Google Ads

A higher ad strength in Google Ads does not mean a cheaper conversion

A large study of Google Ads accounts shows that ads with a better ad strength rating have a higher cost per conversion on average. Google rewards the rating with more and more impressions, even though its link to conversions is not getting stronger.

Bartosz Bielawski

Bartosz Bielawski

· 2 min read
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A higher ad strength in Google Ads does not mean a cheaper conversion

Signal in the data

Independent sources on this topic: 3 in the last week, 5 in 30 days, 9 in 90 days. We have tracked it since 2026-07-24; 14 claims in our database in total.

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Number of independent sources per week (last 12 weeks).

What is happening

Ad strength is the rating Google gives to responsive search ads. Many advertisers treat it as a quality score and keep editing their ads until they see Excellent.

A new study of 5,900 accounts suggests this may not pay off. Ads with a higher rating have, on average, an 11.8% higher cost per acquisition, or CPA (Adalysis).

Where sources agree

Independent sources agree that the rating does not guarantee results. A higher rating led to a higher CTR in only 52.5% of the ad groups compared, and to a higher conversion rate in 45% (Adalysis).

Practitioners had noticed a similar pattern earlier. Campaigns with low ad strength performed best, while those rated Excellent paid more per click (WhitePress).

Where they differ

Google tells a different story. According to the platform, improving the rating from Poor to Excellent brings a 12% higher conversion rate on average (Google Ads).

The study also points to a trend. In 2022, the higher-rated ad won impressions in 56.8% of ad groups, and by 2026 that figure was 63%. Over the same period, its link to conversions has not changed (Adalysis).

The exception is ads without pinned headlines. For those, CTR rises with every step up in the rating.

What to do about it

Judge ads by CPA and conversion rate, not by the ad strength label. Do not pause an ad that converts well just because it is rated Average.

If you pin headlines, do it deliberately and compare the results with an unpinned version. That is the only area where the study finds a clear benefit from a higher rating.

Our take

Ad strength tells you how closely an ad follows Google's recommendations, not how well it sells. Google increasingly favours highly rated ads, so it is easy to overpay if you optimise for the label instead of the cost per conversion.

Confidence: medium-high - the study covers thousands of accounts and matches what practitioners observe, but Google publishes data pointing the other way. We will change our view if: another independent study with a large sample shows that a higher ad strength lowers CPA, or Google changes how the rating is calculated.

Sources

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