Adwords Announces Changes to Character Limits

During their recent Ads & Analytics Innovations Keynote event, Google announced the biggest changes to their advertising network since Adwords was launched 15 years ago. Starting later this year, advertisers will be able to use two 30-character headlines, designed to attract more eyes and therefore clicks than the current single 25-character headline format. The description line(s) of the ads are also changing: the two description lines of 35 characters each will be replaced by one unified description line of 80 characters, allowing for more content, and greater flexibility when it comes to writing your description line.

The two changes combined create an almost 50% increase in the maximum character count for each ad. Google’s early tests show a 20% increase in clickthrough rates over the current ad format. The update has been planned with mobile in mind, where over half of searches occur. Google’s theory is that users on mobile are more hesitant to click on links on a search result pages due to the browsing experience involved. By introducing these changes, they hope advertisers will be able to get across more of what they offer in their paid search ads, encouraging more clicks. 

We suspect the majority of PPC marketers and brands are rejoicing at the announcement. We’ve all had the experience of creating that perfectly written ad that is just 1 character too long. It’s one of the most frustrating parts of PPC account management. However this will not change, we’ll continue to push the available ad formats to their limits and in time even the 80 character description line will become a limiting factor. 

We expecting that the new text ad with 50% more content may draw the eye more, which should help advert click through rates. However, some users may find Google’s new ad format less engaging since they will appear less succinct and easy to read. Advertisers may find that, following the changes, they not only need to test their ad messaging, but also the length of their ads. We’re looking forward to testing the new expanded creative opportunities for our clients in the near future.