How to Improve Google Ads Quality Score to Lower CPC

Question 1

What is Google Ads Quality Score and why does it still matter in 2026?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, Quality Score is Google’s 1-10 rating assigned to each keyword, based on the expected quality of ads and landing pages when that keyword triggers an auction. The article states it directly determines Ad Rank alongside bid, which controls both position and actual cost per click. A keyword scored 8 will often pay significantly less per click than a competitor on the same term scored 5, even with the same max CPC.

Question 2

What are the three Quality Score components and how are they graded?

Accepted Answer

The article lists the three components as Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience, each graded as “Below Average,” “Average,” or “Above Average.” According to groas, Expected CTR predicts click likelihood normalized for position, Ad Relevance measures ad copy match to keyword intent, and Landing Page Experience measures relevance, speed, and usefulness after the click. The article states Expected CTR and landing page experience tend to carry more weight than ad relevance alone.

Question 3

How does Quality Score affect my actual CPC and auction position?

Accepted Answer

The article gives the simplified formula as Ad Rank = Bid x Quality Score (plus auction-time factors). According to groas, a higher Quality Score means a lower bid is needed to achieve the same position, so strong scores can dominate auctions while paying less per click. The article states that even a one-point improvement across a large keyword set can reduce average CPC noticeably, freeing budget for more volume.

Question 4

Where do I find Quality Score data in Google Ads?

Accepted Answer

The article says to navigate to the Keywords tab in any Search campaign and add columns for Quality Score, Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience. It also recommends adding historical versions of these columns, such as Quality Score (hist.), to see how scores changed over time. For account-level patterns, the article recommends segmenting by campaign or ad group to find clusters with “Below Average” in the same component.

Question 5

What should I fix first to improve Quality Score?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends Priority 1 as fixing “Below Average” landing page experience, because one page fix can improve scores across an entire ad group or campaign. Priority 2 is improving “Below Average” expected CTR through ad copy testing, asset optimization, and pausing underperformers, and Priority 3 is addressing “Below Average” ad relevance by restructuring ad groups by intent. The article says to ignore keywords already at “Average” or above, because moving “Average” to “Above Average” has small marginal gain compared to fixing “Below Average” elsewhere.

Question 6

What is a good Quality Score benchmark for non-branded keywords?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, branded keywords typically score 8-10, while non-branded keywords in competitive industries like legal, insurance, and finance often average 5-6 without active optimization. The article sets a reasonable target of 7 or above for non-branded keywords in most industries. It states that keywords consistently scoring below 5 deserve either structural remediation or removal from the account.