Google Ads introduced the Ad Strength Rating for Responsive Search Ads to encourage advertisers to include more headlines and descriptions. While this might seem useful, the reality is that Ad Strength has no direct impact on performance or profitability.

It’s common to see ads with a “Poor” Ad Strength rating outperform those rated “Excellent.” These supposedly weaker ads often generate lower costs per conversion and bring in more leads than ads with a higher rating.

Here’s an example of an ad that has a “poor” Ad Strength rating that is generating a lower cost per conversion than an ad with a higher Ad Strength rating. 

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This doesn't seem to be a fluke either, I’ve seen multiple accounts like this where ad variations with “poor” or “average” Ad Strength rating are actually performing better than other ads with a higher Ad Strength.

It’s not always the case of course but enough so that I’ve completely stopped looking at the Ad Strength Rating and just focus on creating ad variations that I think will get us more clicks and more importantly more leads & sales.