The manual way comes first, in Google Ads itself. Then the same problem as Goldbeater finds it, every day, without anyone asking.
Quality Score is a diagnosis. What's behind it affects what you pay.
Quality Score is Google’s 1 to 10 estimate of how your ads compare with other advertisers’, reported for each keyword. Google calls it a diagnostic tool and says it isn’t an input in the ad auction.
What it summarizes does count. Ad Rank uses the quality of your ads and landing page, measured at each auction, and Google says higher quality ads can often lead to lower costs per click. The Ad Rank guide covers the rest of what it uses. So a falling score on a keyword that spends is worth reading: something about the ad, the keyword or the page now compares worse with other advertisers’. The keyword guide covers a cost per click that rose.
The score has three parts, each rated above average, average or below average. In Google’s words:
- Expected clickthrough rate: the likelihood that your ad will be clicked.
- Ad relevance: how closely your ad matches the intent behind a user’s search.
- Landing page experience: how relevant and useful your landing page is.
Each has its own fix, so the part that moved matters more than the number.
This guide is about a score that fell. For one that’s low and has stayed there, the low Quality Score guide finds the keywords spending at one and what raises it.
How to see which part fell
- Go to Campaigns › Audiences, keywords, and content › Search keywords.
- Select the columns icon above the table, then Modify columns, and open the Quality score section.
- Add Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad relevance and Landing page exp., and their historical versions, marked (hist.). Select Apply.
- Set the date range to the last 30 days and segment the table by Week. Google suggests segmenting by day to see daily scores, but the day segment is only offered for ranges of 16 days or less.
- Sort by Cost and read the keywords that spend. For each, compare the first week with the last: the score, and which of its three parts changed rating.
A dash means Google didn’t score that keyword, which it says happens when there aren’t enough exact-match searches for it. Skip those weeks rather than reading them as a fall.
| Week | Quality Score | Exp. CTR | Ad relevance | Landing page exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 6 | Average | Above average | Average |
| Week 2 | 6 | Average | Above average | Average |
| Week 3 | 5 | Below average | Above average | Average |
| Week 4 | 4 | Below average | Above average | Average |
Fix the part that fell
Google’s advice for each part rated below average:
- Expected clickthrough rate. Edit the ad text to make the offer more compelling, and make sure the ad’s details match the intent of the keyword. It’s also worth reading the search terms the keyword buys: searches that don’t belong pull its clickthrough rate down. Finding wasted search terms covers it.
- Ad relevance. Match the ad’s wording more directly to what people search, or split the ad group into smaller ones whose ads fit their keywords better.
- Landing page experience. Give people what they searched for, and keep the message consistent from the ad to the page. The landing page guide covers the rating, and how to check the page behind it.
Google also asks you not to chase the number itself: it describes Quality Score as a general indicator of where to improve ad quality, not a score to be optimized.
For velvet sofa, where expected clickthrough rate fell: add a headline that answers the search directly, such as Velvet Sofas in 14 Colors, and read the keyword’s search terms for ones like velvet sofa cleaning that it shouldn’t be buying.
Then read the weekly segments again two or three weeks later. Goldbeater’s check waits for a fall of two points, because one point between weekly readings is usually noise.
What it looks like when Goldbeater finds it
Every day, Goldbeater reads every enabled keyword’s weekly Quality Score and its three parts over the last 30 days. It raises a finding when a keyword that spent at least $20 in that time fell two points or more between the first and last weeks Google scored, skipping the weeks Google left blank. It reads low, and medium once the keyword has spent $200 and its score has landed at 5 or lower: a lower score costs more a click, but none of the spend is lost.
The finding names each part Google rates below average in the last of those weeks, then each that fell to average, and says what to do for each. Beside them it sets the keyword’s weeks, with what a click cost at the old score and at the new one. It drafts no change, because the fix is words and pages, which are yours to write.
"velvet sofa" fell from Quality Score 6 to 4: expected clickthrough rate dropped
Sofas — Phrase › Velvet sofas
Its weekly Quality Score went 6 → 6 → 5 → 4 while it spent $454 in 30 days, as a phrase-match keyword in Velvet sofas.
- Cost
- $454
- Clicks
- 239
- Conv.
- 4
- Cost per click at Quality Score 6
- $1.84
- Cost per click at Quality Score 4
- $2.04
| Expected clickthrough rate | average | below average |
| Ad relevance | above average | above average |
| Landing page experience | average | average |
| Oct 12 | 6 | 64 | $118 | $1.84 | 1 |
| Oct 19 | 6 | 62 | $114 | $1.84 | 1 |
| Oct 26 | 5 | 58 | $110 | $1.90 | 1 |
| Nov 2 | 4 | 55 | $112 | $2.04 | 1 |
Quality Score falling on keywords that still carry spend. A lower score usually means paying more for the same position, and Google's three parts of it say which one moved: expected click-through rate, ad relevance or the landing page.
Google rates its expected clickthrough rate below average, down from average: people click your ad for "velvet sofa" less often than Google expects. Write a headline for Velvet sofas that answers this search directly, and check the search terms this phrase keyword buys for ones that don't belong.
The steps under What to do are the fix. Goldbeater drafts no change for this one.
This is “Keywords losing Quality Score while they spend” on a sample account. See what it finds in your own account and what the fix is worth, and ask your AI analyst about any finding.
Get a free first lookQuestions
- Does a low Quality Score mean I pay more?
- Not directly: Google says the score isn’t an input in the auction. But the ad quality it summarizes is part of Ad Rank, and Google says higher quality ads can often lead to lower costs per click.
- Why does my keyword show a dash for Quality Score?
- Google shows a dash when there aren’t enough exact-match searches for the keyword to score it.
- How do I improve Quality Score in Google Ads?
- Find the part rated below average and fix that: the ad text for expected clickthrough rate, closer wording or smaller ad groups for ad relevance, and the page for landing page experience.
- How often does Quality Score change?
- Google keeps a score for each day, which you can see by segmenting a range of 16 days or less by day. Over a month, a weekly segment is easier to read. Judge a change over a few weeks, not one.