Google Responsive Search Ads: We can do this
If you haven’t already embraced Responsive Search Ads (RSA’s), now’s the time. On 30 June 2022, Google is turning off Expanded Text Ads (ETA’s), and you won’t be able to create new or edit your existing ones. The last thing you want is to pause your ad strategy. Instead, get RSA savvy now and start making them work for you.
Whether you manage your own Google search ad account, or use an outside resource like XNet Digital, you need to have the basics in place so you’re able to put the next eight months to good use.
Google ETA’s Vs RSA’s Background
Let’s briefly remind ourselves of the changes and implications, then we can show you how to make RSAs work to your advantage:
Currently, With Google Expanded Text Ads
Within your ad groups, you create each one with three headlines and two descriptions containing some links and a CTA. You then do your own A / B testing between your headlines and descriptions, according to the results you see.
The Future With Responsive Search Ads
With the new RSAs, you submit up to 15 unique headlines and four descriptions. Google then dynamically combines these assets to create tens of thousands of potential combinations. You can still add extensions (images, links and CTAs) which Google also puts into the mix.
The Implications Of Google Responsive Search Ads
This is manual ad creation vs automation, in other words. With 15% of search queries per day being new, it makes sense that Google uses automation to keep pace with these trends. Saving time and taking advantage of Google knowledge are clearly advantages of RSAs:
Saving Time With Google Responsive Search Ads
RSAs will simplify your ad creation process. Instead of writing multiple ads to test your messaging, Google does it for you. Currently, you might have an ad group with three to five ETAs running at a time, each testing a different message. Eventually, you’ll see what’s working. RSAs accelerate this process using an algorithm to test rapidly and dynamically. By combining all available assets each RSA can generate 30,000+ different combinations, so there’s no longer any need to create multiple separate ads within the same ad group.
Take Advantage Of Google Power
You get to leverage Google’s automation and vast amounts of audience data to create – and rapidly test – a massive number of ad copy variations. Google claims that by switching from ETAs to RSAs (using the same assets) advertisers see 7% more conversions at a similar cost per conversion.
By assembling the assets that are predicted to perform best for each individual user’s search (based on contextual and intent signals), RSA’s offer true query-time optimisation. As an added incentive, RSAs can also appear across the search network and partner sites.
RSA Health Warnings
However, RSAs come with the following health warnings:
Google’s lack of transparency
For many of us, the frustration with Responsive Search Ads is the lack of transparency. For sure you can see how each asset group performs but Google doesn’t (yet?) give you any insights into which assets and combinations are driving this performance. Instead, you only see the number of impressions for each individual asset.
Does it matter if it’s successful (by +7% allegedly)? Well, yes because you might be able to improve on this 7%. Admittedly, the data set would be enormous but that’s for you to decide whether and how you manage it, surely?
Google’s push for broad match keywords
Broad match is the default and it certainly reaches the widest audience. It means your ad is likely to appear whenever a search query includes any word in your key phrase in any order. Broad match is great for trialling keywords so long as you learn what’s working then tweak accordingly. Otherwise you’re just driving a load of vanity traffic to your site. And paying for it!
Google RSAs aren’t geared for smaller brands
That golden ‘7%’ is only going to be available to those with enough data in the system. RSA performance dramatically improves when fuelled with greater volumes of data through each ad group. Even Google recommends a target amount of 3,000 impressions per week minimum. So smaller, perhaps niche brands or services will struggle to get impressions.
Regulated industries need mandatory content
Google RSAs or indeed any kind of dynamic ad, won’t work for regulated industries needing to display legally required text.
These health warnings call for knowledge and expertise, including how to use pinning successfully.
Pinning A Google Responsive Search Ad
Briefly, pinning allows you to [position (ie ‘pin’) headlines and descriptions in specific positions. It gives you an element of control, including understanding which messaging is working best. Indeed, Google accepts that some advertisers might need to show a ‘disclaimer’ in every ad:
“For example, if you need to show a disclaimer in every ad, you can write the disclaimer as a responsive search ad description, and pin it to Description position 1. That way, all ads that are shown to customers will include the disclaimer in the first part of the description.”
However, Google will also downgrade pinned ads because they restrict automatic variant testing! So choose what and when you pin – and learn from it.
Lean Into Google RSAs
Who knows, Google may be planning to deliver more transparency so we can understand how specific combinations of ad assets behave. Whatever, our advice is to lean into RSAs. This is the future so let’s work it:
5 ways to make Google RSAs work for you
- Give the Google algorithm something good to work with – make sure your keyword data is robust and up to date. Then, be clever in how you use these keywords in your headlines and descriptions.
- Use the maximum number of available assets (eg headlines, descriptions) and make them distinct from one another.
- While you can, we recommend running at least one ETA in each ad group alongside RSAs to allow the RSAs to learn from ‘static’ ad formats.
- Evaluate the importance of pinning because whilst it gives you control over the content of the displayed ads, it also reduces the number of permutations Google can deliver. Test your pins so you know the effect of removing them. Of course, as mentioned above, for brands in restricted industries pinning is likely to be the only way to ensure legal compliance.
- Get your website sorted because if RSAs really do lead to a 7% increase in conversion, you don’t want these hard-won visitors to turn into bounce-rate stats.
Google Responsive Search Ads Are The Future
From our point of view, early signs are good for Google RSAs; We’re achieving a significant increase in impressions and CTRs for our clients.
They take diligence and know-how. Your ads must be part of your commercial strategy, and you need to analyse the data to make sure you aren’t paying for irrelevant clicks.
Business as usual then!
