A keyword below average on ad relevance can still score 8

In our accounts, a keyword reading Below average on ad relevance and Above average on the other two components scores 8. A keyword that is strong on ad relevance alone, with the other two Below average, scores 3.

Those readings come from Riibon's own table of all 27 combinations, built from 18,112 keyword snapshots across 8 client ad accounts in September 2026. Every combination mapped to exactly one score, with zero variance inside each, and per combination the account count runs from 1 to 8, so we read them as a mapping the platform applies, not as Riibon averages. They are our observation of which number appeared for each combination, not Google's formula, which Google has not published.

What Google does publish is the inputs. It says Quality Score is calculated based on the combined performance of three components: expected click through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Each is evaluated with a status of Above average, Average or Below average, based on a comparison with other advertisers whose ads showed for the exact same search over the last 90 days.

For ad relevance, Google suggests matching the language of your ad text more directly to user search terms, splitting ad groups with many different keywords that can't be easily addressed by the same ad, and grouping your keywords into themes.

For expected click through rate, it suggests making your offer more compelling, ensuring the details in your ad match the intent of your keywords, highlighting a unique benefit and being more specific in your ad text. It also warns that there may be times when a more specific ad leads to lower CTRs, but higher conversion rates.

For landing page experience, it suggests giving people what they're looking for, keeping messaging consistent from ad to landing page, making your website mobile friendly and improving loading speed. It adds that the word-for-word phrase from a search term doesn't need to be on your landing page.

This order is Riibon's, not Google's. Our table puts ad relevance last and ties landing page experience with expected click through rate, and we break that tie on which fix sits closer to the sale.

Start by setting aside keywords with no score. Google says a dash in the Quality Score column means there aren't enough searches that exactly match your keywords to determine a keyword's Quality Score. Our reading: a blank keyword has no component to fix yet.

Then landing page experience. In our table, a keyword strong on landing page experience alone scores 5, the same as one strong on expected click through rate alone and two more than one strong on ad relevance alone. It is also the fix closest to the sale: Google suggests trying conversion rate as a proxy for good landing page experience, while saying it doesn't impact your landing page status, so we check the fix against the bookings or payments the business records outside Google Ads.

Then expected click through rate, with the conversion rate watched beside it, because that is the trade Google itself warns about. Our reading: an ad that wins more clicks from people who were never going to buy improves one column and costs you in another.

Ad relevance comes last when it is the only component below average. In our table it moves the score least: below average on ad relevance alone scores 8, against 7 for either of the other two. Our reading is that Google's fixes for it are also the most structural. Google notes that moving a keyword to a new ad group that has new ad text can change your ad quality, so a split is a rewrite, not a filing exercise.

Google says Quality Score isn't a key performance indicator and shouldn't be optimised or aggregated with the rest of your data. Its best practices guide adds that the real-time evaluations of the three components are used in the Google Ads ad auction, while your Quality Score itself is not.

Google lists what does not impact ad quality as common misconceptions: the amount you bid, moving an ad group with the same ads and keywords to another campaign or account, how often your ads show, and the conversions you report.

Our view is that the integer is a summary of three labels already on the screen. Read the labels, fix the one that reads Below average in the order above, and judge the fix on the sales it brings, not on the score it reaches.