What is Quality Score?
Quality Score is Google Ads' 1-to-10 diagnostic rating per keyword based on three signals: expected click-through rate, ad relevance to the query, and landing page experience. It is a backward-looking calculated metric — improving it requires improving the three input signals; it cannot be set or bid directly.
What to know in practice
- Score 7+ is healthy; 5-6 is average; 4 or below indicates structural ad-keyword-landing-page mismatch.
- A one-point Quality Score lift typically reduces CPC by 10-15% on the affected keyword, because Ad Rank multiplies bid by Quality Score in the auction formula.
- Performance Max does NOT expose keyword-level Quality Score because PMax doesn't bid on keywords. Asset Strength is the closest PMax equivalent.
- Landing Page Experience component is increasingly weighted by Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) since 2024 — slow pages are capped at Quality Score 5-6 even with perfect ad copy.
Common misconception
Quality Score is not a ranking factor in the live auction — Ad Rank is. Quality Score is a diagnostic display of historical performance. Obsessing over the number itself is cargo-cult optimization; fix the three input components and Quality Score follows.
Related terms
- Smart Bidding → Paid Media
- Performance Max → Paid Media
- Core Web Vitals → CRO