How to use re­spon­sive search ads in Google

By using re­spon­sive search ads, Google offers an effective method to display text-based ads in search results. These are adapted depending on the target group’s end device and allow for automated com­bi­na­tions of 15 different headlines, four de­scrip­tions and ad­di­tion­al spec­i­fi­ca­tions. With seven practical tips, we will show you the benefits of Google re­spon­sive search ads.

What are re­spon­sive search ads?

Google Ads are de­vel­op­ing ever more towards au­toma­tion and machine-learning systems. Marketing experts are sure that this change to ad­ver­tis­ing and marketing campaigns offers better per­for­mance and a bigger reach. You only need to look at the ad­van­tages of the Google re­spon­sive ads from when they were in­tro­duced in 2018 and you would agree. Bit by bit they have been replacing standard text ads and expanded ads. Since 2021, the Google Ads interface only allows users to create and edit re­spon­sive search ads. They are an in­creas­ing­ly important part of employing ads.

Unlike expanded text ads, when using a Google Ads account you can create more headlines and de­scrip­tions for your ads. With RSAs you can add 3 to 15 headlines (max. 30 char­ac­ters each) and 2 to 4 de­scrip­tions (max. 90 char­ac­ters each). The elements of the ad are made up of the headline and the de­scrip­tion, called assets. Google uses these, combining them using ar­ti­fi­cial in­tel­li­gence and machine learning in the best possible way and dis­play­ing them in search results.

What is the dif­fer­ence between re­spon­sive search ads and tra­di­tion­al ads?

Compared with RSAs, standard text ads and expanded text ads offer rel­a­tive­ly limited flex­i­bil­i­ty when dis­play­ing an ad. These depend much less on the algorithm, therefore Google never learned which asset com­bi­na­tion had the best effect. The biggest change with RSAs comes with the word “re­spon­sive”. Re­spon­sive ads will respond to the re­quire­ments of the cor­re­spond­ing end device.

The main dif­fer­ence is the automated, in­tel­li­gent and self-learning display of ads. Based on the data collected on user in­ter­ac­tion Google combines your assets ef­fec­tive­ly at random. As soon as there is suf­fi­cient in­ter­ac­tion data for the algorithm, Google will place sta­tis­ti­cal­ly suc­cess­ful asset com­bi­na­tions more often. To do so, the AI display, size and format are adapted to the ad­ver­tis­ing space and the cor­re­spond­ing end device.

This means that ads can be both smaller and larger. Instead, of bland, static ads, Google uses ar­ti­fi­cial in­tel­li­gence to combine the best ads for display marketing from your asset pool. This not only increases your reach, but also improves con­ver­sions through the click rate (CTR).

How can you create Google re­spon­sive search ads?

Unlike “tra­di­tion­al” ads, you don’t just create one ad which is con­tin­u­ous­ly shown in search results without changing. Instead, you can create a pool of up to 15 different headlines and four different de­scrip­tions from which Google ef­fec­tive­ly created paid ads. In the ads that are displayed, a com­bi­na­tion of three of the 15 headline elements and two of the four de­scrip­tions are shown.

You also have the option to fix important assets. By doing this, you can make sure your ads have a uniform look and follow your corporate identity. If, for example, you want an important keyword to appear first, or your company’s name to appear last, you can use the “pin” function when creating the ad. This means you can fix your asset to either the first, second or third position as desired. Since the algorithm requires lots of com­bi­na­tions to learn, Google advises against pinning. However, it is still possible to emphasize the company name, brand message or USPs in any com­bi­na­tion.

Create re­spon­sive search ads in Google Ads

Since June 30, 2022, RSAs have com­plete­ly replaced expanded search ads meaning you can only create re­spon­sive search ads using your Google Ads account. (As of August 2022).

To create an ad, you can do the following:

Step 1: In your Google Ads account go to “Ads and ex­ten­sions” in the left-hand menu.

Step 2: Click on the add symbol and select “re­spon­sive search ads”.

Step 3: Now you can create the URL and the path text for your ad.

Step 4: Enter your assets which will be made up of a minimum of three and a maximum of 15 headlines and between two and four de­scrip­tions. Use the “pin” button to determine whether an asset should always appear in a specific place. On the right, you will see a preview window with a random com­bi­na­tion of your assets.

Step 5: Now click on “save”.

Editing re­spon­sive ads

If you would like to sub­se­quent­ly edit an ad, for example, if some assets are not per­form­ing as well as hoped, you can do the following:

Step 1: Select “Ads and ex­ten­sions” and then click on “Filter”.

Step 2: In the next menu, go to “At­trib­ut­es” and “Ad type”.

Step 3: Check the box next to “Re­spon­sive search ads”.

Step 4: Go to the ad you wish to edit, click on the pen button and on “edit”.

Step 5: Make your edits and click on “Save”.

Per­for­mance reports for re­spon­sive search ads

To analyze per­for­mance Google offers per­for­mance reports on ads and ad assets in the form of values in a sta­tis­tics table. To open and download these, go to “Ads and ex­ten­sions” > “Filter” > “At­trib­ut­es” > “Ad type”. Check the box next to “Re­spon­sive search ads”, click on “Use” and the download button. You can now choose whether you would prefer a PDF or csv file.

You also have the option to receive a copy by email or to open it in the editor. For regular ads, we recommend that you plan for con­tin­u­ous reporting in Google Ads. By measuring per­for­mance, you can see which asset is per­form­ing the best and which should be edited or deleted.

All pros and cons briefly

Re­spon­sive search ads best practices

As AdTech, Google’s re­spon­sive search ads: offer a balance between in­tel­li­gent au­toma­tion and manual brand building. Our best practices will give you some hints on how to properly use re­spon­sive search ads.

Use the maximum number of assets

For every RSA Google offers you the op­por­tu­ni­ty to add a maximum of 15 headlines and up to four de­scrip­tions. We would recommend using the maximum number of assets. This is about the content that the algorithm will use to create the best versions. The more, the better.

Create effective ads

When creating headlines and de­scrip­tions, remember that they are elements. These should be able to be combined since Google will put them together randomly. Avoid rep­e­ti­tions and similar content to reduce redundant content in ads. Elements such as “Buy online today” don’t need a similar asset such as “buy online here”. Create headlines with different lengths. This ensures that Google can use longer elements for desktops and shorter for­mu­la­tions for mobile devices. This is important for mobile SEO.

Pin important assets

By using the “Pin” option, you can position important assets such as campaign keywords, branding and company names at a set point. By pinning items, you can ensure that Google displays pinned assets in the same position in every com­bi­na­tion. For example, you can always place your business name in third position and the primary keyword in first position to improve your search engine op­ti­miza­tion.

Placing important content in assets

15 headlines and four de­scrip­tions do take time but are worth the effort to improve the ad per­for­mance. You will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly develop a routine and an un­der­stand­ing of the most important content that you should be including in your assets. Google itself also has some useful advice in its guide “Create effective re­spon­sive search ads”. The content should be dis­trib­uted as best as possible, avoiding re­dun­dan­cy and rep­e­ti­tions.

Important content includes:

• For­mu­lat­ing at least eight to ten headlines and two de­scrip­tions
• Placing high-per­form­ing keywords in headlines and de­scrip­tions, but not in them all
• De­scrib­ing services or products with good de­scrip­tions, at­trib­ut­es, ad­jec­tives or ratings
• High­light­ing the company or product’s unique selling points (USPs)
• In­te­grat­ing concrete, content-related CTAs (calls to action)
• In­for­ma­tion about pricing, payment methods, offers and the content’s USP
• Em­pha­siz­ing ad­van­tages for users

Optimize re­spon­sive search ads

Google rec­om­mends that you only use assets with a “good” or “very good” rating to improve your ad’s ef­fec­tive­ness. Therefore, you should consider the per­for­mance value and ad ef­fec­tive­ness Google gives to your assets. By using assets that are rated good and very good, the per­for­mance will rise ev­i­den­tial­ly.

Strate­gies for Google Ads re­spon­sive search ads

Using RSAs is always a question of patience since the ef­fec­tive­ness of your ads depends on your strategy. Strate­gies require time, an objective and ways for you to reach it. Take into con­sid­er­a­tion the following possible ad strate­gies to optimize your RSAs.

Combine re­spon­sive search ads, relevant keywords and smart bidding

According to Google, it is worth combining RSAs with smart bidding. This is the automated placing of bids for the best ad positions. Google also uses modern machine learning for this. Depending on your goals, your campaign budget and the context of your advert, smart bidding analyses signals and values to buy suitable ad po­si­tion­ing down to the mil­lisec­ond. This typically takes place in ad­ver­tis­ing auctions and platforms such as Ad Exchange.

You can improve your per­for­mance using an RSA and smart bidding strategy by placing keywords in re­spon­sive search ads and buying the best ad po­si­tion­ing with smart bidding. This means you not only have ads displayed in the best way, optimized for the end device, you also have a larger reach and vis­i­bil­i­ty due to having the best ad positions.

RSAs as an addition to your ad­ver­tis­ing strategy

Re­spon­sive search ads are just a part of a large tool kit in the available ad­ver­tis­ing formats. The success of a campaign or effective brand building also depends on strate­gies con­tain­ing a range of concepts. Use RSAs as an expansion to other tools and concepts such as real-time ad­ver­tis­ing, pro­gram­mat­ic ad­ver­tis­ing and pro­gram­mat­ic buying.

Also be aware of the dif­fer­ence between display ad­ver­tis­ing and real-time ad­ver­tis­ing. If you use RSAs alongside Google’s Re­spon­sive Display Ads, we recommend that you also integrate real-time ad­ver­tis­ing. This means you can ensure that your strategy is optimized for per­for­mance and that ad­ver­tis­ing positions reach your target group as best as possible in real time.

Creating multiple RSAs at the same time

Use the option to create multiple RSAs in an ad group. By doing so, you are free to ex­per­i­ment with pinned USPs or CTAs and move the focus to different com­bi­na­tions. For example, you can pin three or four headlines in the first position to ensure that there is always a com­bi­na­tion of the product and brand or primary keyword and brand at the beginning. You can also pin important USPs or CTAs (such as to buy) in a set position as part of the asset. How to brand your RSA.

Al­ter­na­tive­ly, create two or three ads at the same time: One or two ads with an identical fixed headline and another ad without pinned assets. By using the Per­for­mance Report, you can see which of these is per­form­ing the best. With multiple RSAs in an ad group you can place more focus on the USPs or keywords. It is also worth linking other URLS in the different RSAs.

Con­clu­sion: Re­spon­sive search ads are part of a suc­cess­ful ad­ver­tis­ing campaign

While there is no blanket guide to success, we recommend flexible strate­gies for effective search engine ad­ver­tis­ing (SEA) and search engine marketing (SEM). The customer journey of end users and target audiences en­com­pass­es many different end devices and platforms. Thanks to the wide range of touch­points, by using a flexible ad­ver­tis­ing strategy you can reach more potential customers. You can do this by op­ti­miz­ing your ad placement. By using re­spon­sive search ads in com­bi­na­tion with other marketing and ad tools, your ads will be displayed in real time and adapted to the search intent and end devices. When used properly, you will ef­fec­tive­ly improve your per­for­mance, reach and con­ver­sions.