Quality Score (QS) is Google Ads' 1-10 rating of keyword relevance, expected CTR, and landing page experience. In traditional campaigns, QS directly influences Ad Rank and effective CPC. In AI Max campaigns, the relationship between QS and performance changes significantly.
Quality Score Still Exists in AI Max for Search
Keywords in AI Max for Search still have Quality Scores visible in the Keywords tab. The three components — Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, Ad Landing Page Experience — are still reported. QS hasn't been removed.
What changes: in AI Max, the AI dynamically selects which ads to serve for which queries, and it optimizes expected CTR and ad relevance at the impression level rather than at the keyword level. Your keyword-level QS reflects the AI's aggregate assessment of your keyword's performance across the queries it enters — but the real-time auction uses a more granular, impression-level quality signal that isn't visible as a single metric.
What QS Doesn't Tell You in AI Max
QS doesn't predict AI Max campaign cost: in traditional campaigns, lower QS means higher effective CPC for the same position. In AI Max, the AI's bidding decisions are based on its prediction of conversion probability, not on keyword-level QS alone. A keyword with QS 4 in AI Max can drive efficient conversions if the AI's conversion probability model identifies it as high-value for specific queries.
QS doesn't reliably indicate AI Max performance: campaigns with identical QS across keywords can perform very differently in AI Max because the AI's query-level matching and conversion prediction varies beyond what QS captures.
What Still Matters: Landing Page Quality
The Landing Page Experience component of QS remains directly relevant in AI Max because it reflects whether your landing pages are helpful, fast, and relevant. The AI's optimization improves performance only when landing pages convert at a reasonable rate. If landing pages are slow, have high bounce rates, or don't match query intent, the AI cannot compensate.
Specifically for Q4 2026 planning and the context of the June 2026 data deletion (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-reporting-data-deleted-june-2026): landing page experience signals (from GA4 bounce rate, session duration, page speed) are available even where Google Ads conversion history was deleted. Use GA4 landing page analytics to identify pages that need improvement before Q4.
RSA Strength as the AI Max Equivalent of Ad Relevance
In traditional campaigns, Ad Relevance QS reflected how well your ad copy matched the keywords. In AI Max for Search, Responsive Search Ad (RSA) ad strength replaces this function. RSA ad strength ("Excellent", "Good", "Poor") reflects how well your RSA assets cover the query space the AI is entering.
Improving RSA ad strength in AI Max for Search:
- Minimum 8-10 unique, diverse headlines (not variations of each other)
- 3-4 unique descriptions with different value propositions
- Include key themes from your target queries in headlines (but don't just match keywords — describe value)
- Pin positions sparingly; pinning reduces the AI's creative combination options
The DSA Migration Context
In DSA campaigns (retiring February 2027: https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-dsa-ai-max-migration-february-2027), Quality Score wasn't shown for auto-targets. When you migrate to AI Max for Search and see QS for the first time on your keywords, don't be alarmed if initial QS seems lower than expected. AI Max for Search enters a broader query space — QS at the keyword level averages across more query categories, some of which are less directly relevant than the keyword itself.
Give AI Max for Search 4-8 weeks before using keyword-level QS as an optimization signal. Early QS may reflect the AI's exploration phase before it stabilizes on the highest-converting queries.
AI Max for Shopping and Product Quality Signals
For AI Max for Shopping (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ai-max-shopping-replacing-performance-max-2026), there is no "Quality Score" metric for Shopping campaigns. The equivalent signals are:
- Product approval status (Merchant Center): disapproved products can't serve at all
- Product data quality (Merchant Center): incomplete or inaccurate product data signals low quality to the AI
- Feed-level CTR and conversion rate by product: visible in AI Max for Shopping reports by product
- Landing page experience for product detail pages: speed, mobile usability, price accuracy
The July 2026 ToS (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-tos-july-2026-ai-automation-what-changed) establishes that the AI uses all available signals to predict conversion probability. Landing page quality is one of these signals. The AI cannot bid its way out of a poor landing page experience — it will either reduce exposure to poor-performing pages or show them less efficiently. Fix landing page issues before assuming AI Max budget adjustments will resolve performance problems.
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