{"id":8312,"date":"2026-09-21T07:23:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ivitskiy.com\/blog\/?p=8312"},"modified":"2026-09-21T07:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:23:28","slug":"ad-strength-poor-google-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ivitskiy.com\/blog\/en\/ad-strength-poor-google-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"Ad Strength «Poor»: should you raise it"},"content":{"rendered":"
In short:<\/strong> Do not chase «Excellent» until you have looked at this ad’s CTR and leads. «Poor» rates relevance, quality and asset variety, not whether people will click. In a sample of 116,785 ads across 30 accounts, spend-weighted CTR was 9.73% for «Poor» and 2.93% for «Excellent».<\/div>\n\n\n

«Poor» in the Ad Strength column sits on a responsive search ad and scores the relevance, quality and diversity of headlines, descriptions and other assets against Google’s best practices. It is not a keyword status, not a policy review, and not an order to stop serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see it on the ads table, not on the keywords table. Before you rewrite copy to «fix the grade», read how responsive search ads<\/a> work: the rating lives on those ads, and Google mixes their assets into what people see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Google Ads Help on Ad Strength<\/a> describes it as a measure of the relevance, quality and diversity of ad assets. Four ratings: «Poor», «Average», «Good», «Excellent». The rating updates when you create or edit an ad and comes with suggestions for what to add: headlines, descriptions, more varied wording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google says a higher rating will help you maximize the ad’s performance. That wording is about a checklist, not a click forecast. Keyword Quality Score is a different column: it lives on the keyword, runs from 1 to 10, and combines expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. How to read it is in the article on Quality Score in Google Ads<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my practice with small businesses this rating often appears after someone else’s edits: a contractor trimmed headlines, dropped descriptions, or stuffed near-duplicate synonyms. First step: open change history for the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ad<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is at stake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An ad rated «Poor» can keep serving. Budget is charged if people click. The row does not disapprove the ad or pause the campaign. The risk is that the owner or contractor rewrites a working ad to push the rating to «Excellent» and breaks copy that was bringing leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across 116,785 ads in 30 accounts from September 2024 to February 2025 (about $111 million in spend), «Poor» ads had a spend-weighted CTR of 9.73%, ads still pending a rating 9.15%, «Excellent» 2.93% and «Good» 2.63%. At account level the direction is not always the same, and the aggregate reversal is partly explained by sample composition. In 20 accounts with at least 10 «Excellent» and 10 «Average» responsive ads, «Excellent» won on CTR in only 11 of 20 (55%), close to a coin flip. That within-account comparison does not control for campaign level. The rating measures asset diversity, not clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rating<\/th>What it measures<\/th>Stops serving?<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
«Poor»<\/td>Little asset diversity vs Google’s checklist<\/td>No<\/td><\/tr>
«Average»<\/td>Assets are in place, but wording lacks variety<\/td>No<\/td><\/tr>
«Good» or «Excellent»<\/td>Diversity checklist filled more fully<\/td>No, and not a higher CTR ticket<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What to do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Confirm the column.<\/strong> Open Campaigns, then Ads, and check the Ad Strength column. It should be a responsive search ad, not a Performance Max asset group and not Quality Score on keywords.<\/li>\n
  2. Open change history for the week.<\/strong> See who changed headlines, descriptions or the landing page. In my practice the owner often learns about the rating from an email, and the change is already in someone else’s edit.<\/li>\n
  3. Read the suggestions next to the rating.<\/strong> Google tells you what to add: headlines, descriptions, more variety. An asset checklist, not a profit diagnosis.<\/li>\n
  4. Compare this ad with others in the group on CTR and leads,<\/strong> not on the color of the rating. If clicks and leads already come in, leave the rating alone.<\/li>\n
  5. Add different wording only when it matches your offer and queries,<\/strong> not the same line with a synonym.<\/li>\n
  6. If the ad is getting impressions but no clicks or leads, fix relevance and the landing page.<\/strong> «Add more headlines» will not rescue a page that does not answer the query.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    What not to do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n