Ad Rank

What is Ad Rank?

Ad Rank is Google's internal scoring system, recalculated for every search query. It decides whether and where your ad appears. There is no public formula. According to Google's help center, six factors feed into it: your bid, the quality of your ads and landing page, Ad Rank thresholds, the competitiveness of the auction, the context of the search and the expected impact of assets (formerly extensions). Quality Score summarizes Google's view of your ad quality, but per Google it is a diagnostic tool and not itself an input in the auction.

Why Ad Rank Matters

A higher Ad Rank means a better position in search results, and in my experience the ads at the top of the page get most of the clicks. Ad Rank also determines whether your ad is shown at all: Google sets thresholds an ad has to reach. It also decides whether your ad can show with assets such as sitelinks.

How to Improve Your Ad Rank

• Improve your ads and landing page: In my experience the most effective lever, because better quality can lift your rank without a higher bid. Quality Score works as the diagnostic that shows you where to start
• Raise your bid: Direct method, but costs more budget
• Use assets (formerly extensions): Sitelinks, callouts and snippets feed into the expected impact of assets

Pro Tip: Instead of blindly increasing bids, invest in better ad copy and landing pages. As a simplified illustration, with Quality Score standing in for the quality Google assesses: an ad with a Quality Score of 8 and a €2 bid can beat an ad with a Quality Score of 4 and a €3 bid. That is an illustration, not a calculation rule, because the other factors always play a part.

Further resources

• Improving your Quality Score
• Choosing the right bidding strategy
• Google Ads basics: beginner guide