Google Ads Quality Score Explained: How to Improve Yours in 2026

Quality Score is the most misunderstood number in Google Ads. Half the advice online is five years out of date, and the other half is copy-pasted from Google’s own help docs without any real understanding. The reality is that Quality Score is a simple scoring system Google uses to decide whether your ad deserves a lower cost per click. Get it right and you can pay 30 to 50 percent less than your competitors for the same keyword. Get it wrong and you are subsidising their ads while wondering why yours do not convert.

What Quality Score actually is

Quality Score is a 1 to 10 rating Google assigns to each keyword in your account. It is based on three components: Expected CTR, Ad relevance, and Landing page experience. Each is graded as Below average, Average, or Above average. Combine the three and you get your score.

Quality Score is calculated per keyword, per auction, for every search query. The number you see in your account is a historical snapshot, not the real-time number Google uses to rank your ad. That distinction matters: a keyword with a Quality Score of 6 in your interface might be getting treated as an 8 for one search term and a 3 for another. The account-level number is directional only.

Why it matters: the real cost of a low Quality Score

Google’s Ad Rank formula multiplies your bid by a quality factor. Roughly speaking, doubling your Quality Score halves your effective CPC. Here is what that looks like in practice for a $10 target CPC:

• Quality Score 3: effective CPC around $14 to $18
• Quality Score 5: effective CPC around $9 to $12
• Quality Score 7: effective CPC around $6 to $8
• Quality Score 9: effective CPC around $4 to $6

So a Quality Score of 3 vs. 9 is the difference between paying $15,000 and paying $5,000 for the same 1,000 clicks. This is why serious advertisers obsess over this number.

The three components and how to fix each one

Expected CTR (click-through rate)

Google compares your expected CTR to other advertisers bidding on the same keyword. If users historically click your ad less often than competitors at your ad position, you will be marked Below average.

How to improve it:

• Write headlines that include the exact keyword the user typed
• Add a specific number, price, or timeframe (“Fix by 5 PM”, “$99 callout”, “Same-day Adelaide”)
• Use all 15 headlines and 4 descriptions in Responsive Search Ads
• Unpin at least half of your headlines so Google can test combinations
• Turn on all available ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call, location, price, image)

Ad relevance

This measures how well your ad copy matches the searcher’s intent. Ad groups with 50 different keyword themes get punished. Tightly themed ad groups with 5 to 15 closely related keywords get rewarded.

How to improve it:

• Break giant ad groups into SKAGs (Single Keyword Ad Groups) or STAGs (Single Theme Ad Groups)
• Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion carefully: it can push ad relevance up but break readability
• Write three RSAs per ad group, each testing a different angle (price, speed, trust)

Landing page experience

Google crawls your landing page and checks for keyword relevance, mobile usability, page speed, transparency (ABN, privacy policy, contact info), and whether users bounce quickly.

How to improve it:

• Send each ad to a page that mentions the exact keyword in the H1 and first paragraph
• Get Core Web Vitals into green on PageSpeed Insights (LCP under 2.5s, CLS under 0.1)
• Never send paid traffic to your homepage if a service page exists
• Make sure the page loads the thing the user wanted to see above the fold

Negative keywords: the fastest Quality Score lever

Most people do not realise that negative keywords improve Quality Score. Here is why: Quality Score is based on aggregate data. If your ad shows for 1,000 searches but only 200 were relevant, your CTR is terrible across all 1,000. Add negatives to block the 800 irrelevant searches, and your CTR on the remaining 200 looks much healthier.

The core negative keyword list every account needs

Apply these at account level as negative broad match:

• free, cheap, DIY, do it yourself, how to, tutorial
• job, jobs, career, hiring, salary, wage, resume, CV
• training, course, school, TAFE, student, apprentice
• reviews, complaints, scam (unless you are specifically a review site)
• Competitor brand names (unless you are running a conquest campaign deliberately)
• Irrelevant locations (other states, other countries)

Dynamic negatives from search terms

At least once a fortnight, pull your search terms report, sort by cost descending, and add anything irrelevant as a negative at the ad group or campaign level. This is the single most valuable 30-minute task in paid search. Over a year, I have saved clients five-figure sums just from this habit.

What to ignore when optimising Quality Score

• Do not obsess over account-average Quality Score. Focus on keywords that spend money and have scores below 6.
• Do not pause low-QS keywords that convert. A 4/10 keyword that converts at $40 CPA is better than an 8/10 keyword that does not convert at all.
• Do not cram keywords into headlines awkwardly. Google rewards natural ad copy that gets clicks over keyword-stuffed junk.

How long does a Quality Score improvement take?

Plan on 2 to 4 weeks. Quality Score updates require enough new impressions and clicks to change Google’s baseline estimate. If you are running $50 a day, give it a full month before declaring a change worked or failed. For a broader discussion of Google Ads timelines, read how long before Google Ads start working, and if you want a refresher on the mechanics, we have a full explainer on how Google Ads actually work in 2026.

Putting it all together

If you only do three things this month:

1. Apply a solid account-level negative keyword list
2. Rewrite your Responsive Search Ads with fewer pins and all 15 headlines
3. Send each ad to a landing page that actually mentions the keyword in the H1

Those three moves alone will typically push an account average from 5 to 7 in 30 days. The savings compound from there. For budget implications, see our Google Ads cost guide, and run the numbers through our Google Ads calculator to see what a CPC drop is actually worth to your business.

Want me to look at your Quality Scores?

If you are spending more than $2,000 a month and your account-average Quality Score is below 6, you are paying competitors’ overhead. I do free account reviews where I screen-share and walk through exactly what is dragging your scores down. Book a free strategy call or ring me on 0403 454 199, Tuesday to Friday, 9 to 5. For ongoing work, our Google Ads management service handles the whole account, flat rate, no lock-in.