Three factors affect a Search ad’s ad quality at auction time. What are they? Select 3 Correct Responses
Select all correct answers
Correct Answers
Ad relevance affects ad quality at auction time.
Ad landing page experience affects ad quality at auction time.
Expected clickthrough rate affects ad quality at auction time.
Why is this the correct answer?
Three factors affect a Search ad's quality at auction time: ad relevance, ad landing page experience, and expected click-through rate. These three components make up Quality Score — Google's real-time estimate of how useful and relevant an ad is compared to competing ads. Ad relevance measures how closely the ad copy matches the user's query; landing page experience assesses whether the destination is useful and relevant; and expected CTR predicts how likely users are to click the ad if it appears. Together, these factors determine Quality Score, which feeds into Ad Rank and influences ad position and cost-per-click.
Why are the other options incorrect?
Bidding strategy affects ad quality at auction time.
Bidding strategy affects how much is paid per click but is not one of the three Quality Score factors — Quality Score is calculated independently of the bid amount to reward relevance over budget.
Ad Rank affects ad quality at auction time.
Ad Rank is the outcome of Quality Score combined with bid and other factors — it is not one of the three components that determine quality at auction time.
Real-World Example
A law firm's Google Ads specialist audits a campaign where ads appear in position 3 despite a £4.50 CPC. Analysis reveals Quality Score of 4/10 — driven by low ad relevance (generic headlines not matching query intent) and a slow landing page. After rewriting headlines to mirror keywords and improving page speed from 6s to 2s, Quality Score rises to 8/10, ad position improves to 1–2, and CPC falls to £2.80.