How Google Ads Quality Score Really Affects Your CPCs
Search Engine Land contributor Jyll Saskin Gales explains why rising CPCs are often a symptom of low ad quality rather than higher bids or tougher competition. In her article “How Google Ads quality score really affects your CPCs,” she stresses that the keyword-level diagnostic known as Quality Score helps determine ad rank and costs. As she puts it, “The formula is simple: Ad Rank = price × quality.” (Jyll Saskin Gales, Search Engine Land.)
Why Quality Score matters more than most advertisers realize
Quality Score is a summary metric reflecting expected click-through rate (Exp. CTR), ad relevance, and landing page experience. While Google shows many diagnostics, Quality Score is the one that directly signals where ad quality is harming auction performance. Google’s documentation puts this plainly: “Quality Score is a diagnostic tool meant to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers.” (Google Ads Help.)
How Quality Score influences cost
Quality Score itself is not a direct multiplier on cost, but it factors into Ad Rank, which determines impression eligibility, ad position, and the actual CPC. Ads with higher quality components can achieve better positions at lower effective costs because Google rewards relevance and positive user experience.
Key takeaways from the Search Engine Land piece
- Focus on the three components: Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience.
- Don’t chase a perfect 10/10 score everywhere; prioritize ad groups with the lowest scores.
- Add the Quality Score-related columns to your Keywords report to diagnose problems: Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad Relevance, Landing Page Exp.
Actionable steps to diagnose and improve Quality Score
1. Add the right columns and look for patterns
Start by adding these keyword columns in Google Ads: Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad Relevance, Landing Page Exp. Review scores at the ad group level rather than obsessing over single keywords. If many keywords in an ad group score 5 or below, that group is a priority.
2. Improve expected CTR
Expected CTR is Google’s estimate of how likely your ad is to be clicked. To improve it, refine ad copy, highlight clear value propositions, use strong calls to action, and test headlines. Use competitive research—Auction Insights and the Google Ads Transparency Center—to see what competitors do better and borrow effective elements without copying.
3. Raise ad relevance
Ad relevance asks whether the ad closely matches the user’s search intent. Tighten keyword themes in each ad group, ensure ads include the keyword or close variants, and consider Dynamic Keyword Insertion where appropriate. When ad relevance improves, Google more often shows the ad to relevant users, which improves both CTR and Quality Score.
4. Fix landing page experience
Landing page experience covers page speed, mobile usability, and how well the page answers the user’s query. Run PageSpeed Insights and address major issues (slow server response, render-blocking resources, images not optimized). Improve content clarity, navigation, and conversion paths so users find what they expect immediately.
Prioritization and realistic goals
Chasing a 10/10 Quality Score across every keyword is inefficient. Instead, use triage: pick the ad groups with the most traffic or the highest CPCs and target the component that’s rated “Below average.” Often a single focused fix—tightening ad copy or improving landing page speed—produces measurable cost reductions.
Practical monitoring and testing plan
Set a monthly cadence to audit Quality Score components. Create experiments that change only one variable at a time (ad copy, landing page, or keyword match types) so you can attribute improvements. Track performance with the added keyword columns and compare CPC trends before and after changes. Remember Google’s guidance that Quality Score is a diagnostic tool: use it to reveal where improvements will be most effective rather than treating it as a KPI to maximize directly.
Conclusion
Quality Score connects ad relevance, user experience, and cost. As Jyll Saskin Gales explains in Search Engine Land, improving the quality of your ads and landing pages helps “stop overpaying Google and start winning auctions on merit.” Practical steps—adding the right Google Ads columns, auditing underperforming ad groups, testing ad copy, and optimizing landing pages—add up to lower CPCs and better ROI. And as Google Ads Help notes, the Quality Score diagnostic is there to guide those exact improvements: “You can use the Quality Score diagnostic tool to identify where it might be beneficial to improve your ads, landing pages, or keyword selection.”
Original article: https://searchengineland.com/google-ads-quality-score-cpcs-468204
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