Quality score is a tool used on the Google Ads platform to estimate the overall quality of an ad compared to others. It is measured on a scale of 1-10, is available for every keyword, and is based on historical data.

Quality score is determined based on:

• Expected Click Through Rate (CTR) = predicted clicks/predicted impressions
• Landing Page Experience = how relevant your site is to the user
• Ad Relevance = how well an ad matches a user’s search intent

Each of these factors is given a rating (below/average/above), so you can see what needs to be improved. However, Google also takes into account additional factors (such as device type, location, and time of day) to calculate the score – so an issue may not be immediately obvious using this rating system.

How can you check it?

In your Google ad account, click on the ‘Keywords’ tab in the left menu. Modify your table using the ‘columns’> ‘modify columns’ options, and click to include ‘Quality Score’, ‘Landing Page Experience’, ‘Expected CTR’, and ‘Ad Relevance’.

If the Quality Score column is blank, there are not enough searches for that keyword to determine its score.

Why does it matter?

To determine if and where an ad will be shown in a Google Search result, Google uses a value called ‘Ad Rank’. This is determined by the Max CPC Bid set by an advertiser, and Quality Score. Therefore, Quality Score is a key element to help your ads perform well on Google.