Google Ads introduces ‘ad strength’ indicator & reporting for responsive search ads

One of the loudest complaints I’ve heard so far about Google’s new responsive search ads — which are still in beta —  is a lack of reporting on which combinations work best. Another is how to tell if there is enough variety in the options advertisers provide while still being relevant to the ad group. Google announced a few updates Monday to help advertisers manage responsive search ads more effectively.

Ad strength indicator

Google has pushed advertisers to have at least three ads per ad group for more than a year now, and responsive search ads are aimed at helping advertisers meet that goal. The ideas is that more ads should drive more impressions and clicks for an ad group overall. Google stresses that the ads should be “diverse” — gone are the days of simply micro-testing “Buy now” versus “Shop now,” for example. The new ad strength measures relevance, quantity and diversity of the ad copy in responsive search ads. The indicator ranges from “Poor” to “Excellent” and provides suggestions such as “Add more headlines.”

Starting in early September, ad strength will be available as a column in the interface. It will show up in the ad creation interface for responsive search ads over the next few weeks. In the coming months, it will also be available for responsive display ads.

Reporting on responsive search ads

Advertisers can preview some of their ad combinations as they create responsive search ads, and now new reporting shows stats on top combinations, headlines and descriptions. To see this reporting in the Google Ads interface, go to Ads & extensions and add a filter for Ad types, located under Attributes, and select Responsive search ad.

From the Attributes section, select Ad type then Responsive search ad to see new reporting.

Google now recommends every ad group have at least three ads, including a responsive search ad. Responsive search ads should typically have at least 5 headlines, suggests Google.

Want more info on Paid Search? Check out our comprehensive PPC Guide – Nine chapters covering everything from account setup to automation and bid adjustments!

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About The Author

Ginny Marvin

Ginny Marvin was Third Door Media’s former Editor-in-Chief (October 2018 to December 2020), running the day-to-day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin wrote about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.