Google Ads Quality Score: Facts, Myths, and What You Should Do

Let’s talk about something that’s been bugging me for a while.

I am so tired of seeing people on Reddit (and elsewhere) confidently post things in PPC that just aren’t true or at best, are half-truths written so vaguely that they end up misleading anyone who’s actually trying to learn.

Reddit can be a great space for discussion, but it’s also become a breeding ground for misinformation. When someone new to PPC reads those comments, takes them at face value, and then applies that advice to a live Google Ads account, the outcome can be genuinely damaging to the campaign, the client, and their own confidence.

The latest gem that made me stop mid-scroll?

“Google doesn’t check your landing page unless you’re using broad match.”

No. Just no. That’s not how Google Ads works, not now, not ever.

But this isn’t just about Reddit. The problem is much bigger. Too many blogs and thought pieces are written so vaguely that you could interpret them ten different ways and nine of those would be wrong. Writers either simplify things too much, wrap them in fluff, or miss the context completely. And while that might not matter to someone who’s been managing campaigns for years, it absolutely matters to the people learning.

It’s exactly why I started writing my own blogs and why I created Don’t Panic PPC [LINK]. I wanted to build a space where people can ask questions, learn honestly, and get straightforward explanations without ego, jargon, or nonsense.

So, today’s post is about setting the record straight: landing pages still matter, Quality Score isn’t dead, and like everything in PPC, it’s evolved.

What Google Ads Quality Score Actually Is

Quality Score (QS) is Google’s way of assessing the relevance and usefulness of your ads. It’s not a vanity metric or an algorithmic afterthought it’s a diagnostic signal made up of three components:

• Expected click-through rate (CTR) - how likely someone is to click your ad.

• Ad relevance - how closely your ad matches the intent behind a search.

• Landing page experience - how useful, trustworthy, and aligned your page is with the ad.

These three signals together form the foundation of Ad Rank, the calculation Google uses to decide whether your ad shows and in what position.

High-quality ads don’t just get better placement; they often pay less per click, too.

How It Used to Work (and Why People Still Think It Does)

Before automation took over, Quality Score was everything. Your Ad Rank was essentially your bid multiplied by your Quality Score. If you had a better QS than your competitors, you could outrank them while paying less.

Marketers spent hours rewriting ad copy, testing headline variations, and tweaking landing pages just to push a keyword from 6/10 to 8/10 and to be fair, it often worked.

But that was before Smart Bidding, automation, and real-time auction signals changed the game.

How It Works Now

In 2025 (and heading into 2026), Google doesn’t rely on Quality Score in the same way it used to. Instead, the auction process uses a much broader range of real-time signals, device, audience intent, predicted conversion value, ad context, and many others.

That means Quality Score is no longer used directly at auction time in Smart Bidding campaigns. It’s now a diagnostic tool, not a lever. But the key point is that the underlying inputs, ad relevance, CTR, and landing page quality still feed the machine.

Google has been very clear: Quality Score isn’t a performance KPI. It’s there to help you understand where your relevance or experience might be lacking.

You’ll almost never see a 10/10 unless it’s a brand term, and that’s fine. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s progress. If ad relevance or landing page experience is weak, Smart Bidding ends up learning from poor signals and that drags everything down.

The Landing Page Myth, Debunked

Let’s circle back to the myth that kicked this off.

“Google doesn’t check your landing page unless you’re using broad match.”

It’s false. Completely false.

Google continues to evaluate landing page experience for all match types exact, phrase, and broad. The weighting may vary, but the factor itself doesn’t disappear. Landing page experience still feeds into how Google measures ad and keyword relevance, influences Ad Rank thresholds, and affects ad extension visibility.

Even Google’s most recent Ad Rank documentation explicitly lists ad and landing page quality among the determining factors.

The misunderstanding likely comes from people confusing “QS doesn’t influence Smart Bidding auctions directly” with “Google doesn’t check your landing page.” Two very different things.

Why Landing Pages Still Matter

Even though Quality Score has evolved, your landing page still plays a crucial role in campaign success.

Poor landing pages reduce conversion rates, which directly affects Smart Bidding’s ability to learn and optimise. They can lower your Ad Rank thresholds, meaning you’ll need to bid higher for the same visibility. They can also trigger disapprovals or policy flags if the experience doesn’t meet Google’s standards.

And ultimately, they create a bad user experience, which hurts both your brand and your bottom line.

Automation doesn’t replace fundamentals. It amplifies them.

How Quality Score Fits Across Campaign Types

Understanding how Quality Score and ad quality feed into each campaign type helps you prioritise what actually matters.

In Search, your ad and landing page quality directly influence Ad Rank alongside your bid, thresholds, competitiveness, and the expected impact of assets. Even under Smart Bidding, relevance and experience still play a part.

In Performance Max, there’s no visible Quality Score, but ad creative, feed quality, and landing page experience all affect how and where your ads are served. The algorithm still depends on strong signals.

For Shopping, the feed itself acts as the “ad”. Product data relevance, pricing, and landing page alignment determine competitiveness. Weak feeds or mismatched pages can quietly destroy visibility.

Demand Gen and Video campaigns rely heavily on creative quality and audience signals, but the principle remains the same: the system learns from user behaviour post-click. If your landing page doesn’t convert or deliver, it slows down learning and wastes spend.

Using Quality Score the Right Way

Here’s how to think about QS now: it’s your diagnostic compass. It doesn’t directly drive the auction, but it helps you understand what’s holding you back.

Check the columns for expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience. Don’t obsess over numbers, look for trends. If you consistently see “Below average” on landing page experience, you’ve found an area to fix.

Refresh your ad copy, test headline structures, improve page speed, and align messaging across ad and landing page. Then measure the impact on conversions, not just QS.

Why Clarity in PPC Education Matters

The reason this whole conversation exists is because of how easily misinformation spreads. When someone posts something confidently but incorrectly, it can influence hundreds of people before anyone questions it.

That’s why I’ll always push for transparency and fact-checking in this industry. PPC evolves constantly, and we can’t afford to communicate carelessly.

Whether you’re posting on Reddit, writing a blog, or creating training content, please be specific, be accurate, and stop the guesswork. Automation and AI may change the way we optimise, but the foundations haven’t changed: relevance, user experience, and intent alignment.

🔹 Final Thoughts

Quality Score isn’t dead, it’s evolved. It’s no longer a lever you pull to lower your CPCs, but it remains one of the clearest signals of ad health.

The number itself may not matter as much as it once did, but the inputs behind it - relevance, expected CTR, and landing page experience, absolutely do.

Because no matter how advanced Smart Bidding or AI gets, poor inputs equal poor performance.

So, let’s stop simplifying things to the point of inaccuracy. Let’s start writing better, explaining better, and helping people learn the right way.

And if you’re ever unsure, Don’t Panic! Double-check the facts, join PPC communities, ask questions, and get involved in discussions. That’s how we all keep learning and make this industry better together.