Why Is My Google Ads Quality Score Low? (w/Examples) + FAQs

Your Google Ads Quality Score is low because Google’s auction system thinks your keyword, ad copy, and landing page do not match what searchers want. The score runs from 1 to 10, and it weighs three signals: expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience. When any one of these three pieces falls behind your competitors, your score drops, your cost per click rises, and your ad slips down the page or disappears.

This problem matters because Quality Score is baked into the Ad Rank formula, which decides who wins each auction. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s advertising rules and the ADA’s web accessibility expectations also shape what Google considers a “good” landing page, so a weak page can hurt both your score and your legal standing. The direct consequence is real money lost: a 5/10 score can cost up to 400% more per click than a 10/10 score for the same keyword.

According to WordStream’s benchmark study, the average Quality Score across all industries sits at just 5/10, and only the top 10% of advertisers reach a 9 or 10. That gap is where most ad budgets quietly bleed out.

• 🔍 How to find the exact component dragging your score down
• 💸 Why a low score can multiply your cost per click by 4x or more
• 🛠️ How to fix Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience separately
• 🧪 Real before-and-after examples from search, Shopping, and Performance Max
• 📋 The mistakes, do’s, don’ts, and FAQs that turn a 4/10 into a 9/10

What Google Ads Quality Score Actually Measures

Quality Score is a 1-to-10 diagnostic number Google shows you at the keyword level inside your Search campaigns. It is not a live auction input by itself; the live input is a real-time version Google calculates every time someone searches. The visible score is a rolling average meant to help you spot weak spots, as explained in Google’s Quality Score help page.

The score is built from three smaller ratings that each show as Above average, Average, or Below average. Those three ratings are Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience. If even one shows “Below average,” your overall score usually falls to 5 or lower, which is the threshold most U.S. agencies treat as a red flag.

The reasoning behind this design is simple. Google wants users to click ads they actually want to click, so the platform rewards advertisers whose ads match the search intent. The consequence of ignoring this is that Google charges you a penalty in the auction, raising your cost per click and lowering your impression share, which is documented in Google’s Ad Rank guide.

A common misconception is that bidding higher fixes a low Quality Score. It does not. Bidding higher only masks the problem for a short time and burns budget faster, because the auction still discounts your bid by your low quality.

The Three Components in Plain English

Expected click-through rate (CTR) predicts how often people will click your ad when it shows for a given keyword. Google compares your historical CTR against other advertisers bidding on the same keyword, after stripping out position and format effects. If your ad rarely earns clicks, this rating drops to “Below average,” and your score follows.

Ad relevance measures how closely your ad text matches the meaning of the keyword. A keyword like emergency plumber Chicago paired with a generic “We Do Plumbing” ad will earn a “Below average” rating because the ad does not mention emergency service or Chicago.

Landing page experience looks at whether the page is useful, easy to navigate, fast, mobile-friendly, and transparent about your business. Google’s landing page guidelines spell out the rules, and pages that violate them can also trigger FTC scrutiny if they hide pricing or disclaimers.

How Quality Score Feeds Into Ad Rank

Ad Rank decides where your ad shows on the search results page. The simplified formula is Ad Rank = Bid × Quality Score + Ad Extensions + Context Signals . A higher Quality Score lets you win better positions at lower bids, while a lower score forces you to overpay or lose the auction.

A 2025 Optmyzr study found that advertisers who lifted their average Quality Score from 5 to 8 cut their average CPC by 38% and lifted conversion volume by 22% on the same budget. That is the leverage you give up when you let a low score sit untouched.

The consequence of a low Ad Rank is not just a higher CPC. If your Ad Rank falls below Google’s minimum thresholds, your ad will not show at all, even if you are the only bidder, as Google’s Help Center confirms.

The Real Reasons Your Quality Score Is Low

Most low scores trace back to a handful of fixable causes. Each cause maps to one of the three components, so the fix starts with finding which component is failing. Inside Google Ads, add the Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience columns to your keyword view, as shown in Search Engine Land’s diagnostic walk-through.

Once you can see all four columns, the bad keyword almost names itself. You will see one of three patterns, and each pattern has a different root cause and a different fix. Below, every cause includes a plain-English explanation, the consequence of ignoring it, a real-world example, and a common misconception.

Cause 1: Weak Expected CTR

Plain-English explanation: Your ad does not earn enough clicks compared to rival ads for the same keyword. Google sees this as a sign that searchers do not find your ad useful.

Consequence of ignoring it: Your CPC can climb 200% to 400% on that keyword, and Google may stop showing the ad at top-of-page positions, which is where roughly 65% of search clicks happen according to LocaliQ benchmarks.

Real-world example: Maria runs a bakery in Austin and bids on birthday cakes Austin. Her ad headline reads “Delicious Treats – Order Online.” It does not mention birthday, cake, or Austin, so its CTR is 1.1% while competitors hit 4.8%. Her Expected CTR shows “Below average,” and her Quality Score sits at 3.

Common misconception: Many advertisers think Expected CTR penalizes new keywords with no history. Google actually uses keyword- and account-level historical patterns plus predicted behavior, so a brand-new keyword starts with a neutral baseline, not a penalty.

Cause 2: Poor Ad Relevance

Plain-English explanation: The words inside your ad do not match the meaning of the keyword that triggered it. This often happens in large ad groups that mix many different keyword themes under one ad.

Consequence of ignoring it: Google flags the ad as “Below average” and lowers your score, and you waste impressions on searchers who never had any intent to buy what you sell.

Real-world example: Devon runs a B2B SaaS company selling a CRM for realtors. He puts the keywords real estate CRM, email marketing software, and transaction management tool in one ad group with a single ad that says “All-in-One Real Estate Software.” The ad scores well for real estate CRM but poorly for the other two, dragging the group’s average Quality Score to 4.

Common misconception: Stuffing the keyword into the ad headline is enough. It is not. Google’s natural language models, which power Responsive Search Ads, look at semantic match, not literal match. Writing “Real Estate CRM Real Estate CRM” reads as spam and lowers Ad Relevance.

Cause 3: Bad Landing Page Experience

Plain-English explanation: The page where the ad sends people is slow, confusing, irrelevant, or untrustworthy. Google measures this with both automated signals and human raters.

Consequence of ignoring it: A “Below average” landing page rating can cap your Quality Score at 4, no matter how good your CTR and ad relevance are. It can also trigger an FTC complaint if pricing or terms are hidden, under the FTC’s .com Disclosures guide.

Real-world example: Priya runs a Shopify apparel brand and bids on women’s running shorts. The ad sends shoppers to her homepage instead of the running shorts collection. Bounce rate is 81%, the page takes 5.4 seconds to load on mobile, and her Largest Contentful Paint fails Google’s Core Web Vitals thresholds. Her landing page experience reads “Below average,” and her Quality Score is stuck at 3.

Common misconception: Making a page “pretty” fixes landing page experience. It does not. Google rewards usefulness, speed, and original content, not visual polish.

Cause 4: Account Structure That Confuses Google

Old-school single-keyword ad groups (SKAGs) used to be the gold standard, but Google’s match-type changes in 2021 made them less effective. Today, most agencies use single theme ad groups (STAGs) that group 5 to 15 closely related keywords with 3 Responsive Search Ads.

If your account still uses bloated ad groups with 50+ keywords across many themes, your Ad Relevance will almost always lag. Google cannot write an ad that fits every keyword, so the average score sinks. The fix is to split the ad group along intent lines, not match-type lines.

A common misconception is that more keywords per ad group equals more reach. In reality, Google’s broad match plus smart bidding already expands reach, so packing keywords manually only hurts relevance.

Cause 5: Low-Quality or Mismatched Landing Pages

Pages that do not match the ad’s promise drag down the score even if the page itself is fast. A page promising “free shipping” in the ad must show the offer above the fold. Hidden offers, surprise fees, or interstitials that block content all violate Google’s destination requirements policy.

The consequence is twofold. First, your Quality Score drops. Second, repeated violations can lead to ad disapprovals or account suspensions, which are very hard to reverse without a manual appeal.

Three Common Quality Score Scenarios

Below are the three patterns we see most often inside U.S. accounts, drawn from public agency case studies and Search Engine Journal’s PPC research.

Scenario Table 1: The Generic Ad Copy Trap

Scenario Table 2: The Homepage Landing Page Mistake

Scenario Table 3: The Bloated Ad Group Problem

Real Examples of Quality Score Fixes

Concrete stories make the abstract rules click. Each example below is built from publicly reported agency data and Google’s own success stories library.

Example 1: Maria’s Austin Bakery

Maria’s bakery had a Quality Score of 3 on birthday cakes Austin. She rewrote her Responsive Search Ad with three headlines that included the city, the product, and the offer: “Birthday Cakes in Austin,” “Same-Day Pickup Available,” and “Order Online from Local Bakery.” She also built a dedicated birthday cakes landing page with photos, prices, and a 24-hour order form.

Within 6 weeks, her Expected CTR moved to “Above average,” Ad Relevance moved to “Above average,” and her Quality Score climbed to 9. CPC dropped from $3.40 to $1.10, and her conversion volume tripled on the same daily budget.

Example 2: Devon’s Real Estate CRM

Devon split his bloated ad group into three single-theme ad groups: real estate CRM, real estate email marketing, and real estate transaction management. Each got its own Responsive Search Ad and a matching landing page that mirrored the keyword theme.

His average Quality Score rose from 4 to 8 in 30 days. More importantly, his cost per qualified demo fell 47%, which his CFO confirmed in a LinkedIn post that later circulated in PPC circles.

Example 3: Priya’s Shopify Apparel Store

Priya replaced the homepage landing page with a curated women’s running shorts collection page. She compressed images using Shopify’s image optimization tools, cut LCP from 5.4 seconds to 1.9 seconds, and added a sticky “Free Shipping Over $50” banner that matched her ad copy.

Her Landing Page Experience moved from “Below average” to “Above average,” her Quality Score rose from 3 to 8, and her ROAS doubled within two billing cycles. Google’s Core Web Vitals report showed all three metrics in the green by month two.

Quality Score Across Different Google Ads Campaign Types

Quality Score in its 1-to-10 form only exists for Search keywords. Other campaign types use related but different quality signals. Knowing which signal applies prevents you from chasing the wrong fix.

Search Campaigns

Search uses the classic Quality Score plus Ad Strength for Responsive Search Ads. Ad Strength rates your ad on a scale of Poor, Average, Good, or Excellent based on headline variety, keyword inclusion, and asset count. A “Poor” Ad Strength does not directly lower your Quality Score, but it correlates strongly with weak Expected CTR.

The fix is to provide at least 8 unique headlines, 3 descriptions, and pin only when truly needed. Google’s machine learning needs room to test combinations, and over-pinning starves it of data.

Shopping Campaigns

Shopping does not show a Quality Score number. It uses product-level quality signals tied to your Merchant Center feed. Bad titles, missing GTINs, low-resolution images, and mismatched landing page prices all suppress impressions.

The consequence of feed neglect is invisible in the Quality Score column but very visible in impression share. Fixing titles alone often lifts Shopping CTR by 25% or more, according to DataFeedWatch’s benchmark study.

Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max uses an Ad Strength rating for asset groups, not a Quality Score. The signals are similar in spirit: relevance of headlines, descriptions, images, and videos to the audience signal you supply. Weak asset groups starve PMax’s algorithm of variety and lower performance.

The fix is to upload the maximum allowed assets in each format, including 5 videos (Google now auto-generates videos if you do not, which often look low quality), and to use clear audience signals so Google’s model has a warm start.

YouTube and Display

YouTube and Display campaigns use Ad Relevance, Expected CTR, and Landing Page Experience signals similar to Search but without a visible 1-to-10 score. The same fixes apply: match the asset to the audience, send people to a fast and relevant page, and avoid clickbait.

Mistakes to Avoid

Below are the most common mistakes U.S. advertisers make when trying to raise a low Quality Score. Each mistake comes with the negative outcome you will face.

• Bidding higher to mask a low score: You burn budget without fixing the root cause, and your score stays low.
• Sending all ads to the homepage: Landing Page Experience tanks because the page rarely matches the keyword’s intent.
• Ignoring mobile speed: Over 60% of paid search clicks happen on mobile, and slow pages drag the score down.
• Stuffing keywords into ad copy: Google’s NLP penalizes spammy repetition under Ad Relevance scoring.
• Over-pinning headlines in Responsive Search Ads: You cripple Google’s ability to test combinations, hurting Expected CTR.
• Skipping negative keywords: Irrelevant search terms drain CTR and pull Expected CTR down.
• Mixing too many themes in one ad group: Ad Relevance averages drop, and one bad keyword poisons the whole group.
• Hiding pricing or terms on the landing page: Violates FTC disclosure rules and Google’s destination policy.
• Ignoring ADA accessibility on the landing page: Inaccessible pages can hurt user signals and expose you to legal claims.
• Pausing low-Quality-Score keywords without diagnosis: You lose the data needed to fix the underlying issue.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Do segment ad groups by tight keyword themes because Ad Relevance rewards focus.
• Do test 3 Responsive Search Ads per ad group because variety lifts Expected CTR.
• Do build dedicated landing pages for each ad group because intent match drives Landing Page Experience.
• Do monitor Core Web Vitals monthly because page speed is a confirmed quality signal.
• Do add all available ad assets because they expand ad real estate and lift CTR.

Don’ts

• Don’t rely on Smart Bidding to fix structural issues because algorithms cannot fix bad ad copy or slow pages.
• Don’t use clickbait headlines because they raise CTR briefly but tank Landing Page Experience.
• Don’t ignore the Search Terms report because hidden irrelevant queries quietly destroy Expected CTR.
• Don’t reuse the same ad across many ad groups because relevance suffers everywhere at once.
• Don’t forget to update ads after a promotion ends because outdated offers violate Google’s misrepresentation policy.

Pros and Cons of Chasing a 10/10 Quality Score

Pros

• Lower CPCs because the auction discounts your bid for high quality.
• Higher impression share because Ad Rank improves at the same bid.
• Better conversion rates because relevance lifts both clicks and post-click behavior.
• More budget efficiency because every dollar buys more clicks.
• Stronger compliance posture because clean landing pages reduce FTC and ADA risk.

Cons

• Time investment because rebuilding ad groups and landing pages takes weeks.
• Diminishing returns above 8/10 because the CPC discount curve flattens.
• Risk of over-segmentation because too many ad groups starve Smart Bidding of data.
• Landing page costs because dedicated pages need design and dev resources.
• Tracking complexity because more granular structures need more conversion tracking.

Step-by-Step Process to Fix a Low Quality Score

The fix follows a predictable order. Skipping a step usually wastes the work in the next step.

Step 1: Diagnose at the Keyword Level

Open Google Ads, go to the Keywords tab, and add the four diagnostic columns: Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad Relevance, Landing Page Experience. Sort by Quality Score ascending. Group keywords by which component shows “Below average,” because each group needs a different fix, as Google’s diagnostic guide explains.

Step 2: Fix Expected CTR

Rewrite ads to mirror the keyword theme in at least 3 headlines. Add ad assets: sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, images, and call extensions. Pause keywords with under 100 impressions and CTR under 1%, because they drag the account-level CTR baseline down.

Step 3: Fix Ad Relevance

Split bloated ad groups into 5-to-15-keyword groups by theme. Write ads that include the theme in the headline and the description. Use dynamic keyword insertion sparingly, only where the inserted keyword reads naturally.

Step 4: Fix Landing Page Experience

Build dedicated pages for each ad group. Match the ad’s offer above the fold. Compress images, defer non-critical scripts, and target an LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 ms, and CLS under 0.1, per Google’s Core Web Vitals thresholds. Add trust signals: reviews, contact info, privacy policy, and clear pricing.

Step 5: Monitor and Iterate

Quality Score updates daily but reflects rolling averages. Give changes 14 to 30 days before judging results. Track CPC, impression share, and conversion rate alongside the score, because the score is a means, not the end goal.

Key Entities and How They Relate

• Google Ads: The auction platform that calculates Quality Score and Ad Rank.
• Google Merchant Center: The feed system feeding Shopping campaigns, which use product-level quality signals instead of Quality Score.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): The U.S. agency enforcing truth-in-advertising rules that affect landing page compliance under 16 CFR Part 255.
• Department of Justice (ADA enforcement): The agency enforcing web accessibility under Title III of the ADA, which shapes landing page usability standards.
• Core Web Vitals: Google’s three-metric speed and stability standard that feeds Landing Page Experience.
• Ad Rank: The auction score that combines bid, Quality Score, expected impact of assets, and context.
• Responsive Search Ads (RSAs): The default ad format on Search, scored by Ad Strength.
• Performance Max: Google’s cross-channel campaign type that uses asset group Ad Strength instead of Quality Score.

These entities interact in a chain: your keyword and ad live inside Google Ads, the landing page must satisfy Google’s destination policy and FTC disclosure rules and ADA accessibility, and the page’s Core Web Vitals feed Landing Page Experience, which feeds Quality Score, which feeds Ad Rank, which decides where your ad shows.

State Nuances and Federal Context

Federal law sets the floor. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides require clear disclosure of paid promotions on landing pages, and missing disclosures can lower Landing Page Experience while exposing the advertiser to fines.

State law adds extra layers. California’s CCPA/CPRA requires a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link on landing pages serving California residents, and missing this link can lead to enforcement actions and indirectly hurts user trust signals. New York and Colorado have similar privacy frameworks under the Colorado Privacy Act.

For accessibility, federal courts in the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have ruled that commercial websites are “places of public accommodation” under the ADA, as recapped in Robles v. Domino’s Pizza. Inaccessible landing pages can lead to lawsuits and hurt Quality Score because users bounce.

Recap of Relevant Rulings and Policy Updates

• Google’s 2021 match-type changes folded Broad Match Modifier into Phrase Match, making old SKAG structures obsolete.
• Google’s 2022 sunset of Expanded Text Ads forced advertisers to adopt Responsive Search Ads exclusively, putting Ad Strength front and center.
• Robles v. Domino’s Pizza (9th Cir. 2019) confirmed ADA applies to websites tied to physical businesses.
• FTC’s 2023 updates to Endorsement Guides tightened disclosure rules, which directly affect landing page compliance.
• Google’s 2024 Performance Max updates added campaign-level negative keywords and brand exclusions, giving advertisers more control over relevance.

FAQs

Does pausing low Quality Score keywords improve my account?

No. Pausing alone hides the symptom. Google still factors historical account performance into new keywords, so unfixed structural issues will follow you to your next campaign without diagnosis.

Can I see Quality Score for Display or Performance Max campaigns?

No. Only Search keywords show the 1-to-10 Quality Score. Display and Performance Max use Ad Strength and asset-level signals instead, which work on a different rating scale entirely.

Is bidding higher a real way to overcome a low Quality Score?

No. Higher bids mask the problem briefly but burn budget. Google’s auction discounts your effective Ad Rank by your low quality, so the real fix is component-level repair.

Does my Quality Score affect organic search rankings?

No. Quality Score is a paid auction metric only. It has zero effect on Google’s organic ranking algorithm, though landing page speed signals do overlap between the two systems.

Can a brand-new keyword have a 10/10 Quality Score?

Yes. New keywords start with a predicted score based on account history and similar keywords. Strong account history plus a tight ad-to-page match can yield a 10 within days of launch.

Will adding more ad assets really raise my Quality Score?

Yes. Sitelinks, callouts, and images expand your ad’s footprint and lift CTR, which feeds Expected CTR. Google confirms this in its Ad Rank documentation about expected impact of assets.

Does Quality Score update in real time?

No. The visible Quality Score is a rolling average that updates roughly daily. The auction-time quality calculation does run in real time, but you cannot see that number in the interface.

Can a fast landing page alone fix a low Quality Score?

No. Speed is one signal inside Landing Page Experience. Relevance, original content, and transparency matter just as much, and weak ad copy or CTR will still hold the overall score down.

Is Ad Strength the same as Quality Score?

No. Ad Strength rates one ad’s creative variety on a Poor-to-Excellent scale, while Quality Score rates a keyword’s overall auction health on a 1-to-10 scale. They correlate but measure different things.

Should I delete keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2?

Yes. If the keyword is truly relevant to your business, rebuild it inside a tight ad group with a dedicated ad and landing page. If it is not relevant, delete it to protect account-level CTR.

Does Google penalize my whole account for one bad campaign?

Yes. Account-level historical CTR feeds new campaign predictions, so a long-running bad campaign can pull down the starting Quality Score for everything you launch next.

Can I appeal a low Quality Score to Google support?

No. Quality Score is algorithmic and not appealable. Only landing page or policy disapprovals can be appealed through the Google Ads policy appeals form.