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.
In depth
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.
Source: Google Ads — About Quality Score
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