Google Just Changed Text Ads - Here’s How To Take Advantage

Feb 21

Google continues to refine its ad platform - Toby Wells investigates the latest updates which focus on leveraging AI to maximize ad performance

Google has just quietly released a transformation to Responsive Search Ads (RSAs), its core ad format outside of Performance Max, video and display. The aim is to increase the AI powered optimisation of each element which makes up an ad unit as finally displayed. The focus is on reducing the number of fixed elements so that AI can better show an ad most likely to offer what the searcher is looking for. These changes affect how Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) are displayed, offering both challenges and opportunities for marketers. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead of the curve with Google’s latest changes.

Text Ads Constantly Changing

Text ads break down into multiple headlines, descriptions, and a host of potential ‘ad extensions’ such as direct site links, lead forms and offer based text.

Last year, Google shook up ad Headlines, making changes to allow only 1 headline to appear when Smart Bidding predicts that performance will improve, while showing 1 headline at the beginning of descriptions.

Google’s vision involves blurring the lines of different creative elements, and utilising AI to predict where they’d serve best. Will the ad perform better with no description lines? Would a headline work better as a sitelink? Are current assets unsuitable and need to be custom generated? Let AI test and follow the data in order to maximise the performance of our ad copy.

New AI Powered Changes

Starting on Feb 20th, up to two RSA headlines can serve in the space that previously only sitelinks were eligible for when they’re predicted to improve performance. These new headline text sitelinks are built using your ads final URL. The aim here is to maximize the impact of headlines by giving more of your unused assets the opportunity to connect with potential customers and deliver high-quality messaging that enhances their search experience.

Google believes that many advertiser’s strongest messages are in headlines - and if they aren’t given the chance to be viewed, there’s a missed opportunity which using the sitelink space can take up. Google’s own testing of this feature has shown increased engagement with search ads as a result: “We've found that introducing enhanced asset flexibility, like enabling additional headlines to serve in different parts of the ad, drives increased user engagement with text ads on Google.com.”

What you need to do next

How can you make sure you’re ready for these changes? Follow our guide below:

Ensure Ad Final URLs are relevant - some accounts rely on Keyword Final URLs for directing the user. With these changes, the newly created sitelinks will land on the Ad Final URL from where the headline was taken. It’s worth doing a sweep of your account to ensure relevancy, and optimise these over time.
Check The Combinations Report - The asset combinations report can be used to check the most common headline, description and asset combinations shown, and will now also show if a headline is frequently serving as a sitelink. You can also see when headlines have been dropped into the description section of an ad.
For absolute “must shows” pin headlines - Google will continue to respect pinned headlines and descriptions. Utilise this feature for must show content, such as legal disclaimers.

What are the implications?

This is another significant move for Google Ads, allowing more AI optimised enhancements to RSAs while reducing the level of manual control and fixed messaging. The direction of travel is for advertisers to focus on core messages and USPs, and to unify the optimisation of landing pages and ads as single units.

Does this signal the end of sitelinks? These extensions are also the ‘original ad extension’, introduced to supplement the original ‘headline, description, url’ block. Subsequent extensions and automations have already eroded the importance of sitelinks, and now control over ad copy is moving solely into ‘pinning’ - crucial for example when a new proposition or sale messaging needs to be surfaced immediately.

Advertisers must follow the steps above as soon as possible to avoid unwanted use of final urls, and to take advantage of this change. In the longer term, thinking of ad units as stemming from core messages and final urls combined is how Google’s AI shake up of text ads is shaping up.