Comparison
AdAlign vs Google Quality Score: a keyword diagnostic vs a per-ad check
Quality Score is Google’s free diagnostic: a 1–10 score per keyword built from expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. It is worth watching, but it rates keywords, covers Google search only, and Google says it isn’t an input in the auction. It won’t tell you that this ad’s offer is missing from that page. And with AI Max and Performance Max choosing final URLs, the page a click lands on may not be the page anyone reviewed.
Updated 29 September 2026
What Quality Score measures
Google reports Quality Score per keyword on a 1–10 scale, from three components. Each component is rated against other advertisers whose ads showed for the same searches over the last 90 days.
| Component | What Google looks at | How it is reported |
|---|---|---|
| Expected CTR | How likely your ad is to be clicked when it shows | Above average, Average or Below average |
| Ad relevance | How closely the ad matches the intent behind the search | Above average, Average or Below average |
| Landing page experience | How relevant and useful the page is to people who click the ad: useful, relevant information, ease of navigation, the number of links, and the expectations set by the ad | Above average, Average or Below average |
What it doesn’t tell you
- Per keyword, not per adQuality Score is reported per keyword, against other advertisers on the same searches over the last 90 days. It can’t tell you which responsive search ad, which headline combination or which creative sent people to a page that didn’t deliver.
- A bucket, not a reason“Below average” landing page experience doesn’t say whether the headline, the offer, the product shown or the call to action is the problem, so the fix is guesswork.
- Search keywords onlyMeta ads get no Quality Score, and neither do image or video assets in Performance Max or Demand Gen. For many advertisers that is most of the spend.
- A diagnostic, not a leverGoogle’s own help page says Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction. It is a useful signal that something is off, not a number to optimise for its own sake.
- Slow to moveA 90-day comparison window means a page edit that broke the match this morning won’t show up in Quality Score for weeks.
AI Max and final URL expansion: the page you checked may not be the page that served
Google’s automation increasingly picks the landing page for you. That makes a per-ad check more important, not less: an ad that matched its final URL can still send clicks to a page that doesn’t carry its offer.
- AI Max for SearchNew Search campaigns have AI Max on by default, and final URL expansion is on by default when you opt in: Google can send a click to a different page on your domain than the final URL you set, and text customization can rewrite the ad to match that page. Both can be switched off, and you can add URL exclusions.
- The September 2026 upgradesGoogle is auto-upgrading campaigns that use automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match to AI Max from September 2026, with search term matching and text customization on. Dynamic Search Ads follow in February 2027, with final URL expansion on as well.
- Performance MaxFinal URL expansion is on by default. You can exclude URLs, but not the campaign’s own final URL.
- Where to lookThe landing pages report in Google Ads includes both the URLs you provided and the ones final URL expansion chose. Check it before you trust that an ad was reviewed against the page people actually see.
Side by side
| Google Quality Score | AdAlign | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Keyword | Ad and the landing page it points to |
| Platforms | Google Search keywords | Every live Meta and Google ad (TikTok, LinkedIn and Reddit ads one at a time via the free audit) |
| Output | 1–10 score with three components rated Above average, Average or Below average | Score out of 10 on four dimensions (Visual Match, Message Match, Above the Fold Continuity, Tone Alignment), weakest dimension named, specific fixes |
| Looks at the creative’s visuals | No | Yes: images and video frames are compared with the page |
| Money attached | No | Spend at risk: last-30-day spend on ads scoring below 5, per account, page and ad |
| Freshness | Rolling 90-day comparison | New ads scored as they go live; landing pages re-checked daily |
| Cost | Included in Google Ads | Paid, sales-led; free single-ad audit |
Use both
Choose Quality Score if…
- You want Google’s own, free view of how your search keywords compare with competitors
- You are diagnosing a search campaign where expected CTR or ad relevance is the weak component
Choose AdAlign if…
- You need to know which specific ads, on Meta and Google, send traffic to a page that doesn’t deliver
- You want the visuals, offer and tone checked, not only the words
- You want spend next to every mismatch and a daily check when pages change
See the ads Quality Score can’t explain
We connect one Google or Meta ad account read-only on the call, score every live ad against its landing page and walk through the spend at risk.
Read-only access · Meta + Google Ads · No commitment on the call
Common questions
Does a better landing page experience lower my CPC?
Not directly through Quality Score. Google says Quality Score is a diagnostic and not an input in the auction. Google does say the ad’s expected CTR, relevance and landing page experience feed into auction-time quality and Ad Rank, so a page that delivers what the ad promised still helps. Treat the Quality Score rating as a symptom, not the goal.
My landing page experience is “Average”. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily. It means Google thinks the page is about as relevant as competitors’ pages for that keyword. It doesn’t tell you whether a specific ad’s offer, product or headline is missing from the page. That is the check AdAlign runs per ad.
Should I turn off final URL expansion?
It depends on how well your site maps to your ads. If Google keeps choosing pages that don’t carry the ad’s offer, exclude those URLs or switch the setting off. If the pages it picks match, it can find traffic your chosen URL misses. Either way, check the landing pages report regularly.
Does AdAlign replace Quality Score?
No. Keep watching Quality Score as Google’s view of your search keywords. AdAlign covers what it doesn’t: every ad on Meta and Google, the visuals as well as the words, the spend behind each mismatch, and daily checks.