Sylvanus Bent, Product Manager, Google Ads announced that beginning in July 2022, advertisers will no longer be able to create or edit existing expanded text ads.

Bent, also commented that “your existing expanded text ads will continue to serve alongside responsive search ads, and you’ll still see reports on their performance going forward. Additionally, you’ll be able to pause and resume your expanded text ads or remove them if needed. You’ll also still be able to create and edit call ads and Dynamic Search Ads,”

In order “to prepare for this change, we recommend that you have at least one responsive search ad in every ad group in your Search campaigns by June 30, 2022”, Bent continued.

Here are some suggestions for you to prepare for the transition:

• Repurpose high-performing content from your expanded text ads and focus on ad strength – do this by pinning headlines or descriptions to specific positions in your responsive search ads but remember that mobile devices are different than desktops.
• Evaluate success based on incremental impressions, clicks, conversions received via these ad groups and campaigns.

In addition, while expanded text ads do give you a bit more control over your headlines and descriptions, it’s important not to create copy in which headlines are dependent on another.

As it can sometimes be hard to articulate a message in single headline of 30 characters, many marketers depend on the second & third headlines to complete a thought. However, you must bear in mind that Google will sometimes not show your third headline & second description, which will make ads read awkwardly to some users. 

We would suggest that you try to keep branded-headlines as the third headline, and less important filler-copy as the second description to be sure you’re always getting necessary information across.

Reflect would suggest aligning your account with the latest best practices. We Recommend that you have at least 1 responsive search ad and 4 expanded text ads variations running in each ad group in your search campaigns.

As the expanded text ads are phased out, it’s likely that we’ll see a process like that of the death of standard text ads. I believe that we will see legacy ads in the accounts remain active for a good chunk of time before having to remove them. Which will provide plenty of time to prepare and test ad variations going forwards.

If you are struggling to gain sustainable returns from your Google Adwords marketing and want to talk to a company with a proven track record, we would love to help you.