Term
Quality Score
A Google Ads diagnostic per keyword on a 1–10 scale, indicating how well the ad and landing page match the search query. Components: expected CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience.
Quality Score — in more detail
Quality Score is a diagnostic value between 1 and 10 per keyword. It indicates how well ad, keyword, and landing page jointly fit the typical query — derived from three components: expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience (each rated above/average/below average). Important: the displayed 1–10 value is a diagnostic, not the actual auction score. In the auction, Google computes a similar but more dynamic quality rating in real time — that one feeds into Ad Rank and directly affects position and effective CPC. A higher QS lowers CPCs; a lower QS raises them.
Example / In practice
The keyword women's running shoes shows QS 4: ad relevance “average”, expected CTR “below average”, landing page experience “average”. An RSA with headlines that explicitly reflect the keyword, plus a landing page dedicated to women’s running shoes (instead of a generic category page), raises QS to 8 within two weeks — and CPC drops by 30–40%.
Distinction from similar terms
Ad Rank is the combined auction position from bid + quality. Ad Strength rates the ad construction (headlines, descriptions), not the keyword. Optimization Score measures account-recommendation adoption — not quality.
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Ad Relevance
One of the three Quality Score components in Google Ads. Rates how closely the ad copy matches the meaning of the booked keyword. Scale: above/average/below average.
LexikonQuality Score — what really drives it and how to lift it
Quality Score, ad relevance, landing page experience, expected CTR, Ad Strength and RSA woven together — how the auction score forms and which levers move it.
NewsGoogle Ads launches Journey-Aware Bidding and expands Smart Bidding Exploration
Smart Bidding now learns from the full lead-to-sale funnel. Smart Bidding Exploration is rolling out to Performance Max and Shopping.