Yesterday the new Google Adwords Expanded Text Ad format, which was first announced at May’s Google Performance summit was officially released.
Adwords Expanded Text Ads
Expanded text ads are a completely new Ad format which allows advertisers to incorporate two headlines, each with up to 30 characters and a description of up to 80 characters.
Image Credit: https://adwords.googleblog.com/2016/07/three-ad-innovations-for-mobile-first-world.html
Google has said that the extra copy was designed specifically to provide mobile users with more information. Early tests of this Ad Format has citied an average CTR (click through rate) increase of 20 percent.
Early adopters of this new format are actually able to test new Expanded Ads alongside their existing Ads, however moving forward you will not be able to create new “Standard Ads” and the existing format will be invalid from October 26th.
Some advertisers have noticed issues with how the new Ads appear on desktop devices with the headlines truncating. Interestingly a Tweet by Google suggested that users should consider creating a headline of 33 characters or less in order for the headline to appear on even of the smallest of devices.
@PPCKirk @timothyjjensen @SEMFlem @markkennedysem Keeping the character count at 33 across headline 1 & 2 generally stops truncation. (1)
— Google AdWords (@adwords) July 22, 2016
It’s also worth mentioning that the size of the character also needs to be considered, for example an “M” takes up more space than an “i”.
Fortunately` the Google Ad preview tool has been updated, if your Ad isn’t being shown as truncated on that, you can feel pretty confident that it won’t when live either.
Google’s advice on how to make your Expanded Ads look their best can be seen here: https://www.en.advertisercommunity.com/t5/Articles/Expanded-Text-Ads-Make-Your-Ads-Look-Their-Best/ba-p/592360
Separate Device Bidding
Back in 2013 Adwords users were denied the ability to create individual bid strategies for different devices with the introduction of enhanced campaigns. Thankfully Adwords has given that functionality back and is currently rolling it out to its advertisers. It may take a little while to appear in your account though, so please be patient!
Adwords Editor Updated
To coincide with the launch of the new expanded text ads, Google has updated its Adwords editor program, version 11.5 features a new expanded text ads (ETA)section which can be found under Ads in the left navigation menu, above the original Text ads setup area.
- New features in this version of the Adwords Editor also include:
- A much improved Advanced Search functionality
- The ability to create and edit structured snippet extensions
- The ability to create and edit mobile app engagement ads for Android apps
- The ability to post changes, upload CSVs and download information from multiple accounts simultaneously.
Are you concerned?
If you currently work with a PPC agency and they haven’t made you aware of these new features, your budget may not be delivering the results that you need and deserve (see our post: does your PPC Agency suck?). If you are concerned, we’d love to have a free, no obligation chat with you and discuss your PPC goals. Get in touch with us.
