Quality Score in Google Ads is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. It’s a diagnostic tool used by Google to assess the relevance and usefulness of your ads to people searching on Google Search and its partner networks in Australia, as of December 2025.
The Quality Score, ranging from 1–10, is determined by three key components: Expected Clickthrough Rate (CTR), Ad Relevance, and Landing Experience. Expected CTR predicts how likely people are to click your ad. Ad Relevance assesses how closely your ad matches the intent behind a user’s search query. Landing Experience evaluates the usefulness and relevance of your landing page to people who click your ad – this now includes mobile-friendliness, page speed, and transparency of information. Currently, Quality Score is calculated at the keyword level, and impacts your Ad Rank, which determines ad position and cost-per-click. While not directly impacting cost, a lower score generally means higher costs for the same ad position. Google continues to refine the scoring model, and in 2026, further integration with Performance Max campaigns is expected, providing more granular insights.
Ultimately, Quality Score functions as Google’s internal assessment of how valuable your ads are to users, influencing both visibility and cost efficiency.
