We’re all aware of the Google Ads’ ‘Quality Score’ that is used to asses, as you may have guessed, the quality of ads. We’re all aware of it, but not many people understand how it actually works. Worse yet, understanding how to fix a bad Q-Score is also an elusive challenge for many PPC advertisers.
Beyond discussing what is the Quality Score and how is it measured, we want to dig deeper into the topic and investigate the different levels of Quality Score and why a lot of Google Ads users don’t have the right perception of it.
The Different Types Of Quality Scores
That’s right, there are different types and ways to evaluate Quality Score.
When we see Quality Score on our Google Ads dashboard, it’s at the keyword-level. A lot of PPC professionals mistake this as the only time that Google looks at the quality of their advertising efforts.
It’s not.
Account Quality Score
Google cares about your Google Ads account history. By evaluating your historical performance across all ads and campaigns since the start of your account, Google can decide whether you’re a good advertiser, or a bad one. It uses this account-level assessment when deciding on Q-Scores at the lower levels, including the keyword score that we visibly see on our dashboard.
There’s no way to check your account’s Quality Score. And, Google has never confirmed that it even exists. But, there does seem to be a trend where accounts with historically bad ad performance start with lower quality scores. It’s a sort of favoritism by Google to trust older, established accounts more than newer users.
One way to prevent your account Quality Score from losing favor is to pause or delete low-performing keywords, rather than continuing to let them negatively affect your scores.
Ad Group Quality Score
Again, this is a number that is not readily visible on your Google Ad dashboard. But, you can calculate it fairly easily for yourself. Essentially, an ad group Q-Score would be the mean score of all keywords within that group.
Measuring this score can allow you to see where you need to focus your attention first. It also helps identify ad groups that may not be organized properly. If an ad group with a low Q-Score also has poor CTR, it is a significant sign that something is wrong. Moving certain keywords around or disassembling an ad group into smaller pieces may help boost these numbers.
When you focus on your weakest points first, you raise your overall performance and ROI quicker.
Keyword Quality Score
This is what most PPC users are familiar with because it is clearly shown on the Google Ads screen. It’s a 1-10 rating based on a number of factors, such as ad relevance, landing page experience, expected CTR and the performance of exact-match keyword queries.
Google also looks at historic data for many of these factors, which is why so many PPC professionals suggest the concept of an account-level Quality Score.
Ad Quality Score
This is another “invisible” metric that you can determine on your own. We can use CTRs to understand our ads’ Quality Scores because this metric is such a major factor in determining Q-Score. Ads with a low CTR can be a contributing factor to a bad campaign Quality Score.
It’s important to realize that Google looks at all of your different ads when calculating this score. One bad egg can spoil it for the rest! So, don’t be afraid to workshop or remove ads that just aren’t making the cut!
Landing Page Quality Score
You can see how Google rates your landing page experience on your dashboard. It isn’t the 1-10 score that we’re used to seeing from Quality Scores. Instead, it is a below-average, average or above-average ranking. Nonetheless, it allows us to see the quality rating for our landing pages.
Google’s major criterias for landing page quality are: relevance, transparency and navigability. You need relevant and original content. You want users to understand what’s happening on the page and why it is connected to the ad they just clicked. And, you want these users to be able to navigate easily (especially on mobile devices!) and complete the desired action in as few steps as possible.
How Does Quality Score Impact Ad Ranks?
We care about our Q-Scores because they directly impact the performance and placement of our ads. When we have high Quality Scores, we can spend less on our bids, thereby improving our ROI and stretching our ad budget further.
The formula that uses Quality Score and bid amount to determine ad rank changes slightly, depending on if you’re using Google Search Network or Display Network. But, it will always follow the format of:
Bid x Quality Score = Ad Rank
Google will always favor a quality ad over an expensive ad, which is why we care so much about Q-Score.
Common Quality Score Misconceptions
Let’s go over some simple misconceptions regarding Quality Score.
Higher Ad Positions Improve Q-Score
No. Google knows that higher ad positions naturally create higher CTR, which they compensate for when calculating Q-Scores.
Pausing Ads Or Keywords Damages Quality Score
No. If your ads or keywords aren’t actively participating in Google Ads auctions, there’s no way for Google to judge for Quality Score.
Deleting components with poor performance removes them from Q-Score calculations
No. Google still has a historical record of all of your past ads, keywords and campaigns. Deleting them will help preserve your Quality Score, but it won’t erase their impact completely.
Match Types Affect Quality Score
No. As we mentioned earlier, Google uses exact match when calculating Q-Score and then uses this score for all types of keyword matches.
Conclusions
Quality Score is one of the most important metrics in your PPC campaigns, yet it is often misunderstood. We hope that this discussion has helped shed some light on the many different ways that Q-Score affects your Google Ads campaigns.
If you’re suffering from poor Quality Scores, it’s important that you remember to focus on the weakest elements first. Audit your entire account for low CTRs and Q-Scores and look at how you can take steps to improve these areas.