How to Create Responsive Search Ads

• This feature is only applicable to Search campaigns on Google.
• Ensure that your ad content adheres to Google Ads editorial policy  .

Responsive search ads  (RSA) provide you with greater flexibility to share your message with prospects. You can use multiple headlines and descriptions with Responsive search ads, where XPO and Google Ads together test different text combinations and learn which ones perform best for your ad.

Your content is adapted to identify your prospects' search keywords and match their search queries. This helps you curate the right headlines and descriptions to improve your campaign's performance.

Instructions

1. From the menu: Creative > +Creative
2. Select Google Ads > Responsive search ad. 
3. Choose the Google Ads Account you wish to use. 
4. Click Submit.

Building a Responsive Search Ad

1. Once you have launched the new responsive ad (creative), you will be directed to the below page:
   
   

   In the Design section, build the Responsive Search Ad by completing the information listed below.

   Design Final URL: the URL address of the webpage in your website that people reach after clicking your ad. If you use a cross-domain redirect, enter it in a tracking template. Headlines: Enter at least 3 (and up to 15) headlines, within a 30 character limit. Descriptions: Enter at least 2 (and up to 4) descriptions, within a 90 character limit. Your ad's description will appear below the display URL. Sample Format for each Insertion Type: Keyword Insertion: {Keyword:default text} Countdown: (COUNTDOWN(yyyy-mm-dd HH:mm:ss, daysBefore)} Location Insertion: {LOCATION(City):default text} Pin Headlines and Descriptions to specific positions By default, when you create a Responsive search ad, headlines and descriptions can appear in any order. Now you can control the location of individual headlines and descriptions. Opt where they appear in your ad by pinning headlines and descriptions to specific positions: Headlines: Show this headline in any position Only show this headline in position 1 Only show this headline in position 2 Only show this headline in position 3 Descriptions: Show this description in any position Only show this description in position 1 Only show this description in position 2

   Optional step: Click Add URL Options to add a tracking template to your RSA. When you set up tracking, you can send potential customers to a specific landing page that has extra information in the URL, like the Responsive ad target that triggered your ad or the type of device the person was using when to click on your RSA. When using this option, it is necessary to include the parameter: {lpurl} to be able to link the creatives to the respective RSA ad groups, followed by other tracking modules (UTM parameters). For example, if your final URL is example.com and you wish to direct people to example.com/?tracking=123, then the tracking template for your RSA should include the {purl} followed by any ValueTrack parameter separated by ampersands (&). The final tracking template would look something like this: /{lpurl}?&tracking=123. Here, the {lpurl} parameter will be replaced by the responsive landing page URL.

2. On the right side of the creative edit page, you can preview what your ad will look like in each of the device types (web, mobile) and channels (Youtube, Google Display, Discover, Search) where Performance Max campaigns can be shown.

   

3. Click Save and link this creative to an ad group. 

You are limited to 3 responsive search ads per ad group

How To Bulk Upload Responsive Search Ads

Learn how to Bulk Upload Responsive Search Ads.
 

Best Practices

• When Google displays your responsive ads, headlines and descriptions can be shown in any order. Therefore ensure they make sense both individually or in combinations
  
  
• To increase the likelihood of your ad viewability, enter at least 5 unique headlines and 3 unique descriptions with different phrases. With such variations, XPO will generate the best ad combinations and keywords. The more headlines and descriptions you add, the better chance of success you have
  
  
• Try to have at least 3 headlines that do NOT include your keywords. This will prevent your ads from being too repetitive and allow you to highlight more value to searchers
  
  
• Use your target keywords in the headlines and try different headline lengths. They don't always have to maximize the characters
  
  
• You can pin more than one headline or description to the same position. But if there is any one headline or description that must be shown in every ad, make sure to pin it to position 1 or 2 for headlines and pin to position 1 for descriptions without pinning anything else at the same position
  
  
•  Write variations of the same headline, such as different calls to actions related to each element of your ad

FAQs

1. Will RSA always show 3 headlines and 2 descriptions?

No. However, your RSA ad will always have at least 2 headlines and a description, so it will never be smaller than an expanded search ad.

2. What is the minimum and maximum number of headlines and descriptions required?

You need a minimum of 3 headlines and 2 descriptions to create a RSA. The maximum headlines are 15 with a maximum of 4 descriptions.

3. Can I edit and clone RSAs?

Yes. You can edit or archive responsive search ads and also clone them across accounts.

4. Can RSA auto-generate an ad based on my keywords and the other ads I have created?

No, you can achieve this by using Dynamic Search Ads.