Solved: Low Expected CTR for English Google Ads Keywords

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. I've had a look over the situation you described with your Google Ads campaigns, and it's a common problem that can be proper frustrating when you feel like you've done everything right. The whole Expected CTR thing, especially when it's different between languages, is a real head-scratcher for a lot of people.

I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and a bit of guidance based on my experience. I've seen this kind of thing a fair few times, and there's usually a way to sort it out or at least look at it differently.

Let's talk about the language mismatch...

Right, let's get straight to the biggest issue I can see. You're running English-language ads and targeting Germany, among other countries. On the surface, that makes sense. You're in Berlin, many people in business in Germany speak excellent English, so why wouldn't it work? The thing is, Google Ads doesn't operate on what makes logical sense, it operates on massive amounts of historical user data. And that data shows a very clear pattern: people overwhelmingy prefer to click on ads in their native language.

Even if their English is perfect, a German user searching on google.de is subconsciously wired to look for and trust a German result. An English ad, no matter how well-written, can feel slightly out of place. It introduces a tiny bit of friction, a split-second of "is this realy for me?". That hesitation is often enough to make them scroll past and click the German ad just below yours. It’s a trust and relevance signal that’s hard to overcome.

I remember one campaign we worked on for a software company targeting B2B decision makers. We saw a cost per lead of $22 on LinkedIn. The ad copy was flawless, the landing pages were professionally translated and optimised. But it didn't matter. We came to the conclusion that we were fighting a natural user behaviour, an uphill battle.

So, when Google marks your English keywords with a “Below Average” Expected CTR for the German market, it’s not necessarily saying your ads are bad. It’s saying, "Based on all the data we have, we expect ads like this, in this language, targeting this region, to perform poorly". The algorithm is simply reflecting the reality of user preference. You're being penalised not for your ad quality, but for going against the grain of typical user behaviour in that specific market. It sounds unfair, but it's just how the machine works.

You probably should stop worrying so much about Quality Score...

Now, because of the above, you're getting fixated on Quality Score. I get it. Google plasters it everywhere and makes it seem like the most important metric in the universe. But honestly, it's not. It’s a diagnostic tool, a signpost, not the destination itself. Chasing a 10/10 Quality Score is often a waste of time and can lead you to make bad decisions.

Your actual goal isn't a high Quality Score; it's getting more clicks and conversions, right? Your own data says your actual CTR on top-performing keywords is strong. That's the metric that matters! That's the one that puts money in the bank. Who cares if Google's expected CTR is low, if your actual CTR is high and those clicks are turning into customers?

We're running a campaign for an HVAC company at the moment in a really competative area. Some of their most profitable keywords have a Quality Score of 3/10 or 4/10. The Expected CTR is "Below Average". According to Google's best practices, we should pause them. But they convert like absolute clockwork. The cost per lead is great and the client is thrilled. If we'd paused those keywords to try and improve our overall account Quality Score, we'd have cut off his most valuable source of leads. The focus has to be on business results, on conversions and cost-per-conversion, not on vanity metrics like Quality Score.

Your German ads have a higher QS because the language and market are aligned, so Google's expectation matches reality. For the English ads in Germany, the expectation is low, but your results might still be good. You need to trust your own conversion data more than you trust Google's Quality Score.

I'd say you need a completely different campaign structure...

The root cause of your confusion and inability to properly optimise is your campaign structure. Lumping multiple countries, especially with different primary languages, into a single campaign is nearly always a mistake. It creates a messy, blended set of data that makes it impossible to see what's really going on.

You need to seperate things out. This gives you far more control and much clearer data. You should restructure your account to have seperate campaigns for distinct markets. This is non-negotiable for any serious advertising effort.

Here's how I would approach it:

Campaign 1: Germany (German Language)
-> Targeting: Germany only.
-> Language Setting: German.
-> Ads: All ad copy and keywords in German.
-> Landing Pages: German language pages.
-> Budget: Dedicated budget for your primary market.

Campaign 2: Core English Markets (English Language)
-> Targeting: UK, USA, Canada, Australia, etc. (any native English-speaking countries you target).
-> Language Setting: English.
-> Ads: All ad copy and keywords in English.
-> Landing Pages: English language pages.
-> Budget: A seperate budget for these markets.

Campaign 3: Germany (English Language - TEST)
-> Targeting: Germany only.
-> Language Setting: English.
-> Ads: Your existing English ads.
-> Landing Pages: Your English pages.
-> Budget: A much smaller, seperate test budget.

By splitting it up like this, you'll immediately see how each one performs on its own merits. You can set different bids, different budgets, and tailor the ad copy much more effectively. My guess is that Campaign 3 will still have a low QS and might not be profitable. But now, it's an isolated experiment. It's not dragging down the performance data of your entire international effort, and you can make a clear-headed decision on whether it's worth running at all based on its actual conversion perfomance, not a blended average.

This is the main advice I have for you:

So, what now?

Untangling these kinds of strategic knots is really where experience comes into play. It's about knowing which of Google's metrics to pay attention to and which ones to frankly ignore, and understanding the nuances of user behaviour that the platform itself can't always explain clearly. A better structure is the foundation for everything else.

Once you have that solid foundation in place, you can then start the real work of optimising what matters: testing different offers, improving the copy on your landing pages, and scaling the campaigns that are actually working.

This kind of strategic overhaul and ongoing management can be a lot to handle. We offer a free initial consultation where we review your strategy and account together which usually is super helpful and gives potential clients a taste of the expertise they'll see going into their project if they decide to work with us. If you'd like to go over your account in more detail on a call and get a proper hands-on look at a potential strategy, it's a no-pressure way to get some more specific advice and see if we'd be a good fit to help you get this sorted and properly scaled up.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh