If you work with Google Ads, you’ve likely started to receive notifications from Google informing you that Expanded Text Ads will be going away beginning in June 2022. Many digital marketers have expected this deprecation once Google introduced Responsive Search Ads to the platform. Let’s look at what this means for your digital marketing campaigns and how you can prepare for this change to the platform.
What Does This Mean For My Ads?
What this means for advertisers is once we reach June 30, 2022, you won’t be able to create or edit Expanded Text Ads in your campaigns or ad groups. Luckily, these ads won’t be deleted and will continue to run if left enabled by an advertiser. The only thing that will change for these ads is their creation or alteration ability. You can even pause them for a while and reactivate them if need be.
This will also change how Google recommends setting up your marketing campaigns and ad groups. Previously, Google’s best practice for advertising was to have two Expanded Text Ads and one Responsive Search Ad per ad group. With this shift away from Expanded Text, Google recommends that you only need one Responsive Search Ad per ad group. With this comes a slight drawback: advertisers will become limited in viewing how ad copy variations impact ad performance. Otherwise, campaigns will continue to function primarily the same as they do currently.
How Should I Prepare?
The first way to get ready for this change is to create evergreen Expanded Text Ads. Having a variety of Expanded Text Ads well put together, informative, and conversion-focused will be very beneficial to your campaigns. You’ll still be able to test and see how this ad copy does in the auction and use that data to inform your Responsive Search Ads changes.
The second way to prepare is to start working on your Responsive Search Ads. If you don’t currently use any Responsive Search Ads, you’ll want to start adding them to your campaigns and include at least one per ad group. These ads are very similar to how Expanded Text Ads work but allow more options for headlines and descriptions. Google will choose which headlines to display to a searcher depending on the query they searched.
If you have a handful of expanded Expanded Text Ads that convert often, you should consider using those headlines and descriptions in your new Responsive Search Ads.
The Takeaway
If you’re currently working in Google Ads, now is the time to start making changes to set yourself up for continued success. Getting ahead of the curve and setting up your Responsive Search Ads early in 2022, you’ll be able to gather a considerable amount of data on how your ads are performing. You’ll also see what you can do to ensure your campaigns are in a good spot before Expanded Text Ads phase-out. Make sure to review which ads are performing the best and use that information to help you build Responsive Search Ads that get users to click through to your site and take action.