What are Google's Expanded Text Ads?
- Amelia Thompson
- Aug 9, 2016
- 2 min read
Google introduced several new features in Adwords Editor 11.5 including the ability to update your standard text ads to the new expanded text format.
I use Adwords Editor like most inbound marketers, mostly for bulk editing my ad campaigns. So, I spent all last week, updating our clients’ ads to the new expanded text format.
Before I share my top 5 tips regarding the updating process, here’s a quick recap of what's new about these expanded ads:
What Are Expanded Text Ads?
According to Google’s best practices guide, the new ads are:
“. . .the next generation of text ads, designed for a mobile-first world with both users and advertisers in mind.
The new ads have:
“Two headline fields (up to 30 characters each)
A single, expanded description field (up to 80 characters)
A display URL that uses your final URL's domain
Two optional ”Path” fields, used in the ad’s display URL (up to 15 characters each)"
Here is Google’s expanded text ad example:
Now for the five tips when it comes to updating Text Ads.
Top 5 Tips for Updating to the Expanded Text Ads
1. This is an awesome little chart of the new ads with character limits from WordStream to help you. I urge you to print it out and tape it near your workstation. It will help you greatly!
2. Rethink your ads completely. Don’t just copy & paste them. Utilize the extra characters. Why? Again, according to Wordstream, “Early reports indicate that Expanded Text Ads are seeing CTR increase by as much as 20 percent.” That is pretty solid.
3. If you prefer using the Adwords UI, the feature for creating expanded text ads is now available. This is how it looks in Adwords:
4. Be sure to check out Google’s Create Effective Text Ads: Google Best Practices. It is filled with great advice on how to rewrite and optimize your ad text. Again, rethink your ads completely. Keep what's working and make it better!
5. Don’t delete your old ads during the testing period, keep your standard ads running alongside your expanded text ads and A/B test. Always be testing!
If your company needs help updating to the new ad format, contact Studio Brand Collective at hello@studiobrandcollective.com or call us at 713-863-1141. We’d love to help!
If you’re a SEM geek and just want to chat about PPC, SEO or even video games, feel free to follow me at @radamesortiz2
