthrough rate, conversion rate and cost per conversion, not just the score.

Does Quality Score still matter with automated bidding?

With Smart Bidding, Google sets the bid at each auction. It aims for conversions or their value (Google Ads Help on Smart Bidding). The quality of the ad and the page still weighs in Ad Rank. A relevant ad can get the same position for a lower bid.

Quality Score therefore keeps its diagnostic role in Search campaigns. A Performance Max campaign, on the other hand, does not work with keywords. It shows no Quality Score: you rely on the asset and search terms reports.