Google to sunset Expanded Text Ads in June 2022

Search Engine Land reveals that this is the latest move that Google is making to push automation through their ad products.

From July 2022, advertisers will no longer be able to create new Expanded Text Ads (ETAs) or edit existing ETAs in Google Ads, according to an announcement by Sylvanus Bent, Product Manager, Google Ads:

Your existing expanded text ads will continue to serve alongside responsive search ads, and you’ll still see reports on their performance going forward. Additionally, you’ll be able to pause and resume your expanded text ads or remove them if needed. You’ll also still be able to create and edit call ads and Dynamic Search Ads.

Bent goes on to provide advice in terms of preparing for the change:

To prepare for this change, we recommend that you have at least one responsive search ad in every ad group in your Search campaigns by June 30, 2022

Google’s announcement also includes ways advertisers can repurpose their ETA content for RSAs. Recommendations, which include the following:

• Repurpose high-performing content from your expanded text ads and focus on Ad strength
• Pin headlines or descriptions to specific positions in your responsive search ads
• Evaluate the success of your ads based on incremental impressions, clicks, and conversions your ad groups and campaigns receive

Frederick Vallaeys is Cofounder of Optmyzr:

If you’re in an industry where your ad must contain certain pieces of text in very specific locations, pin away! But if it’s not required, we found that attempting to control the machine by telling it what text to pin to certain ad positions was usually detrimental to results.

Not everyone is happy about the coming change. Gregg Finn is a Partner and Digital Marketer at Cypress North:

[This] stinks for anyone in highly regulated fields. Would be nice if the RSA data was usable or scientific instead of a generic ‘Best’ or ‘Good’ & knowing combos that work together would help.

Tim Jensen is a PPC Campaign Manager at Clix Marketing:

What do people here think?

This is the latest by Google to push automation through their ad products. The announcement says that, “15% of search queries every day are new searches we’ve never seen before” and therefore “Automation is key to keeping pace with these trends.”

Let’s face it, many advertisers do use RSAs, and they also like having the control and capabilities that ETAs offer. The future phase-out of ETAs means advertisers are moving further away from direct control over their accounts and having to work with the Google Ads machine learning and AI.