About text ads in Smart campaigns

Note: Smart campaigns can only be created in Smart mode. New and existing advertisers not in Smart mode are eligible for a variety of other campaigns.

Text ads in Smart campaigns include:

Between 3–15 headlines with 30 characters each
Between 2–4 descriptions with 90 characters each

Here is an example of how a text ad might look:

Ad • example.com/insurance

Comprehensive Insurance | Protect Yourself on a Budget | Get Your Free Quote Today

Get affordable & trustworthy insurance. 10% discount on all online quotes. Easily compare insurance plans side-by-side in just a few seconds.

Frequently asked questions

How do text ads work on mobile devices?

Text ads are designed to optimise for all formats across all devices, including mobile devices.

What are the character limits for text ad fields?

Each headline field for text ads supports up to 30 characters, while each description field supports up to 90 characters. Characters in double-width languages like Korean, Japanese or Chinese count as 2 characters in your headline and description limits. Learn more about Text ad requirements.

Why does my text ad sometimes appear differently when it shows up on Google?

To help your ad attract more customers and receive more clicks, the information you provide about your business and your website’s content is used to create and test alternative ads. In some cases, this information may be used to test different headlines, descriptions or landing pages. It may also be used to add sitelinks or replace your headlines with your business name, phone number or address.

Both the original ad and the new ads will run to determine which are more effective. Ads that perform better consistently will run more often over time.

Will all of the ad text in my text ad always show when my ad shows?

When you create a text ad, headlines and descriptions can appear in any order.

The more headlines and descriptions that you enter, the more opportunities Google Ads has to serve ads that more closely match your potential customers’ search queries, which can improve your ad performance.

In any given ad, a maximum of 3 headlines and 2 descriptions are selected to show in different combinations and orders, so make sure that they make sense individually or in combination and that they don't violate our policies or local law. If you have text that should appear in every ad (such as a legal disclaimer), you must create a search campaign.

In some situations, Google Ads needs to shorten your text, usually with an ellipsis ('...'). For example:

If you have provided a business phone number, in some instances the 'Call' button may take the place of some of your ad text.
If your ad text frequently uses wider characters (like 'm') instead of narrower characters (like 'i'), your headline text may be wider than the space available for it on some browser sizes. With most Latin languages, you can avoid this by limiting your combined headline character count to a total of 33 characters.
While serving on the Google Display Network, some ad formats are limited to 2 headlines.

How do I fix an error when I create or edit text ads?

If you receive an error message when trying to save your ad, this typically means that the text in the ad has to be changed to meet one or more of the Google Ads policies. Make sure that your text ads don't contain:

Incorrect character limit: Use the correct character limit for each field.
Placeholder text: Avoid using generic phrases or terms that aren’t specific to your business or offering.
Incorrect punctuation or capitalisation: Ensure that your punctuation and capitalisation are used correctly and don’t create confusion. Avoid using all caps or excessive exclamation points.
Incomplete sentences: Use complete sentences to convey your message clearly.
Misspellings or incorrect grammar: Double-check your spelling and grammar to maintain a professional image and avoid confusion.

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