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The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads Ad Extensions

Brad Smith

Ad Extensions are one of the best features of Google Ads. Adding a single new ad extension improves CTR by 10-15%, on average, so you can’t afford to leave them empty.

But knowing when, why, and where to use them is another story.

Throwing ad extensions on your ads “just to do it” is a surefire way to reduce your CTR or attract irrelevant clicks and non-converting traffic.

With so many options, it’s more critical than ever before to use them properly.

Since they play a role in your quality score, misuse can result in more than just bad CTRs (hint: your bottom line).

We’ve put together the ultimate guide to Google Ads ad extensions (including the latest 2020 options and upcoming extensions) to help you improve your campaign performance and bottom line.

Ad Extensions: Key to Solving Your Google Ads Pain Points

Google Ads is a grind. It’s filled with pain points that you could never have imagined. If you’ve ever written ads on Google Ads, you’ve likely noticed one huge issue:

Character limits.

Attempting to squeeze piles of information into your ads is simply impossible. You’ve got your business phone number. Coupons. Discounts. Other site links.

Not to mention the meat and potatoes of your ads: Your keywords, benefits, and call to action. It’s clearly not possible to communicate all that you want to communicate.

And that’s where ad extensions come into play: they are the keys to solving all of your pain points.

According to Google,

Extensions expand your ad with additional information—giving people more reasons to choose your business.”

Google Ad Extensions pretty much do exactly what you think they’d do by reading the name: extend your ad’s length by adding more valuable information for consumers.

When you search on Google, you’ve likely come across multiple ad extensions on a given search.

Now here is a result that currently uses ad extensions:

Let’s recap real quick:

Aside from extending your ad text, why should you use ad extensions?

Here’s why.

Why Should You Use Ad Extensions?

Ad extensions do a lot more than just extending the length of your ads. While that is a huge benefit, it’s not the end all be all.

According to Google:

Ad extensions increase an ad’s click-through-rate by several percentage points.”

In multiple studies, Google found massive increases in CTR, up to even 20% from ads without them.

When bidding on branded search terms, you can expect anywhere from 20-50% increases in CTR.

Pretty compelling, right?

Increasing your CTR is a surefire way to generate more sales and a better return on investment.

And the plus side of ad extensions is that they don’t cost a single cent to add to your campaign. Clicks don’t go up in price, and it doesn’t cost a fee to use them.

One of the biggest benefits of ad extensions is freeing up your copy to focus on creating the best call to action you can.

When you aren’t using ad extensions, it’s tempting to throw in information like coupons or discounts.

Sure, those are pretty good at increasing CTR. But they also take up tons of room that could be used by ad extensions.

And when you have little to no room left for good copy, your ad text is boring, stale, and repeated by thousands of ads before.

They don’t stand out.

Your ads should make it impossible for someone not to click. And WITHOUT extensions, that’s NOT possible.

Before you go willy-nilly using ad extensions like crazy, here’s where most people go wrong and why they don’t see the promised CTR increases that they desire.

Where Most People Go Wrong With Ad Extensions

Ad extensions promise a lot of things to advertisers. And nothing is more desirable than increasing your CTR.

It’s amazing to see case studies where companies increase their CTR by 50% and see massive profits. It’s intriguing, to say the least. But more often than not, it’s a siren song that leads you down the wrong path: Taking it too far.

It’s tempting to apply ad extensions to every single ad you produce in large quantities.

Why not, right?

Add them to every single ad group, campaign, and ad. Add phone numbers, locations, messages, discounts, sitelinks, and callouts. But don’t stop there.

Unfortunately, that’s the current mentality you see with ad extensions.

People simply hear the phrase “increase CTR,” and they go wild.

But it doesn’t work like that. In fact, that can negatively impact your CTR.

How?

By reducing ad relevancy and dropping your quality scores, resulting in more expensive clicks and worse performance.

If you are not familiar with the quality score metric, here is a fast refresher course.

Your quality score is a 1-10 number estimate of ad relevancy, keywords, and landing page experience.

According to Google, the higher your quality score, the more relevant and cheaper your ads will be.

The quality score is made up of three distinct features:

When it comes to ad extensions, what do you notice?

Two of the three major factors are impacted by ad extensions!

Ad extensions can influence both ad relevance and expected CTR.

If you use the wrong ad extensions or ones that don’t apply to your goals or the call to action on your ads, you can expect lower CTRs than average, resulting in a worse quality score. Not to mention a significant impact on ad relevance.

Your landing page might still find success, but that’s only 1/3rd of the quality score.

Most people go wrong with ad extensions when they don’t tailor them to each ad.

For instance, take a look at this extension:

This company is promoting their SEO tool with search network ads.

Accompanied by their ad are sitelink extensions directly related to SEO tool functions like audits, keyword research, and more.

Now that’s an excellent use of ad extensions that are likely to produce better than expected CTR and improved relevance, increasing quality scores, and dropping costs.

Now take a look at this example, where the ad extension doesn’t match the apparent goal of the ad:

They use two forms of ad extensions on this ad, yet neither of them relates to the call to action they give.

They clearly want phone calls to their business, as they offer a massive discount for calling. But both of the ad extensions are tailored to bringing people to their site for more.

See the problem? That’s a surefire way to get fewer results.

Don’t go wrong by throwing ad extensions on your ads just to do it because you read a study about improved CTR. Every time you use extensions, make sure they are helping or improving your call to action.

Every time you use extensions, make sure they are helping or improving your call to action.

If you want people to visit your site, don’t use phone call extensions.

Want phone calls? Don’t use extensions that promote people clicking all over your site.

Now that you know what ad extensions are, why you should use them, and where most people go wrong, let’s dive into each ad extension that Google Ads has to offer and how you can set them up today.

Here’s a quick list of all the Google Ads Ad Extensions we cover in this post:

Bookmark this post and keep this list as a reference, you can use it anytime you create your next Google Ads campaign to quickly find which extension your Ad needs to give you the results your business needs.

Ad Extension Option 1: Location Extensions

Location location location.

We’ve all heard that phrase before.

To our luck, it’s still relevant even in 2020.

With modern technology, we can be walking down the street, see a pair of shoes that we like, head to Google and locate a store that sells them within thirty seconds or less.

With the invention of online commerce, you can either see it as a threat to your local business or a tool for growth.

And with location extensions, you can leverage them for unprecedented growth.

If you are running a local business with a brick and mortar presence, location extensions will be your best friend.

It’s common to think that offline and online commerce are two separate functions. And that online and offline marketing can’t coexist or produce compounding results.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Combining the efforts of online and offline marketing and sales can help you boost revenue faster than treating each as their own separate functions.

And according to Google’s latest studies, this is true.

Recently, Google analyzed tons of searches related to local queries.

They found that 76% of people who searched for a nearby product online visited that company’s business within a single day. Of that, 28% of them purchased a product.

These local-based searches are increasing (by 130%) every single year, too:

Meaning the chances of you bringing online searchers to your offline stores is growing with each passing day, month, and year.

It’s never been a better time to have an online and offline presence, let alone using both together in harmony.

Location extensions work by showcasing your local business address on the actual ad for given search results.

For instance, searching for a local plumber will generate ads with location extensions:

Clicking on the location extension will count as a click, just like clicking on your website. Except this extension doesn’t take you to a website, but instead, drives the user to Google Maps with the location already inputted into the destination:

These extension types are fantastic for mobile-focused campaigns, as mobile users are obviously more likely to be “on the go” than desktop browsers.

But that’s not to say that desktop users don’t use maps or won’t use them to find a local business.

Instant foot traffic is just more likely to be mobile.

So, how do you set them up?

Setting up your location extensions takes a bit more work than your average ad extension because it requires you to link your Google My Business account.

Follow these instructions, and you’ll be on your way to using location extensions in just a few minutes.

First, head to your Google Ads account dashboard and navigate to the ads and extensions tab:

From here, click the extensions sub-section in the menu to head to the extension tab.

Then, click the plus sign to add a new extension, and select the location extension option from the drop-down menu:

Next, link your Google My Business account with Google Ads:

If you don’t see your Google My Business account as a listed option, you can select option two and send yourself an email to link the accounts.

Next, click “Manage locations in Google My Business.”

Doing this allows you to edit locations and addresses for your business.

If you have multiple business locations, you will be able to add and edit them, selecting between them depending on what campaigns you run.

And that’s it. After connecting your GMB account, you should see location extensions waiting for you to use in the ad extensions tab.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 2: Affiliate Location Extensions

Picture this:

You’re in the same scenario, walking down the street and you see a product that catches your eye. Or you use someone’s headphones, and you want to buy them.

You search and find that three locations in your area sell them.

Pretty cool, right?

Maybe you don’t have a brick and mortar presence yourself, but you still find it amazing at how possible it is to drive traffic from online searches to real, in-store purchases.

If you don’t have your own local storefront, you can still take advantage of it by using affiliate location extensions.

These powerful extensions are great for companies who sell products in different stores.

For instance, if the local hardware shop of the searchers’ town carries your products, you can use these extensions to target them.

They will search for your products, find the affiliate extension, and then head to that local store to buy your product off the shelf.

Why are these extensions good?

Because they give searchers more than one option.

People don’t have to make the trip to a single store. They can choose between multiple ways to buy your product.

And let’s face it: anyway we can make the buying process easier and more convenient for users, the better.

These extensions help to reduce friction.

They can be used by national retail brands, brands that sell products to other retailers, or even businesses with multiple locations in the same general area.

For instance, if your store has three locations in Los Angeles, you can provide all three of those

locations on the same ad using this extension, making it easier for a customer to buy based on their location.

Here is what affiliate location extensions will look like when you search on Google Ads:

Exact products being searched or general product categories show these extensions.

Looking for online products won’t generate these extensions.

To set up these ad extensions, head back to the ads and extensions tab in your dashboard.

Select affiliate location extensions from the list:

From here, you can begin setting up general retailers by linking your accounts and locations to local retail shops based on country of operations:

After selecting your country, you can browse or search an extensive list of chains:

Select a store, and Google Ads will take care of the rest. You should instantly see an example of how the ad extension will look on your ad:

Voila! You did it!

Now you can reap the rewards of affiliate locations to drive sales for your business.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 3: Callout Extensions

Callout extensions are one of the easiest and most widely used extensions on the market.

Why?

Because anyone and everyone can use them and they take just minutes to set up.

You don’t need a local business with a local address. You don’t need a retail store carrying your products.

You don’t even need a business phone number or message capabilities.

All you need is a few bits of crafty text to add to your ads and the ability to type.

The great part about callout extensions is the ability to extend your ad copy significantly, giving you room to place quick bits of information into your ad that generally would be forced into your descriptions and headlines.

Here is what typical callout extensions look like:

They are simple, short phrases that mostly focus on your features and any bits of compelling info that could push consumers over the edge from indecisive to buying.

When callout extensions show up on your ads, you can have anywhere from two to six at once in addition to your ad text.

There is a 25 character limit for each callout extension, but try to keep them even shorter..

Simple, snappy, and quick features/ benefits will win with this ad extension format.

For instance, if you currently say things like “free shipping” or “24/7 support” in your headline or description, move those to your callout extensions. Don’t waste precious description space on features. Instead, use that space for benefits.

Benefits are what people care about, not features. Nobody cares about your x10a456 computer microprocessor (I don’t even know what I just wrote). They care about speed and reducing crashes. About a smooth, better experience.

Let your ad description copy focus on that and then reinforce that message with callouts.

Callouts are a perfect place to add features without hindering your benefits, combining both for maximum impact.

To set up callout extensions, create a new one from the drop-down menu.

In the “Callout text” box you can add your callouts with the 25 character limit.

But remember, keep it punchy: stick to two or three words maximum.

Advertise features of your business that set you apart from others, like free shipping, ongoing discounts, or 24/7 phone support.

One big mistake that people make with callouts is just adding them without tweaking the advanced settings based on each campaign.

Since they are so easy to add, it’s easy to fall into the trap of getting in and out fast. To get the job done and finally close Google Ads so you can stop pulling out your hair.

But before you go, click on “Advanced options”:

This is where callouts really start to excel. You’ll notice on almost all search network ads that most callouts are boring, simple, and repeated by nearly every business.

Why? Because they aren’t utilizing the advanced settings to their advantage:

Advanced options allow you to select device preferences, scheduling, and more. These are all significant factors of what is commonly known as brand positioning, an element that can increase repeat conversions by 50%.

Looking at key aspects of your business can inform your positioning strategy to be used with callouts.

For instance, are you looking to increase mobile sales? Are they lacking?

Create a “free shipping mobile-only” callout and select “Mobile” as your device preference.

Boom! That’s a huge perk, and it will only show for mobile users.

Have a limited time sale? Offer coupons that have a specific start and end date.

Do you have live agents waiting to talk with interested leads?

Have a callout for it and set the “Days and hours” to your exact business hours, ensuring that users really can interact with a live agent in seconds.

You get the point:

Take your callout extensions to the next level by offering specific and customized options for every searcher.

Do they really work?

They do. PPC Hero A/B tested callout extensions, finding that adding them caused a 221% increase in click-through rates and a 40% conversion rate lift. Taking them away dropped their

CTR dramatically, lowering conversions.

Callouts are easy to add. Take them to the next level with greater specificity, and you’ll see even better results.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 4: Sitelink Extensions

Just like callout extensions, sitelink extensions are a fan favorite on Google Ads advertisers.

And for similar reasons:

They are extremely easy to add and they provide tons of value for how little effort is needed to use them.

Let me run an example by you.

You are searching for a product for the first time.

For instance, you want to learn more about SEO tools.

So you head to Google and search for SEO tools.

But you aren’t well versed in the subject just yet. Clicking on the first link to purchase might seem a bit overwhelming.

You don’t even know what to look for, let alone heading to a landing page designed to get you to sign up yet.

And that’s where a sitelinks extension comes into play:

They give you more options to link back to your website.

In this case, it would help a user who wants to learn more about it before heading to a purchase page.

These sitelinks work to explain different tools, their usage, and even provide a trial.

On Google Ads, writing an ad involves adding what’s called a “Final URL.”

That’s your landing page, and each ad can only have one.

That is pretty limiting when you likely have multiple pages that consumers would like to see, right?

Right.

With sitelinks, you can overcome that by adding additional relevant links!

The key here is relevancy.

If you are advertising for socks, add sitelinks for different sock types. Don’t use it as an opportunity to sell hats or other products you carry.

Keep sitelinks as specific as possible to your original ads.

To set up a sitelink extension, head to your dashboard, and create them as a new ad extension.

From here, you have tons of room to edit them as you wish:

Sitelink extensions allow you to add tons of additional text too. For character limits, you can add

25 characters for sitelink text and 35 characters for each description line.

If you add “Sitelink text,” your ad extensions will show up like this:

They will essentially look like callout extensions but with links back to your site instead of just plain text.

If you decide to add descriptions to fill it out more and provide additional info, they will look like this:

I recommend either:

  1. Using the full sitelink extensions with description info completed and callout extensions (like the ad above does), or…
  2. Just using sitelink extensions without descriptions and no callouts to keep the ad from looking too cluttered and repetitive.

Before setting your new sitelinks live, be sure to edit this one, all-important feature:

“Add to.”

The default setting is your account, which means that this sitelink you create is added at the account level, applying to every and any ad you create or have created.

Generally speaking, you don’t want to do that.

You want sitelinks to relate to each ad or campaign.

Remember: specificity is key!

In the advanced options settings, you can again tailor your sitelinks based on the same features as callouts:

Have mobile-specific links to share? Select “Mobile” as the preferred device.

And that’s all. You can now add sitelinks to your ads to give them more depth and options.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 5: Call Extensions

You just worked a long, ten-hour day only to come home to a flooded basement.

Your pipes were clogged, and something burst, resulting in bad damage.

What’s your next move?

To call a plumber.

But which one?

You won’t know that answer until you head to Google.

Call extensions are your best bet at capturing business leads that need help, products, or information fast.

You can bet that someone who has had their basement flooded isn’t going to browse your website for hours on end before making a buying decision.

They sure as heck aren’t gonna fill out a form either or wait for you to contact them back.

Instead, they are going to reach out via phone to get help yesterday.

And that’s why call extensions are amazing.

When searching on Google, call extensions are often shown depending on what query you used:

On Mobile, call extensions will show as clickable buttons for ease of use, which makes them even more effective. (You can also use call-only ads if you want to drive more calls from mobile phones.)

When searching for a query that indicates the need for services ASAP, phone numbers will show.

To set up a call extension for your business, head to your dashboard and create a new extension.

From here, you can quickly type in your business phone number to get it live:

Next, you should enable call reporting and tell Google Ads to track calls from ads as conversions:

This will ensure that you don’t see a big fat zero in your conversions metrics on Google Ads, leading to potential panic attacks.

While calls aren’t technically conversions yet, you can adjust your metrics as people convert to services.

The key thing to note with call extensions is this:

Can you answer the phone when it rings?

If not, you are going to cost yourself a fortune in leads that never get back to you.

You (literally) can’t afford to have calls go unanswered. That’s money out of your pocket every time.

And you can’t keep people on hold forever, either:

66% of consumers feel that two minutes is the absolute maximum length for being put on hold.

After that, they hang up.

So if you don’t have the capacity for answering the phone quickly, chances are you will end up wasting ad spend.

Before turning on call extensions, make sure you are able and ready to receive the calls and the volume you will likely get.

To combat this, you can again edit advanced settings like only showing the extension during your business hours, ensuring that all calls get answered.

This will prevent calls when an employee isn’t there to answer.

Use these when you want to get quick sales for your business, or your sales staff are excellent at converting colder leads into prospects.

If you don’t usually accept calls, don’t force it by using this extension type.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 6: Structured Snippets

Structured snippets are one of the best ways to provide additional information for your business in a dynamic way.

When a user searches on Google, the intent is different from keyword to keyword.

Someone looking for a Dell laptop with i7 and 8GB of ram is looking for something very specific.

On the other hand, someone looking to compare i7 laptops isn’t.

The intent is vastly different which, in theory, should lead to different ad extensions.

With Google Ads, adding multiple data points for structured snippets will help you capitalize on this massive pain point.

Google chooses the most relevant structured snippet based on query intent.

Currently, you can choose between the following data points:

For example, choosing “Service catalog” would result in a list of your different company services to be displayed as the structured snippet:

Selecting a header like insurance coverage would allow you to list out all of the insurance types that your business offers:

Similarly, choosing degree programs, you could list out all of the degrees that people can get with your school: business, accounting, HR, marketing, etc.

The structured snippet extension shows on both desktop and mobile devices.

Google recommends that you use at least four different values per header.

For instance, that would mean four different insurance types if you select insurance coverage as your header.

Structured snippet extensions are like callouts in that they display key information on your business. But the big difference here is that Google will customize which ones are shown based on different keyword searches.

Meaning that they adapt and fit the best option based on each user searching.

This ensures that they find the correct information and that your extensions aren’t just there to make the ad look better.

Use these to showcase more information about your business if it falls into any of the listed categories/ headers above.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 7: Message Extensions

Phone calls are becoming an outdated mode of communication. People hate talking on the phone.

Just snap me. Just text me. WhatsApp me.

*insert speech about how back in my day kids played outside…

Okay, but in all seriousness, you’ve probably even noticed this from anecdotal evidence, like the last time the phone rang and you thought: who on earth is calling me? Why aren’t they texting first??

We’ve all been there. With that exact look in our eyes: pure terror.

With inventions and progression of technology, we have become averse to answering and initiating calls.

Messaging is on the rise, and phone calls are steadily dropping.

The most popular apps in the world today all involve messaging:

All of these apps are dedicated to messaging or revolve around messaging in some way, shape, or form.

So, why not take advantage of this culture and dynamic shift by using message extensions on your next Google Ad?

Message extensions are simple:

These extensions allow customers to text your business for information, rather than calling.

It’s a great alternative or addition to your call extensions to drive fast sales even if a person is averse to talking on the phone (which they are).

To set up message extensions, head to your dashboard and create one from the extensions page:

When setting up message extensions, things can get a bit complicated, and it requires some serious specialization based on campaigns.

There are a few key components to each message extension:

  1. Extension text: this is essentially your headline, your piece of text that is listed to convince people to text you. For example, in the image above, the extension text says “Send us a text for more information.”
  2. Message text: message text is different. When a user wants to message you from the extension, they will click on your extension text. From here, it opens the user’s preferred text messaging application and will populate it with the message text, saving that user time in typing out their own message. This encourages more texts by easily initiating the conversation.

These two key factors are great, but do you notice any potential problems?

A lack of specificity could be devastating.

That example above is way too generic. These message extensions should be customized for every single campaign or ad group, not at the account level (unless you are running basic brand awareness ads that don’t change).

This way, you can tailor message text to each product or service you sell, rather than generic text that won’t compel a user to message you.

As with call extensions, tailor your advanced settings to only show this extension during business hours when you can respond fast.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 8: Price Extensions

When was the last time that you searched for a product online? What steps were involved? It was likely that you went to Google (or some other search engine) first.

And then you searched for a product, compared them, and bought one.

But everything in between was vital. Mainly, cost.

When browsing for specific products or services, there is no doubt that pricing and cost is a huge factor in decision making.

People want the best deal they can get. Every time. No questions asked.

It’s one of the main reasons as to why people use the internet: comparison shopping.

People love to compare deals, coupons, and items from different shops to make sure they get the most bang for their buck.

We’ve all done it and as long as the free market exists, we all will.

Price extensions are your chance to add a new depth to your ads and convince users to convert by being upfront and showcasing your pricing on the ad itself:

Not only is this ad extension type good for simply showing prices, but you can also showcase more than one product or service at a time, appealing to broader markets with a single ad.

Instead of creating five ads for different haircuts for kids, adults, teens, boys, and girls, you can do one with multiple pricing points as an extension.

You can use pricing extensions on both mobile and desktop ads, so either device is covered if you want to use these to drive sales.

 

To set them up, create them as a new extension type in your dashboard.

These are a bit tricky to navigate, so here is a quick list of the features and what they mean.

Currently, the listed types to choose from on Google Ads are:

    1. Brands
    2. Events
    3. Locations
    4. Neighborhoods
    5. Product categories
    6. Product tiers
    7. Service categories
    8. Service tiers
    9. Services

For example, when selecting events, you could list different concerts that you are selling tickets for:

Selecting locations, you could advertise different cruise locations that your business offers and the pricing on each:

Select different types based on your campaign goals and what types of products you sell.

Current price qualifiers that you can use are:

    1. From
    2. Up to
    3. Average

To get started, input your price qualifier and type. Next, you can fill in your price extension item information, like headers, descriptions, and your final URL:

The header is limited to 25 characters as well as the description.

Your “Final URL” is merely the landing page that you want to send people to. This would be the exact page on your website that lists the product you are referencing in the extension.

If you have different mobile links to use, you can input a mobile Final URL that will direct all mobile traffic to that specific URL, rather than the standard Final URL.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 9: App Extensions

Mobile applications are significant factors in our everyday life experience at this point.

According to Statista, there are nearly four million applications in the Apple App Store.

If you are in the market for getting more downloads to your mobile application, you likely know the struggles of severe, saturated, overcrowded competition.

It’s nearly impossible to get noticed. To get recognized and have real, targeted users download your app.

Thankfully, application ad extensions exist, and they boast powerful, targeted measures to get qualified users downloading fast.

These mobile-specific ad extensions are great for driving downloads to your app. Here is what they look like:

What happens when someone clicks the app extension? They are taken to their app store of choice (based on platform), right to your application information page.

This extension won’t bring people to your website, so keep that in mind.

It is critical that you make your application page on the app store wonderful and conversion focused.

Treat it like it’s any other landing page on your current site. Provide tons of pictures of it in use, a list of features, benefits, and information on it.

Go in-depth and get people interested.

When creating your app extension, select the mobile app platforms that you use:

Next, you can look up your app by searching the name or publisher name.

Once you’ve selected your mobile app, you can now customize your download text, aka your call to action:

Make sure to create a compelling call to action and to keep it under 25 characters.

Here is a good template to follow:

[Click to Download appname Now!]

Lastly, you can choose whether or not you want your ad extension to show on tablets:

If your application isn’t optimized for tablet usage, definitely exclude it, as you don’t want to be wasting clicks on users who will have a bad experience and delete your app.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 10: Promotion Extensions

It’s 2020 and the holidays are fast approaching.

What’s your gameplan to produce amazing sales for the holiday season?

Little Timmy wants his gift, and you have to deliver with savings and deals as wonderful as his Christmas tree.

We all know that offering deals can drive sales. But offering deals in your normal ad description text limits your ability to really convey the message you want:

That your product is great.

When you focus all of your ad copy on discount codes, people don’t find it very compelling.

They don’t even know what they are getting into at that point.

Thankfully, you don’t have to do that.

Instead, take advantage of promotion extensions on your next campaign.

Promotion extensions are great for running holiday and seasonal sales campaigns.

Even if you aren’t running holiday-specific deals, you can run limited-time promotions.

When creating promotion extensions, you have a few essential items that you will need to adjust based on your products and what promotional types you want to experiment with.

  1. Promotion type:
    What type of promotion are you running? Do you want to offer a dollar discount, as in $10 off your next purchase? Or did you want to run a percentage based promotion, like 10% off? Currently, you can offer the following types: monetary (dollar amount), percent discount, up to monetary discount, up to percent discount.
  2. Currency:
    What currency do you use? This can be adjusted and customized based on advertising locations if you sell internationally.
  3. Occasion:
    Depending on what seasonal campaign you run, you can create this for specific holidays. The current list includes: New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s and Father’s day, Labor Day, Back-to-school, Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and Boxing Day (or, none!)
  4. Promotion details:
    What is required for the coupon/ promotion to work? In this case, you can either use a promo code or “on orders over” which allows you to set a minimum order value to activate the coupon.
  5. Displayed promotion dates:
    The start and end date/ time of your promotion.

Depending on which occasion you select, it will show that holiday directly on your promotion extension:

This is a fantastic way to appeal to holiday sales and make it clear that these sales will be there for that holiday only.

If you want to run ongoing promotions that don’t conform to a holiday, select “None” from the occasion list and select your own date and time for starting and ending the campaign.

Using specific occasions will restrict your usage date. Here is a table listing out the start and end dates that you can use for occasion-based promotions:

Promotion extensions are a fantastic way to encourage sales for holidays or simply advance a new promotion that can catch the eye of buyers on Google.

Back To Google Ads Ad Extensions List

Ad Extension Option 11: Lead Form Extension

Google is tired of losing market share to other online advertising giants, and have finally released their answer to Facebook lead ads.

Instead of having to visit a landing page to sign up for a coupon, quote or offer, searchers and users can do it all within the ad.

This is especially useful for mobile users or logged-in Google Chrome users, where their name, email, and other information can be pre-filled.

First announced in October 2019, (as of August 2020), the Google lead form extension has hit open beta. The majority of advertisers in most countries can try these new ad extensions out for their own campaigns.

There are three parts to a Google Ads lead form extension:

First, there’s the initially visible extension, where you can choose a CTA and write a 30 character description:

Then, there’s the actual lead form of the extension, where you can write a 30-character headline, your business name, and a description of up to 200 characters:

Finally, you can customize the submission message to give the leads any further instructions or information, and even link to your website:

All in all, the lead form extension is great for service businesses that want to skip the landing page and capture leads without a designer.

Upcoming: Image Extensions (Currently in Closed Beta)

The image extension is a potential new search ad extension that is (as of August 2020) currently in closed beta.

A select few advertisers in a selection of countries already have the ability to use these ads.

(Google hasn’t officially announced them yet, but if you have significant monthly spend and an assigned account manager, you can contact them about joining the beta.)

If you’re one of the lucky few, the ads are easy to activate:

Just like other extensions, you can add them to the campaign or ad group level.

An image extension is perfect for spicing up an otherwise boring, text-based search ad for a physical product. The visual will help you better appeal to potential customers.

Automated Extensions: Filling in the Blanks

The Google Ads algorithm generates and displays automated extensions for relevant search terms.

This is especially prevalent for campaigns with limited manual ad extensions. If you’re not providing enough information through manual extensions, it can implement the following:

To find out if this is your campaign, check the campaign or ad group stats. If you find very high impressions for automated extensions, you’ve got work to do.

If Google is often forced to generate generic extensions, like sitelinks and callouts, it will often make recommendations in the regular extensions tab.

One myth is that Google doesn’t show any automated extension if you already have all forms of extensions for your campaigns.

That’s not true.

For some search queries, where Google’s algorithm identifies a better match than existing extensions, it can override them.

For example, if someone searches for “horse riding lessons gallery” and you don’t have an existing gallery sitelink, Google may decide to dynamically generate and show relevant sitelinks.

But if you’ve got good coverage with manual extensions, automated extensions will drop significantly.

In some countries, you can also get automated seller ratings extensions based on an aggregate of ratings from “reputable sources” according to Google.

Conclusion

Ad extensions are a Google advertiser’s best friend, but a single Google Ads extension won’t transform your campaign.

You need to use the relevant extensions to the best of your ability to create a better experience for your target audience.

When done right, extensions literally solve all of your pain points for you!

They can improve your performance, increase CTR and display rates, and lower CPCs on your ads when used properly.

They help to extend the character limit and allow you to focus your ad text on more compelling copy like calls to action and keywords.

But most people go wrong using them by assuming that slapping a bunch of ad extensions together will do the trick.

In fact, it’s generally the opposite. Using more specific ad extensions tailored directly to each ad’s CTA is the best way to do it.

With tons of options for ad extensions, pick a few that apply directly to your goals for that campaign or specific ad.

In your next campaign, put some of these ad extensions to use!