Quality Score Checker for Google Ads Keyword Reports

How to use the quality score checker for Google Ads

This quality score checker for Google Ads reads a keyword report and tells you which of the three parts holds each keyword back, starting with the keywords that spend the most. The parts, values and fixes come from Google's About Quality Score for Search campaigns page and its guide to using Quality Score to improve performance.

1. Add the Quality Score columns. In Keywords, use Columns › Modify columns and tick Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad Relevance and Landing Page Exp. Keep Cost so the tool can rank by spend, and Final URL to group landing page problems.
2. Download and drop in the report. Any format works, including the UTF-16 “Excel CSV”. Title rows and total rows are skipped.
3. Check the columns. Current and (hist.) columns are told apart. Pick which set to read if your file has both.
4. Start with “Fix this first”. It names the part that is Below average on the most spend, with Google's advice for it.
5. Work down the list. Download the keyword file: each row has a priority number, the weak parts and what to do.

Why rank by spend, not by score

A keyword with a score of 3 and almost no clicks matters less than a score-6 keyword that eats a fifth of your budget. Google also warns against averaging Quality Score or chasing it as a number. So this check never shows an “account score”. It counts keywords per score and adds up spend per weak part instead.

What to do next in Google Ads

1. Expected CTR below average: rewrite headlines so the offer is clearer and closer to what the keyword asks for. Test the new ad next to the old one.
2. Ad relevance below average: use the searcher's words in the ad. If one ad group mixes different themes, such as “water heater repair” and “garbage disposal installation”, split it into tighter groups with their own ads.
3. Landing page experience below average: open the page from the landing page table. Does it answer the search right away? Send each theme to the page that matches it instead of the home page.
4. Leave match types alone for this. Changing a keyword's match type does not change its Quality Score, because the score is based on exact searches for that keyword.
5. Check again in a few weeks. Statuses are compared over 90 days, so give changes time. Add the (hist.) columns and segment by day to see when a part moved.

Common Quality Score questions and fixes

Parts rated “Average”

Average is not a red flag, but Google's guidance says Average and Below average parts both leave room to improve. Untick the Average option above to see only the Below average parts.

Broad match keyword with a score but no impressions

If the same keyword in exact match had impressions in the same ad group during the last 90 days, the broad version shows the same score. That is expected.

Column shows “—” for a whole ad group

New or low-volume keywords have no score yet. The checker counts them separately instead of treating them as zero.

Statuses written in different capitals

Google's help pages write both “Below average” and “Below Average”, and API exports use BELOW_AVERAGE. The checker reads all of them the same way.

Score dropped after a site change

Look at landing page experience first. Compare the (hist.) columns segmented by day around the date the page changed.