Quality Score
A Google Ads metric that rates the quality and relevance of your keywords and PPC ads.
Definition
Quality Score is Google's rating of the quality and relevance of your keywords, ads, and landing pages. It affects your cost-per-click (CPC) and ad position. A higher Quality Score means you'll pay less per click and achieve better ad placements. It's measured on a scale of 1-10 and considers expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience.
Why It Matters
Quality Score directly impacts how much you pay per click and whether your ads show at all. Google rewards relevant, high-quality ads with lower costs and better positions, while penalizing poor experiences with higher costs or limited visibility.
Improving Quality Score is one of the highest-ROI activities in PPC management. A score improvement from 5 to 8 can reduce your cost per click by 25-30%, making your entire advertising budget more effective.
Examples in Practice
A retailer improves ad relevance and landing page experience, raising Quality Score from 4 to 8 and reducing CPC by 40%.
A B2B company discovers their generic landing page is hurting Quality Score, creates dedicated pages per ad group, and sees costs drop significantly.
An agency uses Quality Score trends to identify and fix underperforming campaigns before they waste significant budget.