EXPANDED TEXT ADS: GOOGLE ENDS CREATION & EDITING
This blog serves as a reminder that from July 2022, Google will no longer allow advertisers to edit and create Expanded Text Ads.
What does this mean for your Google Ads campaigns?
From July 2022, Responsive Search Ads and Dynamic Search Ads will be the only search ad types that can be created or edited in standard search campaigns.
Google will continue to run existing expanded text ads alongside RSA’s. Both will continue to be shown on reporting moving forward. However, you will not be able to edit or create new variations.
ETA’s (Expanded Text Ads) have proved to be a great method for testing ad messaging. Advertisers have appreciated the control they have provided for their brands to identify best performing ads.
At Beyond Clicks, our advice has always been to run 3 x ETA and 1 x RSA per ad group however this is now subject to change.
Google is now recommending having 1 x RSA per ad group. However this will reduce the capabilities of granular reporting and identifying your best performing ads. So we need to look at this now.
The theory behind this change is that you feed Google a range of unique headlines and descriptions. Google can then learn to predict the most effective combination for each search.
RSA’s show up in more auctions compared with ETA’s. This is because they contain more text and are therefore more likely to match relevant search queries. This will possibly generate a higher quality score.
Essentially, Google is making these changes in favour of machine learning. It will pull from historical data and pull together headlines and descriptions which resonate best with your consumer.
Top Recommendations To Stay Ahead Of The Game
Whilst this change reduces advertisers’ control over ad content, the good news is that we can respond now by researching best messaging practices in the lead up to this change.
Our recommendation for the coming months is to test your ETA’s to identify which ads perform the best. This will then enable you to successfully apply these results and messaging in your RSA’s once these changes are introduced.
Google states that switching from ETA’s to RSA’s using the same assets sees an average of 7% more conversions at a similar cost per conversion.
- The first step is to spend time improving your ad strength. Increase clicks & conversions by up to 9% by improving Ad strength from poor to excellent. These changes can be simple yet extremely effective.
- Check that your RSA’s are actually showing. Go into your ads and click “view asset details” to see which headline/description combinations are used most often.
- Improve your RSA’s by replacing “Low” performing assets with new headlines and descriptions that are based on your “Best” performing assets from your ETA’s.
- Do you have key messaging/USP’s which you need shown permanently? If so, you can pin certain RSA’s to ensure they are shown most consistently. This will essentially hand you back some control in terms of serving your best performing ad.
- Try to pin between 2-3 RSA’s.
- Ensure you pin key CTA’s (Call to Actions) in your headlines to boost conversions.
- Analyse your ad groups to identify how successful your ads are based on impressions, clicks and conversions.
- RSA’s have the option to use up to 15 headlines. Ensure you add your keywords within these headlines. This will serve more impressions, be more relevant and in turn increase conversions.
- Use unique text in each headline. If there are duplicated messages, Google may pair headlines with repetitive messaging which will negatively affect performance.
This analysis may seem overwhelming but remember that overall, RSA’s will save you time by using machine learning to apply the best ad combinations. Therefore, this research is pivotal to ensure your ads are strong and relevant from the off.
Additional Changes to RSA format
To help build out your RSA’s Google will introduce the following changes to the format
- Third Headline
- Second Description – which allows 90 characters per description
Utilising this additional information allows advertisers to promote the brand, website and key product offerings within the first headlines. The additional headline then allows you to add promotional offers or call to action within your ad to promote your products and services.
Our best advice is to get ahead of the curve. Utilise our top tips by testing and analysing your expanded text ads over the coming months.
If you need guidance on setting up RSA’s, we are happy to help. Simply call us on 01277 424 924.