Responsive ads on Google Ads: how can you prepare for this change?

Find out in this article about the shift to responsive search Google Ads, and the best practices to ensure you don't lose ad performance with this upcoming change.

Shift to responsive search ads on Google Ads: what is this about?

Google announced it recently: on June 30, 2022, you will no longer be able to create or edit enlarged text ads on Google Ads. This will also be the case on any other platform that supports text ads, such as Google Ads Editor, Google Ads mobile app, or the Google Ads API. 
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The new ads created will only be Google Ads responsive ads (which were already available in the tool). However, you should know that any existing ad campaign can be paused and restarted, or deleted. 
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So what are these Google responsive search ads? The principle is simple: you write several titles and descriptions, and Google's machine learning system automatically combines and tests them to find the best performing ones. 
Note that nothing changes in terms of keyword targeting, bidding system, or management of your advertising budget. It is only a matter of letting Google display your ads in an optimized way, after having conducted automatic A/B tests. 

What are the benefits of this shift?

While this type of change can be scary for advertisers used to traditional advertising campaigns on the Google search network, the shift to Google responsive ads does have its benefits. 
Thanks to this system, you can… 

• Save time: thanks to machine learning, you let Google's Artificial Intelligence test for you the variations that work best.
• Aim at better performance: according to Google, responsive search ads get an average of 7% more conversions, for a similar cost per conversion, which means a better return on investment for your campaigns.
• Get insights that manual data analysis wouldn't provide: Google's AI can detect which messages work best with your targets. For example, if you realize that a key message in your campaign really performs better, maybe it is important to deploy it more widely in your other digital marketing campaigns. 
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How to prepare for this shift to responsive search ads?

“At Gamned! our experts are constantly monitoring best practices and changes in the world of digital advertising. This is why they are already armed with the best techniques in terms of Google Ads. This change can affect the performance of your campaigns if you do not anticipate it in time, so do not hesitate to be accompanied on the subject to keep a good advertising ROI!” Jiri Mazur, Senior Digital Specialist at Gamned!

In order to broadcast ads that are still relevant after this shift, and not to see a loss of performance, you need to put in place some good practices. 
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On the one hand, make sure you have at least one Google Ads responsive campaign in each search ad group by June 30. So start creating and testing attractive ads as soon as possible. 
To do this, don't hesitate to re-use content that performs well in the expanded text ads, focusing on those with a "Good" or "Excellent" quality level.

On the other hand, make sure you analyze the performance of your titles and descriptions, and pin those that perform best to specific locations in your new responsive search ads. This pinning system allows you to make sure that some of your key messages show up in all your ads, regardless of the variation tested by Google Ads' AI. 

Finally, to edit or create responsive Search Ads campaigns in a bulk, use Google Ads Editor or Google Ads API. So, if you have a lot of campaigns set up, these tools are a real time saver.

Our Gamned! experts are already familiar with the best practices in terms of responsive ads on Google Ads, and more generally, on all digital advertising systems. Our mission is to accompany you through the changes on the Google Ads platform, to deliver ads that are as effective as ever!
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Need support? Contact a Gamned! expert now, and let's talk about your campaigns on the world's #1 search engine.

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