Google’s recently announced Expanded Text Ads (ETAs), which permit advertisers to expand the length of their ads by more than 50%. Expanded Text Ads are displayed on both desktop and mobile, and give advertisers the extraordinary capability of exploiting this additional space.
Much like Standard Text Ads, Expanded Text Ads are available on both the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network. ETAs are also supported by all Google AdWords tools that currently support Standard Text Ads.
Early Results:
NetElixir’s Research Insights Lab came together to decipher the performance of Standard Text Ads versus Expanded Text Ads.
Our team conducted their study over a three-week period, from July 14 to August 4, 2016. They analyzed the performance of two different text ad types for Brand and Non-Brand traffic across two retail verticals, including the apparel and gifting industry.
Brand Traffic
For Brand traffic, early results showed ETAs are dominating on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for both Desktop and Mobile, with lower Cost Per Clicks (CPCs) They’ve also seen a better Conversion Rate (CR) on ETAs for Brand traffic
Non-Brand Traffic
In the case of Non-Brand traffic, Expanded Text Ads’ Click-Through Rates (CTR) were nearly in line with Standard Text Ads. In our study, we found that ETAs received 2% higher CTR when compared to the Standard Text Ads.
Early Best Practices
Some of the initial findings from our team include the following:
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There were instances where Google truncated our ads on the SERP. Google has strongly recommended that all advertiser should text ETAs alongside Standard Text Ads. Our best practice is to keep both formats of text ads for now.
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The focus should primarily be on Headline 1, as the second headline may appear after a line break. It’s also the first content the end user views when viewing your ad so make it creative and engaging.
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As of October 26, 2016, Google AdWords will no longer support the creation or editing of Standard Text Ads.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on any and all changes related to Expanded Text Ads moving forward.
Stay tuned for next time!
