Your Google Ads keywords might have a low Quality Score even if they're relevant and have a good click-through rate (CTR). This article explains several common reasons behind a low Quality Score.
Finding the cause of low Quality Score can help you improve it.
Before you begin
Bear in mind that your Google Ads Quality Score is determined by three factors:
Landing page quality issues
In some cases, a low Quality Score may be caused by the quality of the landing page experience.
Check for any changes to your landing page experience.
How to check
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Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
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From the page menu on the left, click Keywords.
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Click the column icon
and select Modify columns.
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Scroll down and open Quality Score.
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Tick the box for Landing page exp. (hist). and click Apply.
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To see changes to your landing page quality over time, click the date range in the top right-hand corner.
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Toggle the Compare option and select the date range when your Quality Score decreased.
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Click Apply.
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Go to your 'Landing page exp. (hist).' column and click < >. Look at the two dates ranges to see where 'Landing page exp. (hist).' might have decreased.
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To see what might have caused this change, look at the 'Final URL' to see the landing page that might be causing the issue.
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Confirm on your site if anything was updated on the landing page.
and select Modify columns.Learn how to improve your landing page experience.
Not enough clicks or impressions
Performance history can affect your Quality Score. If keywords don't have a large number of clicks or impressions, Google Ads will use other factors to generate a Quality Score.
Check the number of impressions that your keywords have received. If impressions are under 10,000, this may cause a low Quality Score.
How to check
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Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
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From the page menu on the left, click Keywords.
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Look in the 'Impr.' column.
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Look for keywords with impressions under 10,000. The Quality Score for these keywords may be low due to the number of impressions.
Learn more about impressions on Google Ads.
Only traffic on Google.com counts towards Quality Score. If the majority of traffic occurred on search partners, this traffic won't be used for Quality Score.
Ad was removed or edited
When you remove or edit an ad, its Quality Score is lost. If you change the creatives in an ad group, the Quality Score may change to reflect the quality of the new ads.
Check your change history to see if any changes were made to your ads.
How to check
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Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
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From the page menu on the left, click Keywords.
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In the Ad group column, click the name of the ad group that contains keywords with a low Quality Score.
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Go to Change history.
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See if any changes were made to your ad creatives.
Learn how to improve the quality of your ad.
Be careful when deleting high quality creatives. If you'd like to add new creatives or change existing high-quality creatives, you may want to pause them instead of deleting or editing. You can then add the new creatives and allow them to run.
Decrease in ad position
If your ad no longer appears in the top position of search results, it's less likely to get as many clicks. This can lower your click-through rate (CTR), which may cause your Quality Score to drop.
Check for any changes to your average position (Avg. pos.).
How to check
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Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
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From the page menu on the left, click Keywords.
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Click the columns icon
and select Modify columns.
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Open Competitive metrics and tick the box for Avg. pos.
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Click Apply.
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Look for any changes in your average position overtime.
and select Modify columns.Learn more about your ad position.
Bear in mind that CTR for branded keywords is likely to be higher because searchers are more likely to be looking for a header with your brand name.
Low CTR for recent traffic
Your keyword might have a high CTR over time, but a recent drop in CTR can still lower your Quality Score.
Check for any changes to your CTR over the last seven to 14 days.
How to check
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Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
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From the page menu on the left, click Keywords.
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Click the columns icon
and select Modify columns.
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Open Performance and tick the box for CTR.
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Click Apply.
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Change the date range to Last 7 days or Last 14 days and see if there were any recent changes in your CTR.
and select Modify columns.Learn more about Click-through rate (CTR).