What is Quality Score?

Google Ads Quality Score

DEFINITION

Quality Score is Google's 1-10 rating of ad quality based on expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience. Higher score = lower CPC.

FORMULA

Composite of: Expected CTR + Ad Relevance + Landing Page Experience

Why Quality Score matters

A Quality Score of 10 can pay half the CPC of a Quality Score of 4 for the same auction. Improve by matching keyword → ad copy → landing page with tight relevance. Single biggest lever in Google Ads efficiency.

Worked example

Plug a real number into the formula to see Quality Score in action:

// Formula

Composite of: Expected CTR + Ad Relevance + Landing Page Experience

// Example calculation

Plug your numbers into the formula above to calculate Quality Score for your business.

Numbers are illustrative. Try our ROAS Calculator for your real numbers.

Common mistakes with Quality Score

1
Trusting platform attribution. Meta and Google overstate their contribution by 30-60% on most accounts.
2
Scaling winning ad sets too fast. 30%/week is the safe ceiling — faster usually breaks the algorithm and learning resets.
3
Ignoring creative fatigue. Most ads peak by week 2-3. If frequency exceeds 3, plan refresh.

How to improve Quality Score

Set up a creative testing cadence: 8-12 fresh ad concepts per week, retire any ad with frequency > 3 or CTR drop > 30%.
Use server-side conversions API on Meta and enhanced conversions on Google. Match rates 70%+ unlock algorithm performance.
Build a 4-tier audience structure: cold prospecting, warm engagers, retargeting, post-purchase. Different creative, different targets.