Google Ads Quality Score infographic: a search ad for an emergency plumber with labels for ad relevance and expected clickthrough rate, a phone showing the landing page experience, cards with fixes for each component, and facts about the score and Ad Rank.

Oct 5, 2026

Google Ads Quality Score Infographic: How to Improve It

Google Ads Quality Score explained: the three components, how to improve each, what the 1 to 10 score does and doesn't do, and how Ad Rank sets your price.

Download the image Read the walkthrough

Embed this infographic

Every infographic here is free to republish, on any site, with a link back to the study it comes from. Paste this code and the credit is done for you.

<a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/google-ads-quality-score"><img src="https://searchinsider.io/research/google-ads-quality-score/google-ads-quality-score-infographic.png" alt="Google Ads Quality Score infographic: a search ad for an emergency plumber with labels for ad relevance and expected clickthrough rate, a phone showing the landing page experience, cards with fixes for each component, and facts about the score and Ad Rank." style="max-width:680px;width:100%;height:auto;" /></a><p>Source: <a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/google-ads-quality-score">Google Ads Quality Score infographic</a> by Search Insider.</p>

What is Google Ads Quality Score?

The short answer: A 1 to 10 rating of how your ads compare with other advertisers', built from three parts. It's a diagnostic, not an input to the auction, but the ad quality behind it can win you better positions for less.

Based on Google Ads Help.

What it shows

Expected CTR: how likely your ad is to be clicked.
Ad relevance: how closely your ad matches the search intent.
Landing page experience: how relevant and useful your page is.
Each part is rated Above average, Average or Below average.
Quality Score runs 1 to 10 per keyword; a dash means not enough data.
Quality Score isn't an auction input, but real-time ad quality is.
You pay just enough to beat the ad below you.

What to do

First: Fix any component rated Average or Below average.
Always: Treat the score as a guide, not a KPI.

The walkthrough

What is Quality Score in Google Ads?

Quality Score is a diagnostic tool that shows how your ad quality compares with other advertisers, measured on a scale of 1 to 10 at the keyword level ^[1]. A dash in the column means there aren't enough exact-match searches to calculate it ^[1].

What are the three parts of Quality Score?

Expected clickthrough rate is the likelihood your ad will be clicked when shown. Ad relevance is how closely your ad matches the intent behind a search. Landing page experience is how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click ^[1]. Each is rated Above average, Average or Below average ^[1].

Does Quality Score affect what you pay?

Not directly. Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction, but the real-time evaluations of its three components are ^[2]. Ad Rank combines your bid, ad and landing page quality, Ad Rank thresholds, competition, search context and the expected impact of assets ^[3], and you're charged only what's needed to beat the advertiser below you ^[4]. Google says you can win a higher position at a lower price than competitors with higher bids by using highly relevant keywords and ads ^[3].

How do you improve expected clickthrough rate?

Google suggests making the offer more compelling, highlighting a unique benefit such as free shipping, and being more specific in your ad text ^[5].

How do you improve ad relevance?

Match your ad text more closely to the search terms, group keywords into themes, and split ad groups whose keywords can't all be served by one ad ^[5].

How do you improve landing page experience?

Keep the message consistent from ad to landing page, make the site mobile friendly and improve loading speed ^[5].

Should you optimize for Quality Score?

Google says Quality Score is not a key performance indicator and should not be optimized or aggregated ^[1]. Use it as a general indicator of which areas to work on ^[5].

Sources

More digital marketing infographics

404 errors infographic: a 404 banner with Google's view that 404s are normal, which status to return in four cases, three facts on how Google treats 4xx and soft 404s, a checklist for a good custom 404 page, and three steps on what to do.

SEO · Oct 6, 2026

Do 404 errors hurt your SEO?

Do 404 errors hurt SEO? How Google treats 404s, why soft 404s are the real problem, which status code to return, and how to build a good custom 404 page.

Download See the details

Embed code

<a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/404-errors"><img src="https://searchinsider.io/research/404-errors/404-errors-infographic.png" alt="404 errors infographic: a 404 banner with Google's view that 404s are normal, which status to return in four cases, three facts on how Google treats 4xx and soft 404s, a checklist for a good custom 404 page, and three steps on what to do." style="max-width:680px;width:100%;height:auto;" /></a><p>Source: <a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/404-errors">404 errors infographic</a> by Search Insider.</p>

AI-generated content infographic: a quality not method banner, a split of fine uses versus uses against Google's rules, a pre-publish checklist (accuracy, metadata, who, how, why), a Merchant Center note on labeling AI images and product data, and three steps on what to do.

AI search · Oct 6, 2026

Does Google penalize AI-generated content?

Google's stance on AI-generated content: quality over production method, what breaks the scaled content abuse policy, and a checklist before publishing AI-assisted content.

Download See the details

Embed code

<a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/ai-generated-content"><img src="https://searchinsider.io/research/ai-generated-content/ai-generated-content-infographic.png" alt="AI-generated content infographic: a quality not method banner, a split of fine uses versus uses against Google's rules, a pre-publish checklist (accuracy, metadata, who, how, why), a Merchant Center note on labeling AI images and product data, and three steps on what to do." style="max-width:680px;width:100%;height:auto;" /></a><p>Source: <a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/ai-generated-content">AI-generated content infographic</a> by Search Insider.</p>

Anchor text infographic: an example link with the anchor text underlined, four vague or stuffed anchors swapped for descriptive ones, four rules on image links, internal links, length and keyword stuffing, a note on Google's link spam examples, and three steps on what to do.

SEO · Oct 6, 2026

What is anchor text, and what should it say?

What anchor text is, what Google says it should say, good and bad examples, image link alt text, and which anchor practices Google lists as link spam.

Download See the details

Embed code

<a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/anchor-text"><img src="https://searchinsider.io/research/anchor-text/anchor-text-infographic.png" alt="Anchor text infographic: an example link with the anchor text underlined, four vague or stuffed anchors swapped for descriptive ones, four rules on image links, internal links, length and keyword stuffing, a note on Google's link spam examples, and three steps on what to do." style="max-width:680px;width:100%;height:auto;" /></a><p>Source: <a href="https://searchinsider.io/infographics/anchor-text">Anchor text infographic</a> by Search Insider.</p>