About assets - Google Ads Help (original) (raw)

Assets are content pieces that make up your ad with useful business information—giving people more reasons to choose your business. Assets include the headlines, descriptions, links to specific parts of your website, call buttons, location information, and more that come together to make up the eventual ad format that is shown to a user.

This article covers what each asset type does and how to pick the right assets for you.

How they work

To maximize the performance of your responsive search ads, Google Ads selects which additional assets to show in response to each individual search on Google. For that reason, it’s a good idea to use all the assets relevant to your business goals.

By adding more content to your ad, assets like sitelinks and images give your ad greater visibility and prominence on the search results page. That means you tend to get more value from your ad. Assets often increase your total number of clicks, and can give people additional, interactive ways of reaching you as with maps or calls.

Many asset types require a bit of setup those are manual. Some assets are added automatically when Google Ads predicts they’ll improve your performance those are automated and do not need any set up. Learn more About account level automated assets.

You can add assets to your campaigns using the following options:

Directly create and upload your assets following the Google Ads ad format requirements.
Leverage automated asset creation methods, like account-level automated assets and text customization (formerly known as “automatically created assets”).

Learn more About account level automated assets and About text customization in Search campaigns.

Cost

There's no cost to add additional assets to your campaign. Clicks on any asset in the final ad on the headline, sitelink, image, and more will be charged as usual. (The exception is clicks on seller ratings, which are not charged.) So you’re charged a click when someone calls you from a call icon on your final or when someone downloads your app by clicking on the app rendered on your final ad. Google Ads charges no more than two clicks per impression for each ad and its assets.

Actual cost-per-click

There's no cost to add assets to your campaign, but you're charged as usual for clicks on your ad, as well as for certain interactions that assets provide. For example, when a person clicks on a download button (app assets), on a call button (call assets), on a directions icon (location assets), and so on. Clicks on reviews and seller ratings are an exception: we don’t charge you for these. Google Ads charges no more than two clicks (per impression) on each ad and its assets.

The most you'll pay is what's minimally required to clear the Ad Rank thresholds and beat the Ad Rank of the competitor immediately below you (if any).

Just as ads in higher positions usually have a higher actual CPC (due to competition and, in part, to higher Ad Rank thresholds), ads with more assets also often have a higher actual CPC due to increased prominence. However, note that the incremental cost of adding more assets to your ads is often lower than the incremental cost of moving up a position on the search results page. That means you can often get more clicks for less money by using additional ad assets than by increasing your position.

Headlines and descriptions

Headlines and descriptions are required assets that should be compelling, focused on user benefits, and unique. The more headlines and descriptions you enter, the more opportunities Google Ads has to serve ads that more closely match potential customer search queries, which can improve your ad performance.

After you enter headlines and descriptions, Google Ads assembles the text into multiple ad combinations in a way that avoids redundancy. You can provide up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions for a single responsive search ad.

In any given ad, a minimum of one headline and one description will be selected to show in different combinations and orders. Part of your ad text may automatically appear in bold when it matches or closely matches a user's search query. Over time, Google Ads will test the most promising ad combinations and learn which combinations are the most relevant for different queries.

Enhanced Flexibility

While responsive search ads can show up to 3 headlines in the traditional headline position (for example, text that is positioned at the top of the ad, above the body text), they can also serve in other parts of the ad based on what is predicted to perform best for each person’s unique search query:

Within the same ad: Headline asset text may show at the beginning of the description when it’s predicted to perform best.
Within the same ad: Up to 2 unused responsive search ad headlines within the same ad can serve as link-based assets (in the space that previously only sitelinks were eligible for), pointing to the same domain as your ad's final URL. RSA description lines may also serve in the link-based asset description space to complete the expanded format. In such instances, the asset would point to the same domain as your ad's final URL.
Within the same ad group: Unused responsive search ad headlines and description assets from another ad within the same ad group can serve as link-based assets. In such instances, the asset would point to the final ad URL of the RSA we borrowed the asset from.

Enhanced flexibility restrictions:

Only active ads and assets are eligible for enhanced flexibility.
Sensitive verticals aren’t eligible for asset sharing.

If you have assets that are pinned to headline position 1, headline position 2, or description position 1, they’ll continue to show in their designated positions when your ads serve. Learn how to Pin headlines and descriptions to specific positions. Google will optimize the placement of all other assets while ensuring they remain relevant to the user's search query.

How to select additional assets to use

Keep these best practices in mind as you choose and set up your assets:

Use every asset relevant to your business. Assets are free to add and they’ll only show if they’re predicted to improve your ad's performance.
Consider adding 4 or more asset types. For example, you could add sitelinks, callouts, images, and one additional asset of your choice.
If it makes sense for your business, create assets at higher account levels (for example, at the account or campaign level, when available).
Read-only asset types are not displayed and counted but may still serve.

Select assets based on your goal

Select your additional assets based on your primary advertising goal. Here are common advertiser goals and the assets that can support them:

Goal: Get customers to buy from your business location

If you want to direct people to your physical locations (like stores or restaurants), here are assets you may consider:

Location assets

Encourage people to visit your business by showing your location, a call button, and a link to your business details page—which can include your hours, photos of your business, and directions to get there. If you want customers to visit your business location but to call a centralized line (rather than specific locations’ numbers), use call assets with your location assets. Learn more About location assets.

Goal: Get customers to contact you

If you want people to call you or send you a text message query, use call assets:

Call assets

Encourage people to call your business by adding a phone number or call button to your ads. Learn more About call assets.

Goal: Get customers to convert on your website

If you want to direct people to your website, use these assets:

Sitelink assets

Link people directly to specific pages of your website (like “hours” and “order now”). Learn more about Create and edit sitelink assets.

Callout assets

Add additional text to your ad, like “free delivery” or “24/7 customer support.”

Structured snippet assets

Showcase information potential customers will find most valuable by selecting a predefined header (like, product or service category) and listing items. Learn more About structured snippet assets.

Price assets

Showcase your services or product categories with their prices, so that people can browse your products right from your ad. Learn more About price assets.

Goal: Get customers to buy from your physical or online store

If you want customers to buy from your physical or online store, use this asset:

Promotion assets

Attract customers that are searching for special, limited-time offers and sales relevant to your business. Learn more About promotion assets.

Goal: Get people to download your app

If you want to get people to download your app, use app assets:

App assets

Encourage people to download your app. Available globally for Android and iOS mobile devices, including tablets. Learn more About app assets.

Goal: Get people to submit their information

If you want to encourage people to submit their contact information (such as an email address, phone number, and other details) in response to a product or service that you offer, use lead form assets.

Lead form assets

Get people to sign up from your ad. Available globally for mobile devices and tablets. Learn more About lead form assets.

How to remove assets

Assets add information about your business to your ads and typically boost your ads' performance. If you want to remove assets, though, follow the instructions below.

Go to Assets within the Campaigns menu .
Select Association from the “Table view”.
Check the box to the left of the assets.
Select Remove from the blue bar.
Select Confirm.

Removing an asset from one campaign won’t remove the asset from other campaigns.

How to turn off account level automated assets

To turn off account level automated assets, follow these steps:

Go to Assets within the Campaigns menu .
Select Association from the “Table view” drop-down menu.
Select the three-dot menu on the right, then select Account-level automated assets.
Select the three-dot menu on the right again, then select Advanced settings.
Select Turn off specific automated assets, then choose which asset to turn off.
Select your reason for turning off the asset and add additional comments.
Select Turn off.

Information specific only to assets that aren’t headlines or descriptions

The information below only applies to assets that aren’t headlines or descriptions.

How to schedule your assets

For supported assets, you can schedule your assets to only show during specific times of the day or during a specific time frame. For example, you can schedule call assets so they only show during the hours your business is able to take calls.

Instructions

Factors determining when assets show

Google Ads shows your assets depending on a number of factors such as:

Your Ad Rank, which combines your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, Ad Rank thresholds, context of the person’s search, and expected impact of assets and other ad formats. Google Ads requires a minimum Ad Rank (factoring in your assets) before showing additional assets with your ad. So, you may need to increase your bid or your ad quality (or both) in order for your additional assets to show.
The position of your ad on the Google search results page. There’s a limited amount of space available above Google search results for ad assets, and ads in higher positions get the first opportunity to show more assets. Ads in lower positions generally will have fewer assets added than ads in higher positions. Plus, the Google Ads system generally won’t allow ads in lower positions to get more incremental clicks from assets than the incremental clicks they’d get from moving up to a higher position. To show ads in higher positions, generally you need to increase your ad quality, bid, or both. Learn more About Ad Rank.
Other assets you’ve enabled. In each auction, we'll generally show your highest performing and most useful combination of eligible assets and formats. You will not be able to get a combination of assets which gives more expected click-through-rate (CTR) than the expected CTR of a higher ad position.

How to make assets more likely to show

Sometimes assets that you want to use don't show with your ads. This doesn’t mean that something is wrong. (For example, if you were to add a sitelink and an image to your ad, there are a number of reasons why one of those assets might show for some searches and not for others.)

Make sure your asset is associated with an active ad group, campaign, or account.

Assets can be approved or disapproved just like ads and keywords. Disapproved assets do not show and need to be edited and submitted for re-review.

Even if it’s approved, adding an asset won’t guarantee that it will show with your ad all the time. Assets show with your ad when:

The asset (or combination of assets) is predicted to improve your ad's performance.
Your ad’s position and Ad Rank is high enough for assets to show.

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