Responsive Search Ads explained: Basics and benefits

What exactly are RSAs?

By creating traditional search ads, you've generated one static text ad composed of up to three headlines and two descriptions. You had full control over the output, which was definitely the positive of this format.But it also means you had to manually create several variations of these ads (and ad groups too) to cover other search queries.

With Responsive Search Ads (RSAs), you provide Google with multiple headlines, descriptions, and other content. Google then mixes and matches these to craft personalized ads to potential customers based on their search intents and signals.

Looking for numbers? You can add up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Google can generate 43,680 unique combinations from that. Quite a lot for one ad.

How Responsive Search Ads work

It's quite simple. Here's the full process according to Google's RSA guide:

1. Google tries to understand the search intent behind the keywords.
2. The system then assembles various combinations from your pool of headlines, descriptions and other content. Relevant and expected performance for the search query is the most important here
3. From the assembled combinations, the system removes duplicates, reviews for redundancy, and scores the creative combinations.
4. The best combinations are then sent to the auction.

As you can see, Google displays a maximum of three headlines and two descriptions in the final ad. However, on smaller screens, Google may show fewer headlines, but the ad should still contain at least two headlines and one description.

The benefits of Responsive Search Ads

You might believe that relying on algorithms will never be as beneficial as manual work. However, RSAs offer many advantages. They enable you to reach a wider audience and adapt to their search intent, device, signals, and preferences. The ad content delivers a message likely to attract clicks and purchases.

Example: Launching a campaign for Golden earrings

With ETA:

• Creating multiple ad versions based on research. Manually!
• Relevance dependent on how it's built
• Either reaching a wider audience with a less impactful message, higher CPC, or not being displayed at all

With RSA:

• Crafting copy of one RSA based on keywords and unique selling points (USPs)
• Google tailors the ad for maximum relevance
• This makes it more relevant even for audience you didn't expect to reach
• You get to participate in more ad auctions

According to Google, many businesses have reported a significant improvement in their ad performance, particularly in terms of clicks and conversions. Some of the results include a 96% increase in click-through rate (CTR), 61% more conversions, and a 71% increase in revenue.

Character limits of Responsive Search Ads

• Headlines: Craft your attention-grabbing main copy with a maximum of 30 characters per headline. You can create up to 15 different headlines.
• Descriptions: Up to 90 characters. This is the space for providing a more detailed overview of your product, category, or service.
• Destination URL: No limit here. This is only the URL of the page potential customers land on.
• Display URL path: Since your destination URL might not be user-friendly, you can replace it with a custom URL. You have two fields, each 15 characters long, to describe what the landing page is about.
• Total maximum limit: Your entire ad should consist of fewer than 300 characters across all components.

If you believe building an RSA once allows you to ignore it, think again. Search trends evolve, Google updates its features, and your company's USPs may change. So, remember to maintain your RSAs too.

We wish you many clicks on your ads.

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