Sunsetting Expanded Text Ads & Growing Responsive Search Ads

My original introduction to this post was “As you all know…” but, on a call literally yesterday, someone suggested that we get rid of Responsive Search Ads in favor of Expanded Text Ads. I laughed, thinking that they were joking because comments like this are on-brand for them. They weren’t joking.

So, instead, I’ll say: As you may have heard, effective Thursday, June 30^th, 2022, you will no longer have the ability to create or edit Expanded Text Ads in your Google Ads accounts.

Find the full update from Google here.

Expanded Text Ad Questions

If this update on Expanded Text Ads took you by surprise, you’re probably not alone. So I’ve answered the most common questions I’m getting asked below. 

• Can you still run Expanded Text Ads? Yes.
• For how long? I don’t know.
• Can you pause them and turn them back on? Yes.
• For how long? I don’t know.
• Can you still see performance on Expanded Text Ads? Yes.
• For how long? I don’t know.

What Is a Responsive Search Ad?

If you find yourself asking, “What do you know, Curtiss?” please keep reading. But first, a quick overview on what Responsive Search Ads are from Google:

“Google Ads assembles the ad text into multiple ad combinations in a way that avoids redundancy. Unlike expanded text ads, you can provide up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions for a single responsive search ad. Google Ads assembles the text into multiple ad combinations in a way that avoids redundancy. Over time, Google Ads will test the most promising ad combinations, and learn which combinations are the most relevant for different queries.”

Responsive Search Ad Best Practices

If you find yourself lost, scared, or confused about the retirement of Extended Text Ads in favor of Responsive Search Ads, fear not, I’ve asked people much smarter than me (our Paid Media Team) to provide some best practices for Responsive Search Ads:

• Look at your Expanded Text Ads to determine the strongest performing Headlines, Descriptions, and Calls to Action, and incorporate them into your Responsive Search Ads.
• For Branded campaigns, we recommend pinning a Headline in Position 1 that includes your Brand’s name. (Pinning Headlines ensures that they always appear in the position that you want. Google also allows you to pin headlines without any specific position called out, if you still want to allow Google some autonomy.)
• Ensure that you’re using all 15 Headlines and the 4 Description Lines, even if you’re starting to get a little redundant in your copy. Google tends to give the ads with more Headlines and Descriptions higher rankings than those with less options to test.
  • A note about redundancy: Including things like “Shop Our Huge Selection” and “Hundreds of Top Brands” is great, whereas running two different Headlines of “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “100% Guaranteed” is not recommended.
• Are you utilizing audiences for your Search campaigns? If not, we recommend layering in Google’s Affinity and In-Market Audiences (start with Observation mode) until you’re seeing the statistical significance to determine dialing bids up and down. Given that Responsive Search Ads allow for a more ‘hands-off’ approach to your ad copy, utilizing audience bidding allows you to optimize based on who is seeing and engaging with your ads.
• And lastly, keep your best performing Expanded Text Ads running. Like I said,  we don’t know how long we’re going to be able to run them, so if they’re outperforming your Responsive Search Ads, what’s stopping you from keeping them on?

Conclusion

Google is sunsetting Expanded Text Ads in favor of Responsive Search Ads as of June 30, 2022. It is clearly past June 30, 2022, and as of now, Expanded Text Ads are still running, but no one is sure how long that’s going to last. If you’re worried about shifting your focus to Responsive Text Ads, follow the best practices our cracker jack Paid Media Team at Be Found Online has put together. 

Questions? Concerns? Want to grab a virtual coffee? You can reach me at curtiss@befoundline.com.

Thanks!