What is Quality Score?

Why It Matters

Quality Score directly affects how far an advertising budget stretches, since two advertisers bidding the same amount can pay very different prices per click depending on their score. Ignoring it means overpaying for the same ad position that a competitor with tighter ad copy and a faster landing page could win more cheaply. Because it rewards relevance rather than just budget size, it gives smaller advertisers a way to compete with bigger spenders by improving message match instead of outbidding them. It also connects directly to conversion performance, since the same landing page experience and ad relevance that raise Quality Score tend to improve click-through rate and downstream conversion rate too. Watching it over time flags when an ad or landing page has drifted out of sync with the keywords it's targeting.

Example

Two advertisers bid the same amount for the same keyword, but one has a Quality Score of 8 due to tightly relevant ad copy and a fast, matching landing page, while the other has a Quality Score of 4. The advertiser with the higher Quality Score typically pays a lower cost per click and wins a better ad position for the identical bid, which is why improving landing page relevance and ad copy is often a cheaper way to lower CPC than simply raising the bid.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What three factors make up Quality Score?

  Expected click-through rate, ad relevance to the keyword, and landing page experience, weighted together by the ad platform into a single 1 to 10 score.

• Can advertisers calculate their own Quality Score?

  No, it's computed internally by the ad platform from signals advertisers don't fully control or see the exact weighting of, though the platform does report the resulting score.

• What is considered a good Quality Score?

  Scores of 7 or higher are generally considered strong, while scores below 5 usually signal a mismatch between the ad, keyword, and landing page that's worth fixing.

• How does Quality Score affect cost per click?

  A higher Quality Score typically lowers the cost per click needed to win the same ad position, since the platform rewards relevance with a discount relative to lower-scoring competitors bidding the same amount.

• How can Quality Score be improved?

  The most direct levers are tightening ad copy to match the keyword's intent, and improving landing page speed and relevance so it delivers on what the ad promised.