Targeted, compelling text ads are essential to a high-performing Adwords Search campaign, as they are the first point of contact a prospect has with your offer. The way you craft your ad determines if people click through to your website – so it needs to be relevant and powerful.
This section is broken into different topics in order to give you a deeper understanding of what text ads are:
Text Ads Overview
Google Advertising Standards
Text Ad Overview
A standard Google Text Ad is made up of three main elements:
Headline
Display URL
Description
Headline
People are most likely to notice your headline text, so consider including words that people may have entered in their Google search. Your text ad consists of three headlines where you can enter up to 30 characters each to promote your product or service. The headlines are separated by a vertical pipe ” | ” and may show differently based on the device someone is using when they view your ad.
Display URL
The display URL, usually in green, shows your website address. This display URL is made up of the domain from your final URL (the URL address of the page in your website that people reach when they click your ad) and the text in the optional “Path” fields (example: /Plumber). These fields are designed to help people who see your ad get a better sense of where they’ll be taken when they click it. Your path text doesn’t have to match the exact language of your display URL.
Description
Use the description fields to highlight details about your product or service. It’s a good idea to include a “call to action” – the action you want your customer to take. If you’re an online shoe store, your description might include “Shop now” or “Buy shoes now.” If you offer a service, you might want to add something like “Get an instant quote online” or “See pricing.”
Length Limits
Google recently made changes to text ads so that you have more room to add more information. Now, you can:
- Add a third headline
- Add a second description
- Use up to 90 characters for each description
| Field | Max length |
| Headline 1 | 30 characters |
| Headline 2 | 30 characters |
| Headline 3 | 30 characters |
| Description 1 | 90 characters |
| Description 2 | 90 characters |
| Path (2) | 15 characters each |
In expanded text ads, the length limits are the same across all languages. Each character in double-width languages like Korean, Japanese, or Chinese counts as two towards the limit instead of one.
Tip
You can provide more information about your business, like its location, phone number, or additional deep links into your website, by adding extensions to your text ads. Learn more about ad extensions.
Using special characters with your ads
Most non-English characters, including tildes, umlauts, and cedillas, will appear correctly in your ads, including within the display URL.
Google Advertising Standards
In order to provide a quality user experience, Google requires that all ads, extensions, and destinations meet high professional and editorial standards. They only allow ads that are clear, professional in appearance, and that lead users to content that is relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.
Below are some examples of what to avoid in your ads.
Learn about Google advertising rules and what happens if you violate their policies.
Style and spelling
The following is not allowed:
Ads or extensions that do not use commonly accepted spelling or grammar
Examples: “Flowers here buy” or “Buy flwres here” instead of “Buy flowers here”
Note: Some trademarked terms, brand names, or product names use nonstandard grammar, spelling, punctuation, or capitalization. If you want to use such names in your ads, you must first request a review and show that the nonstandard terms appear consistently throughout your website or app.
Ads or extensions that are incomprehensible or don’t make sense
Examples: Gibberish or overly generic ad text; overly generic or vague promotions; ad text that is cut off or incomplete
Ads or extensions that exceed character limits for double-width character languages
Note: Character limits for text vary depending on whether the text appears in a single-width or double-width language. Double-width languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, use double-width characters that take twice as much space as single-width characters. Therefore, character limits in these languages are half that of other languages.
Ads or extensions that are inconsistent with the clear and informational presentation style of the Google Search results
Examples: Ads that use bullet points or numbered lists; ads containing a generic call to action (such as “click here”) that could apply to any ad.
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Punctuation and symbols
The following is not allowed:
Punctuation or symbols that are not used correctly or for their intended purpose
Examples: Exclamation marks in the ad headline; repeated punctuation or symbols; symbols, numbers, and letters that don’t adhere to their true meaning or purpose, such as using “@ home” to mean “at home”; non-standard use of superscripts; non-standard symbols or characters, such as asterisks; bullet points and ellipses; excessive or gimmicky use of numbers, symbols, or punctuation, such as f1owers, fl@wers, Flowers!!!, f*l*o*w*e*r*s, F.L.O.W.E.R.S
Note: Some types of non-standard punctuation and symbols are allowed in certain circumstances. Trademarks, brand names, or product names that use non-standard punctuation or symbols consistently in the ad’s destination can be approved for use in ads. Symbols used in commonly acceptable ways are also allowed, such as using an asterisk for star ratings (5* hotel) or to indicate that legally required conditions apply. To use any of these kinds of punctuation or symbols, you must request a review.
Note: App titles and developer names are subject to this policy. You may need to change the name in the developer console to have your ads approved, or request a review to have the name approved.
Invalid or unsupported characters
Examples: Emoji, single-byte katakana
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Capitalization
The following is not allowed:
Capitalization that is not used correctly or for its intended purpose
Examples: Excessive or gimmicky use of capitalization, such as the following: FLOWERS, FlOwErS, F.L.O.W.E.R.S
Note: In some circumstances, non-standard capitalization is allowed. For coupon codes, common abbreviations (such as “ASAP”), trademarks, brand names, and product names, you can request a review to see if non-standard capitalization can be approved.
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Repetition
The following is not allowed:
Non-standard, gimmicky, or unnecessary repetition of names, words, or phrases
Note: This policy includes extensions repeating text that already appears in ad text
Examples: Repeating the advertiser name, repeating the product name
Extension text that repeats words or phrases within the same extension or another extension in the same ad group, campaign, or account
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Unacceptable spacing
The following is not allowed:
Omitting a space or adding extra spaces
Examples: “Sale,buy flowers”; “Sale, buy flowers”
Excessive or gimmicky use of spacing
Examples: f l o w e r s, buyflowershere
Note: Some trademarked terms, brand names, or product names use non-standard spacing. If you want to use such names in your ads, you must first request a review and show that the non-standard terms appear consistently throughout your website or app.
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Phone number in ad text
The following is not allowed:
Entering a phone number in ad text
Example: Adding “Call 1-800-123-4567” to the ad’s description
Note: If you want to encourage customers to call you, consider using call extensions or call-only ads instead of putting the number in your ad text. If your company name is an actual phone number (such as “1-800-EXAMPLE”), request a review to see if you can use it in ad text.
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Misuse of ad features
The following is not allowed:
Ads or extensions that do not use the features of the ad unit for their intended purpose
Examples: Ads that don’t contain promotional content; text ads missing a line of text; using the URL field as an additional line of text; animated ads that include a game or contest that people play in order to win prizes or other compensation; ads that encourage people to win a game or contest or claim prizes by clicking the ad; using a screenshot of a text ad to simulate an authentic text ad; making ValueTrack tags visible in ad text; uploaded custom HTML5 ads that have modified clickability
Note: Audio and video are acceptable, but the default setting must be “off” or paused.
Note: HTML5 ads can’t use “Tap Area” (in Google Web Designer) or Javascript Exitapi.exit() to modify clickability. Learn more about modified clickability.
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.
Unidentified business
The following is not allowed:
Ads or destinations that do not name the product, service, or entity they are promoting
Examples: Not including a product or company name or display URL in the ad; animated ads that do not clearly display identifying information such as a product or company name, logo, or display URL on the final static frame (after the animation has ceased); ads or destinations for businesses with an unclear business model; app ads not showing the app name throughout the ad interaction
Learn how to fix a disapproved ad or extension.