PPC ads come in many shapes and sizes.
They also change frequently, which means it’s nearly impossible to provide a truly comprehensive guide for every ad format available.
What follows is an overview of the major PPC ad formats that are available across Google Ads. Most of the basic text and shopping formats are also available across Bing Ads.
On the SERP
Text Ads
Ah, the bread and butter of PPC! Our dear text ads – with two headlines and one 90-character description.
Google and Bing both did away with the old version of standard text ads recently, and now we’re seeing larger text ads with a more varied alignment of extensions than we’d seen in years past.
Ads usually fire with the two headlines side by side, with a description line and ad extensions below.
Sometimes ads will serve with a third “headline,” most often comprised of the URL itself. The URL in the headline can read a bit weird, so you have the option to disable if you wish.
However, we know how Google loves to experiment: we’re starting to see ads smoosh together with ads to form one mega-ad. Sometimes the combinations are coherent, sometimes not, but it’s the new normal and something advertisers will have to get used to!
Responsive Text Ads (public beta)
These aren’t so much a variation on text ads, but more an automated method of powering them.
Aesthetically, they share the same appearance as “normal” text ads – there’ve been rumors that the ads are capable of showing three headlines; while possible, it’s highly unlikely to happen more than a fraction of the time.
Advertisers upload a variety of headlines and description lines, and Google will shuffle them based on best-expected performance.
It’s recommended to include at least three headline variations and two description variations, but you’re able to include up to 15 headlines and four descriptions.
Make sure the variables you use will make sense no matter the order they serve in. – Read more
