Google Expanded Text Ads Questions Answered

For affiliate marketers who run pay per click ads the struggle has been real. Pay per click affiliates have many challenges, one being those very restrictive character counts. How is anyone supposed to effectively demonstrate the value of a product or service in just 30 characters? Well there’s finally some good news from Google, AdWords now offers Expanded Text Ads. Unlike other Google announcements, that tend to have a negative impact on traffic, this announcement should help drive more conversions from expensive AdWords ads.

What are Expanded Text Ads?

AdWords advertisers get twice the amount of space than the traditional text ad. These new ads are supposed to help maximize performance on mobile results thanks to bigger headlines, and a longer description. Expanded ads are shown across all devices and are responsive to device type.

Why is AdWords making the change?

According to Google, this is the biggest change they’ve made to the ad platform since its launch 15 years ago. Apparently the Ad Network took a look at its ads and thought about what they would look like if they had created AdWords today, where more than half of the searches conducted happen on mobile devices. In February, AdWords removed right-side ads from desktop searches to make searches more mobile friendly.

What am I really getting as an advertiser?

The new expanded text ads will be 47% bigger than the traditional text ads. There are now 140 characters available for your ad copy. The headline size went from 25 characters to 30. The description line went from 35 characters to 80. The domain section is automatically populated from your final URL to ensure accuracy, but you can customize the path.

How will this effect click through rates?

The idea is that these new expanded ads will improve click through rates as they provide greater visibility. According to WordStream, early reports show that CTR has increased by 20% thanks to AdWords Expanded Text Ads.

How to Prepare for new Expanded Text Ads?

Quality Scores will be more important than ever. Work on increasing your quality score now. With fewer ad spots available, and ad spots taking up significant search results room, Google will be looking to feature its best advertisers, and that means taking an even closer look at quality scores.

Make the most of your new ad space. Incorporate keywords, and test a variety of call to actions to find the top converting ones.

How will you edit your ads to make the most of the new AdWords Expanded Text Ads? Have you seen an improved CTR? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

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