Expanded text ads - Google AdWords

Expanded text ads are the next generation of text ads, designed for a mobile-first world with both users and advertisers in mind. Expanded text ads give advertisers additional control over their messaging, and provide users with more information before they click your ad. Like text ads, expanded text ads are available on both the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network, and are supported by all the AdWords tools that currently support text ads. Ad extensions (both automatic and manual) are fully compatible with expanded text ads too.

This guide explains what expanded text ads are and how they differ from standard text ads. It also recommends ways to create new text ads in the expanded text ads format.

Image Courtesy : Google.com

Your new Display URL

• Two headline fields (up to 30 characters each)
• A single, expanded description field (up to 80 characters)
• A Display URL that uses your Final URL's domain
• Two optional ”Path” fields, used in the ad’s Display URL (up to 15 characters each)

Luxury River Cruise Holidays – Book Your Getaway Today
www.example.com/Cruises

Explore the world along rivers. Selected locations on sale!

With expanded text ads, you no longer need to enter a Display URL that matches your Final URL domain. Instead, AdWords will take the domain from your Final URL and show it as your ad’s Display URL. For example, if your Final URL is www.example.com/outdoor/hiking/shoes, your ad’s Display URL will show as www.example.com.

Expanded text ads also introduces two optional “Path” fields, which can hold up to 15 characters. They are part of your Display URL, and are placed after your website’s domain. So if your final URL is www.example.com/outdoor/hiking/shoes, you might want your path text to be Hiking and Shoes so your ad’s display URL is www.example.com/Hiking/Shoes.

We recommend using path text to give people reading your ads a better sense of where they'll land on your website. The text that you put in the path fields doesn’t necessarily have to be part of your website’s URL, but it should be related to the content on your landing page. Find out more

Transitioning to expanded text ads

Right now, AdWords supports the creation of both expanded text ads and standard text ads in both the new and previous versions of AdWords. When you create a new ad, you will be defaulted to expanded text ads. To switch back to standard text ads, click the Switch back to standard text ad link above the “Final URL” field. 

Starting 26 October 2016, AdWords will no longer support the creation or editing of standard text ads. New text ads generated after that date should use the expanded text ad format. Existing standard text ads will continue to serve past 26 October 2016.

After this date, you will only be able to create and edit expanded text ads. However, existing standard text ads will continue to serve alongside expanded text ads.

AdWords tools that support experimenting with different ad text, like campaign drafts and experiments, are fully compatible with expanded text ads. We recommend trying out different variations on your expanded text ads to see which perform best for your business. When you create a new expanded text ad, we also recommend waiting for the ad to be approved before pausing your standard text ad. Create expanded text ads

Using bulk editing

Making bulk changes to expanded text ads is very similar to making bulk changes to standard text ads. You can multi-select ads and pause, enable, or remove them via the Edit menu. You can also use “Change ads” in the “Edit” menu to edit multiple text edits at once.

Bulk upload also supports expanded text ads, though with additional column headers that aren’t available for standard text ads. You can make changes to both standard and expanded text ads within the same Bulk upload spreadsheet. Get Started 

Using AdWords Editor

You can also create and edit expanded text ads in bulk using AdWords Editor. AdWords Editor supports expanded text ads in Version 11.5. Find out more

Make the most of expanded text ads

Expanded text ads share a number of the best practices that you’re already familiar with for standard text ads. But with almost 50% more ad text available and an additional headline, expanded text ads provide more opportunity for you to connect with users and drive more, qualified clicks to your website. 

• Rethink the messaging of your ad. It can be tempting, but don’t simply add a second headline to your existing ads. Consider the entire message that you want to present, taking into account all parts of your new ad.
• Take advantage of your character limits. Expanded headline fields increase the clickable space of your ads, and allow you to communicate more with someone who’s searching before they decide whether to click through to your website.
• Focus on optimising your headlines. People are most likely to read the headline of your ad. When viewed on the search results page, your ad’s headline fields are combined using a hyphen, “-”. On mobile, the headline may wrap beyond the first line. Consider the different ways in which your headline may display when writing your ad to make sure that your ad is compelling and easy to read on different devices.
• Use ad extensions. Including information below your ad, such as additional deep links into your website or your business location, has been shown to increase your ad’s performance. Get Started

SEO,PPC Updates: Google Removes Right-side Ads & Drops Flash Ads

• No More Ads on the Right-hand Side of SERPS

Google “We’ve been testing this layout for a long time, so some people might see it on a very small number of commercial queries. We’ll continue to make tweaks, but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers.”

There are only two exceptions to this: Product Listing Ads (PLAs) and Knowledge Panel ads. They may show a fourth ad above the search results now, but only for “highly commercial queries” such as “hotels in New York City” and “Car Insurance.”

How is this affecting people in the industry? For smaller advertisers, this change has had a minimal impact. They haven’t seen much of a change in clicks. For organic search, this probably won’t impact visibility that much. They’re not going to show up as every single query.

I was happy to see Google’s comment on PLA listings, because I have said over and over that they are going to take over the right side due to their higher CTR and visibility: “Interestingly, as an aside, PLAs demonstrate strong user interaction when they’re on the right side, so they’re staying put.”

Google to stop showing ads on right side of SERP

• AMP Pages Now Live

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are now fully rolled out globally. And apparently, this is very important to Google.

Image Courtesy : conductor.com

Google’s VP of Engineering stated at SMX West that, “everywhere we use content, we want to embrace AMP.”

• Google Allows Changes to Knowledge Graph Data

Bill Hartzer on billhartzer.com wrote a great article about the ability for Official Representatives to suggest edits to their own Knowledge Graph.

According to Google, “If you officially represent a topic that has a Knowledge Graph card in Google search results, you can request changes to that card. To be recognized by Google as an “official representative,” you need to be signed in as an owner of the topic’s official website, YouTube channel, or Google+ page.”

Before, you never really had any control over this (Google would normally pull from Wikipedia or other sources).

• Google Drops All Flash Ads and Goes for HTML5 Ads Instead

Starting June 30th, 2016, display ads built in Flash can no longer be uploaded into AdWords and DoubleClick Digital Marketing.

Starting January 2nd, 2017, display ads in the Flash format can no longer run on the Google Display Network or through DoubleClick.

This is going to affect anyone who is running display campaigns. This should not be a surprise to anyone because Flash has been out for awhile. Google has put together a help document on how to move from Flash to HTML5, which can be found here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6249073

For people who are running really large display campaigns, you should start changing now, so you have enough lead time. Start switching to HTML5 now and get out of Flash!

• Penguin 4 Update

Gary Illyes announced at SMX West that he’s not going to give out release dates for Penguin anymore.

They’re going to stop commenting on when it’s going to happen but just keep hanging on: they’ll eventually roll it out…

• Google Launches “Google Analytics 360 Suite”

Though this wasn’t discussed in this month’s webinar, Google has launched their Analytics 360 Suite, which they have been working on for quite some time now. This is their enterprise solution that is more likened to Adobe’s analytics suite than anything else.  Per Google, the 360 Suite is “a set of integrated data and marketing analytics products, designed specifically for the needs of enterprise-class marketers.”

It’s currently in beta but is most likely going to be released very soon.

Source:Conductor Spotlight 

Google AdWords Best Practices

Google's Best Practices Series provides strategic advice on core search engine marketing tactics. It's intended to help you get the most out of AdWords. Based on Google's internal data and vetted by the people that built AdWords, this series helps form the foundation of your paid search strategies.

1.Keywords & Targeting

• Keywords to the Wise 

Keywords connect your ads with users and their searches. Effective keyword management helps you reach the right customers and grow your business.

• Winning the Second Chance 

RLSA helps put your ads in front of highly qualified customers who have already shown interest in your business or products. This guide covers how to tag your site, set up remarketing lists, and bid effectively.

• Beyond Keywords 

Dynamic Search Ads reach customers as they search without you needing to stay on top of a detailed keyword list. Learn how to get the best possible performance from your DSA campaigns.

2.Ads

• Creative That Clicks

One of the most important things to get right in your search ad is the creative, or messaging, you put into it. Better creatives improve ad relevance and drive more qualified clicks.

• Settling the (Quality) Score

To provide a great experience for both users and advertisers, Google measures the quality of your ads. Ad quality is a part of Ad Rank, so the better your ads are, the more competitive you'll be in the AdWords auction.

• Fully Extended

Ad extensions appear alongside your ads and deliver additional information to users. Extensions are also part of Ad Rank, so the better your extensions are, the more competitive you'll be in the AdWords auction.

3.Bidding & Conversions

• Bid Like a Pro

Bid adjustments are an integral part of AdWords that can help you save time and improve performance. This guide provides an outline for how you can align your bids with your business goals to make smarter bid adjustments.

• A Bid for Every Auction

Automating your bids with AdWords can deliver better, more informed bids while saving you time. This guide covers the benefits of auction-time bidding, then goes deeper into testing and optimization.

• Making a Bid For Profit

Maximizing profit should be the performance goal of every AdWords account. Use bid testing to learn how you can maximize profits for your account.

• Cross-Examine

It’s imperative to understand, and act on, how your marketing drives actions across phones, tablets and desktops. This checklist covers what you can be doing to take full advantage of cross-device conversions in AdWords.

4.Display

• Remarketing Right on Cue

Turn window shoppers into buyers. Programmatic Remarketing on AdWords Display helps you engage site visitors with personalized ads even after they've left your site. Learn how to set up effective tags, remarketing lists, bids and ad formats.

• Put Your Best Image Ad Forward

Three of the most important elements of a display ad are the message, image and design. This checklist outlines how to create effective display ads so that advertisers can improve conversions, brand recall and engagement.

5.Mobile & Local

• Create Effective Mobile Ads

People love their smart phones; they've become an integral part of how people search and browse the web. There are a host of ways to effectively speak to mobile users within AdWords, and getting mobile advertising right can grow your business.

• Tapping into Mobile App Installs

Getting your mobile app discovered can be challenging. Learn how to drive downloads of your app and grow a valuable user base.

• Tapping into Mobile App Engagement

Once you've built a user base for your mobile app, getting people to continue using it is important. Learn how to market to your user base to drive re-engagement with your app.

• Good Call

A customer’s interaction with you can be carried out across different channels: online, in your store or over the phone. This guide will cover all of the ways to drive phone calls to your business and optimize them for success.

• What's In Store

A customer’s interaction with you can start online and then finish in store. This guide will show you how to enhance and target your online ads to drive offline sales and how to optimize them for success.

6.Shopping

• Shape Up Your Shopping Campaigns

Shopping campaigns give you the chance to feature product images and information directly in your ads. This guide covers how to create high-quality data feeds, structure effective campaigns, set your best bids and simplify the mobile shopping experience.

• Holiday Planning Guide

Setup your Search and Shopping campaigns for success during the holidays. Planning for the season's increased shopping demand can help you win more customers over this critical time period.

• The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Assess how your search campaigns did over the holidays. Analysis of your past performance will help you prepare your campaigns for the next holiday season.

7.Reporting & Analytics

• Better Together

Both AdWords and Google Analytics offer insights into the performance of your campaigns, and those insights get better when you use GA + AdWords together. Improve your bidding, messaging and performance through these analyses.

• Special Reports

Smart analysis and reporting in AdWords highlights what matters to you and your bottom line. That information can directly improve the performance of your account. This guide covers how to surface the right insights and turn those insights into action.

For More AdWords Help Visit This Page