Google Ads Search
This domain tests how you build and optimize Search text ads, especially responsive search ads (RSAs), and how assets, ad strength, and policy affect performance. Expect questions on asset limits, pinning, extensions, and asset-level reporting.
Core rules for Search creative
- An RSA supports 3–15 headlines (30 characters each) and 2–4 descriptions (90 characters each). Two 15-character path fields can appear after the display URL.
- Google combines assets automatically, so diversity matters: include brand, benefit, feature, price, and call-to-action headlines rather than near-duplicates.
- Ad strength (Poor, Average, Good, Excellent) reflects asset quantity, uniqueness, relevance, and expected performance. It is directional, not a bid.
- Pinning forces an asset into a position (H1, H2, H3, D1, D2). Pin only when a message must always appear; heavy pinning reduces combinations and often ad strength.
- Assets/extensions - sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call, location, price, promotion, image - add information and can raise CTR; they do not add a separate cost per click.
- Policy traps include excessive capitalization, gimmicky punctuation, unsupported superlatives, and unclear relevance to the landing page.
Worked example
A cycling retailer wants to promote a spring sale. The RSA uses 12 headlines such as “Spring Bike Sale,” “Up to 30% Off Bikes,” “Free Shipping Over $50,” “Shop Road & Mountain,” and the brand name; it uses four descriptions covering selection, financing, returns, and the sale end date. The team pins “Spring Bike Sale” to H1 because the seasonal message must always appear, leaves all other assets unpinned, and adds sitelinks to Sale, Accessories, and Service, plus a “30-Day Returns” callout. The final URL is the sale page, and the path fields are /spring-sale. After two weeks they review asset labels (Low, Good, Best) and replace Low headlines rather than adding more duplicates.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing up limits: 30 for headlines, 90 for descriptions, 15 for each path field.
- Assuming more headlines always improve ad strength; uniqueness and relevance matter.
- Pinning every asset, which collapses possible combinations.
- Writing headlines that are irrelevant to the keyword or landing page.
- Treating display URL path text as a real URL; it is descriptive only.