AdWords Ad Formats

3.2 Ad Formats Guidelines & Best Practices

Text Ad Guidelines & Best Practices

Text Ad Guidelines and Policies

AdWords text ads are subject to AdWords advertising policies and may be disapproved if they aren't in compliance with these guidelines. Disapproved ads may not run on Google or the Google advertising network.

AdWords text ad policies fall into the three categories: editorial and format, content, and link. All guidelines are intended to help advertisers create effective ads to meet their advertising goals.

You'll find selected AdWords text ad policies listed below. Please also review the complete text ad policies in the AdWords Help Center.

• Editorial and format: These policies typically apply to the ad text (the first three lines of your ad). For example:

   Character limit: Your intended headline, text, and URL must fit within the required limits and not be cut off.

   Prices, discounts, and free offers: If your ad includes a price, special discount, or "free" offer, it must be clearly and accurately displayed on your website within 1-2 clicks of your ad's landing page.

   Punctuation and symbols: Among other requirements, ads may only contain a maximum of one exclamation point.

• Content: These policies relate to the products and services you advertise, and may apply to ads and the content of your site. For example, advertising is not permitted for the promotion of certain weapons, or for aids to pass drug tests.
• Link: These policies relate to the display and destination URLs in your ad. For example, the display URL must be accurate, and links to your website must allow users to enter and exit the landing page easily.

Writing Targeted Ad Text

Below are some specific tips to help you create compelling ad text.

• Create simple, enticing ads.
  What makes your product or service stand out from your competitors? Highlight these key differentiating points in your ad. Be sure to describe any unique features or promotions you offer.
• Include prices and promotions.
  The more information about your product that a user can gain from your ad text, the better. For example, if a user sees the price of a product and still clicks the ad, you know they're interested in a potential purchase at that price. If they don't like the price, they won't click your ad, and you save yourself the cost of that click.
• Use a strong call-to-action.
  Your ad should convey a call-to-action along with the benefits of your product or service. A call-to-action encourages users to click on your ad and ensures they understand exactly what you expect them to do when they reach your landing page. Some call-to-action phrases are Buy, Purchase, Call today, Order, Browse, Sign up, and Get a quote; while "find" and "search" may be accurate verbs, they imply that the user is still in the research mode, and may not encourage the user to perform the action you'd most like them to take.
• Include one of your keywords in your ad text.
  Find the best performing keyword in your ad group and include it in your ad text, especially in the title. Whenever a user types that keyword and sees your ad, the keyword phrase will appear in bold font within your ad on Google. This helps draw the user's attention to your ad and shows users that your ad relates to their search.