What Is Quality Score?
Also written as QS, Google Ads Quality Score, keyword quality score.
Definition
Quality Score is a 1 to 10 rating of your ad quality, shown per keyword in Search campaigns. It sums up expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Google calls it a diagnostic tool and says it is not an input in the ad auction. For a store, it points at what to fix.
Written by Christopher Krassnig, Founder & CEO of ZenoX Media. Written by the ZenoX team from the accounts we run. Definitions are general; the numbers in examples are maths, not client results.
Quality Score, Explained
Many blogs get this wrong. They say Ad Rank equals bid times Quality Score. Google says the opposite: "Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction. It's a diagnostic tool" (checked 5 November 2026). Think of it as a warning light on a car dashboard. It tells you something, but it is not the engine.
The auction uses ad quality measured at the moment of each search. Quality Score is the report you read afterwards. Google says its view of your ad quality is summarized in your Quality Score.
The score comes from three parts. Expected click-through rate. Ad relevance. Landing page experience. Each gets a rating of above average, average or below average, compared with other advertisers over the last 90 days. A dash in the column means there were not enough exact searches to give a score.
The parts are the useful bit. Say a store's keyword for running shoes shows a below average landing page. Send that click to the running shoes page, not the homepage. The ad relevance part works the same way. If it is low, write an ad that matches the search.
Google also says Quality Score is not a key performance indicator. So do not put it on a report as a goal. Fix what it points at.
How We Use It at ZenoX
We read Quality Score as a hint on brand Search and never as a goal. Google's page covers Search campaigns, and most ecom money runs on Shopping and feed-only Performance Max. If a part shows below average, we fix the ad or the page. We judge the account on profit, not on this score.
Questions People Ask About Quality Score
Is Quality Score Used in the Google Ads Auction?
No. Google says Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction and calls it a diagnostic tool (checked 5 November 2026). The auction uses ad quality measured at the time of each search. Quality Score is a report that sums up that quality for you afterwards.
What Are the Three Parts of Quality Score?
Expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Google rates each one above average, average or below average, compared with other advertisers over the last 90 days (checked 5 November 2026). Start with whichever part shows below average. That is your clue.
Related terms
- Click-Through RateClick-through rate (CTR) is the share of people who saw your ad and then clicked it.
- Landing PageA landing page is the web page someone reaches after clicking your ad.
- Responsive Search AdA responsive search ad is the text ad format for Google Search.
- Search CampaignA Search campaign is a Google Ads campaign that shows text ads on search results when someone types a search that matches your keywords.
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