AdWords Help

A Quality Score is calculated every time your keyword matches a search query—that is, every time your keyword has the potential to trigger an ad. Quality Score is used in several different ways, including influencing your keywords' actual cost-per-clicks (CPCs) and estimating the first page bids that you see in your account. It also partly determines if a keyword is eligible to enter the ad auction that occurs when a user enters a search query and, if it is, how high the ad will be ranked. In general, the higher your Quality Score, the lower your costs and the better your ad position.

Below is a list of the factors that make up Quality Score as well as more information about the various ways Quality Score impacts your account.

• The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) of the keyword and the matched ad on Google; note that CTR on the Google Network only ever impacts Quality Score on the Google Network—not on Google
• Your account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account
• The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group
• The quality of your landing page
• The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group
• The relevance of the keyword and the matched ad to the search query
• Your account's performance in the geographical region where the ad will be shown
• Other relevance factors

A keyword's Quality Score influences its cost-per-click (CPC)—that is, how much you're charged for a click on your ad when it's triggered by that keyword. The higher a keyword's Quality Score, the lower its CPC, and vice versa.

The AdWords Discounter factors in your Quality Score and ensures that you always pay the lowest price possible for your ad's position. Learn the formula determining how much you're charged per click.

On your Keyword Analysis page, you'll see a metric labeled 'Estimated bid to show on the first page.' This metric, also called the 'first page bid estimate,' approximates the cost-per-click (CPC) bid needed for your ad to reach the first page of Google search results when the search query exactly matches your keyword. The estimate is based on the Quality Score and current advertiser competition for that keyword.

First page bid estimates are intended to give you greater insight with which to plan your bidding strategy. Meeting your first page bid is not a guarantee of placement. Ad placement will still be dependent on Quality Score, your cost-per-click (CPC) bid, your budget and account settings, and user and advertiser behavior.

Learn more about first page bids.

Every time one of your keywords matches a search query, our system evaluates its combined Quality Score and cost-per-click (CPC) bid to see if it's eligible to enter the ad auction. Keywords with a higher Quality Score will be eligible to enter the auction more easily and at a lower cost. Our goal is to encourage relevant ads for our users, so our pricing system is designed to favor more specifically targeted ads and keywords.

A keyword's eligibility to show changes per query, which is why auction eligibility isn't displayed in your account. Keep in mind that auction eligibility isn't a very telling metric, since a keyword that triggers an ad several pages into the search results likely won't accrue a significant amount of traffic. Instead, we recommend using the first page bid to gauge your keyword performance.

Note that other factors such as your ad's approval status or your campaign budget can affect your ad's eligibility status. This status can also change over time as our system evaluates your ad's performance.

Ads are positioned on search and content pages based on their Ad Rank. The ad with the highest Ad Rank appears in the first position, and so on down the page.

For Google and the Search Network, Ad Rank is defined by your keyword's Quality Score and cost-per-click (CPC) bid. Quality Score in this instance differs from the factors listed above in two ways:

• Landing page quality is not considered
• When calculating ad position on a Search Network placement, Quality Score considers the CTR on that particular Search Network partner in addition to CTR on Google

For ads triggered by keywords on the Content Network, the system considers the ad group's content bid (or the CPC or CPM bid, if content bids aren't enabled) and Quality Score.

The Quality Score used in this instance is determined by the following factors:

• Your ad's performance history on this and similar sites
• The relevance of the ads and keywords in the ad group to the site
• Your landing page quality
• Other relevance factors

If your ad appears on a Content Network placement you've targeted, it uses up all the available ad space so no other ads can show. (Certain content pages may have more than one block of space reserved for AdWords ads. In this case, a single placement-targeted ad or multiple keyword-targeted text ads can occupy each block.) To determine if your ad will show on a placement you've targeted, the system considers the amount you've bid for that placement and Quality Score. Quality Score in this instance is determined by the following factors:

• The relevance of the keywords in your ad group (if there are any)
• Landing page quality

To help improve your ad's position, you can either increase your Quality Score with optimization or increase your bid. We want to give users a positive ad experience while keeping your costs low, so we hope you'll try optimizing your account before increasing your bid.

Search advertising is a dynamic, evolving marketplace, and the Quality Score of your keywords can fluctuate. We continually monitor the performance of all ads, keywords, and landing pages in our system to reward high quality ads and encourage advertisers to improve low quality ads. For example, if your keyword performs well and your Quality Score increases, your CPCs will decrease.

The best way to maintain a high-quality, cost-effective campaign is to frequently optimize your account to help ensure your ads have a high Quality Score. We suggest you keep close tabs on the statistics in your account (such as your Quality Score, CTR, and first page bid) so you can make changes as needed.

• Quality Score for Google and the Search Network only considers your performance on Google and the Search Network. Your CTR on the Content Network, therefore, has no effect on your CPC or ad position on Google and the Search Network.

• The formula used to define Quality Score is different for each ad type (such as text ads or video ads). Therefore, pricing and ranking may be different for each ad type and for the networks where they are shown.