Google Ads Quality Score and Ad Rank Explained: How to Improve Them

What is Quality Score in Google Ads?

Quality Score is a score from 1 to 10 that Google Ads shows for each keyword in a Search campaign. Google’s About Quality Score page calls it “a diagnostic tool meant to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers.” A higher score means your ad and landing page are more relevant and useful to someone searching that keyword than other advertisers’ ads.

The number is built from three parts. Each part gets one of three ratings, “Above average”, “Average” or “Below average”, based on a comparison with other advertisers whose ads showed for the exact same search over the last 90 days. So the score is relative: a packers and movers firm on Sohna Road is compared with the other movers bidding on the same searches, not with every advertiser on Google.

Google’s page covers Quality Score for Search campaigns, where it is shown per keyword. Our guide to Google Ads campaign types explains how Search differs from the others.

How is Google Ads Quality Score calculated?

Google says Quality Score is calculated from the combined performance of expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. It does not publish a formula or weights, so any “Quality Score formula” you see in a guide is someone’s estimate, not Google’s method.

A few details from Google’s help page explain behaviour that confuses many advertisers:

• It is based on exact searches. The ratings come from historical impressions for searches that exactly match your keyword. That is why Google says changing a keyword’s match type does not change its Quality Score.
• A broad match keyword can borrow a score. If an exact match version of the same keyword in the same ad group has had impressions in the last 90 days, the broad match keyword can show a score even with no impressions of its own, and both show the same number.
• A dash (“—”) means not enough data. Google shows a dash when there aren’t enough searches that exactly match your keyword to calculate a score. This is common for very long, narrow keywords such as a single sector name plus a service. Google suggests finding higher-volume, relevant keywords in Keyword Planner, or broadening match types so the keyword enters more auctions.
• Some things are left out. Google lists factors related to ad quality that might not be captured by Quality Score: the device used to search, the user’s location, the time of day and assets.

So a clinic in DLF Phase 4 sees one score per keyword, whether the search came from a phone nearby in the evening or a desktop across the city. The auction does weigh those factors, through Ad Rank.

What is Ad Rank, and what goes into it?

Ad Rank is the set of values Google uses in each auction to decide whether your ad is eligible to show and, if it is, where it appears relative to other advertisers’ ads. Google’s About Ad Rank page says it is calculated first to check eligibility and a second time to rank the eligible ads.

Google’s page on how the Google Ads auction works lists the factors that go into Ad Rank:

Because the searcher’s context changes every time, your position can move from one search to the next. Google says your ad position can fluctuate depending on your competition, the context of the person’s search and your quality at that moment.

Ad Rank thresholds deserve a closer look. Google’s Ad Rank thresholds page says they are set dynamically at each auction, that lower quality ads face higher thresholds, and that thresholds vary with ad position, the user’s location and device, and the topic of the search. If no competitor clears its threshold, your ad may be the only one eligible, and you then pay a reserve price: the threshold, rounded up to the smallest billable unit in your country. Google warns this can still be relatively expensive.

Is Quality Score used in the ad auction?

No. Google’s help page states that “Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction.” The auction uses Ad Rank, which includes ad quality measured at auction time for that specific search. Quality Score is a summary of how your ads have done on that keyword, shown to help you find what to fix.

The two are related. Google’s auction page says its assessment of your ad’s quality is summarised in your Quality Score. But the auction-time measurement knows the exact search, device and location, while Quality Score looks back over exact-match searches from the past 90 days.

Google also says Quality Score “is not a key performance indicator and should not be optimized or aggregated with the rest of your data.” In plain terms: do not report an average Quality Score to the owner as a success measure. Leads, cost per lead and the quality of those leads are what count. Use Quality Score to spot which keyword, ad or page is pulling you down.

How do you check Quality Score in Google Ads?

Open your keywords view in Google Ads, add the Quality Score columns from the columns menu, and read the three component ratings next to each keyword. The component columns tell you far more than the 1–10 number on its own.

1. In your Google Ads account, open Campaigns, then Keywords (search keywords for a Search campaign).
2. Click the columns icon above the table and choose to modify columns.
3. Expand the “Quality score” section and add Quality Score, Landing page experience, Ad relevance and Expected CTR.
4. If you want to see change over time, also add the historical columns: Quality Score (hist.), Landing Page Exper. (hist.), Ad Relevance (hist.) and Exp. CTR (hist.).
5. Click Apply, then sort by cost so you look first at the keywords that spend the most.
6. Segment by day if you need to see when a score changed, for example after you edited an ad or changed a landing page.

Next, check how often Ad Rank is costing you impressions. Google’s impression share page defines Search lost IS (rank) as the percentage of time your ads weren’t shown on the Search Network due to poor Ad Rank in the auction, and Search lost IS (budget) as the share lost to insufficient budget. Add both at campaign level. A high rank loss points to quality or bids; a high budget loss points to budget or too many keywords.

What is a good Quality Score? Google does not set a target number. The practical reading is the component ratings: “Above average” on all three means there is little to fix, while any “Below average” tells you where to work. A keyword that brings good leads at an acceptable cost does not need a higher score for its own sake. If your keywords show “Rarely shown due to low Quality Score” or your ads are not showing at all, our guide to Google Ads campaigns with no impressions covers every status message.

How do you improve expected CTR?

Make the ad the obvious click for that search: name the exact service and area, be specific about what you offer, and add assets that give people more reasons and ways to act. Google’s guide to using Quality Score says to make your offer more compelling and to be more specific in your ad text.

• Put the service and area in a headline. “Home Shifting in Gurgaon” beats a generic company tagline for someone searching home shifting. Google’s Ad Strength page notes a keyword must fit entirely within one headline to count.
• Be specific. State what is included: packing material, a site visit, evening OPD hours, weekend batches or a free site survey for a rooftop solar enquiry, if these are true.
• Use the full responsive search ad. Google says providing up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions lets it build more combinations. Write distinct headlines that cover different selling points.
• Add assets. Google’s top ads page suggests sitelinks and relevant business details to raise expected CTR. For local trades, call assets and location assets are the obvious ones. Google stopped letting advertisers create new call-only ads in February 2026, so call assets now carry the phone number.
• Block searches you do not want. Clicks from people looking for jobs, courses or free information drag CTR down on the searches that matter. Our guide to negative keywords and match types shows how to build these lists.

How do you improve ad relevance?

Ad relevance improves when each ad group holds a small set of closely related keywords and the ads use the same words people search. Google’s advice is to match ad language to search terms and to split ad groups whose keywords are too varied for one ad.

The common mistake in small accounts is one ad group holding every keyword, so one ad has to fit home shifting, office moves and car transport at once. Splitting lets each ad speak to one need.

For movers, our movers keyword and setup guide lays out these ad groups in detail. The pattern for any trade: one need, one ad group, one ad and one page.

How do you improve landing page experience?

Send each ad to a page that delivers what the ad promised, gives useful, original information about that service, loads quickly on a phone and makes it easy to call or ask for a quote. These points come from Google’s own guidance on optimising ads and landing pages.

Google says a landing page that closely matches your ad and keywords helps both ad relevance and landing page experience. Sending every ad to the home page usually fails that test.

• Match the ad. An ad for office relocation should land on an office relocation page, not on a general home page with a slider.
• Give useful, original information. What the service includes, which areas you cover, how the process works and what the customer needs to prepare. Google also suggests reviews that show real opinions from customers.
• Make it easy to contact you. A tap-to-call button, a WhatsApp button and a short quote form near the top of the page.
• Keep it quick and simple on mobile. Google’s mobile advice is to keep it quick, use simple navigation and not make people hunt around for information.
• Avoid clutter. Google advises against too many ads or pop-ups. A chat widget, a cookie banner and an offer pop-up all at once hide the content people came for.

A better page helps twice: it lifts landing page experience and turns more clicks into leads. See our website development in Gurgaon page if you need new pages, and count calls, WhatsApp clicks and forms with our conversion tracking guide.

How DVM Techno can help

Our Google Ads team works from Sector 84, Gurgaon, with a local office in Kasni, Jhajjar. We plan, set up and manage Search, Display and YouTube campaigns with call and location assets and remarketing, write ad copy, build landing pages where needed and set up conversion tracking correctly. We also run A/B tests on audiences, creatives and bids, aiming for more enquiries at a lower cost per lead.

You get weekly reports on reach, clicks, leads and cost per lead, plus a monthly review call. Ad spend is paid directly to Google, separately from our fee. If you already run ads, we start with a free audit within 48 hours that shows where the budget goes and which keywords, ads and pages are holding your Quality Score back. See our Google Ads management page for details.

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