Google has quietly begun testing placing headlines in ad copy description text for live ads.
Advertisers were not notified in advance about the ad copy change experiment, and the uncertainty about whether the test might be extended to more accounts led to frustration within the community.
Why we care. Changing the rules without notifying advertisers can make it harder for them to do their job and know what to prioritize. For advertisers with smaller budgets, the impact is even more significant, as evaluating these changes, especially responsive search ads, becomes challenging, increasing their workload.
What Google is saying. Google Ads Liaison Officer Ginny Marvin answered concerns about ad variation after multiple reports on the topic during a PPC chat Q&A session. She said
This is a small test and I don't have anything further to share at the moment. ”
Just a small test?Despite Google's comments, not everyone is convinced that the ad variant experiment is a "little test." Google Ads expert Anthony Higman told Search Engine Land:
While I know that Google has tested SERPs and paid ads, this one seems to have a more far-reaching impact as everyone on my team and the rest of the PPC community saw this in live advertising. So this seems like one of the bigger tests going on. “
While I understand the testing of paid advertising, I think we still have some understanding of the vast number of tests and changes that have occurred this year and last year. ”
This test also seems different to me because they alter known elements of search ads by making the ad headline appear as a description or almost as if the asset is being "called" in front of the ad copy description. It's troublesome because these changes change the dynamics of ad copy that all Google advertisers are aware of. ”
Call for greater transparency。Higman first flagged the ad variant test on X, and then explained how Google's lack of transparency affects advertisers
I think that since this test and other recent tests are changing the ad copy dynamics, they need to be mentioned as it can change the ad copy that is planned and tested in the account. ”
As others have mentioned, this may also change the rules in certain more restrictive advertising verticals, such as legal and medical, where changes to ad copy need to be approved before going live. ”
Towards full automationCommenting on the ad variation "quiz" and other experiments he's recently witnessed in Google Ads, Higman claims that Google seems to be moving towards full automation, but this can be problematic:
My take on all of these tests and the advancement of auto-app assets, recommendations, GBP connection ads,** and new asset format variants is that everything seems to be the new A B test ads for every advertiser using Google. ”
While this may be beneficial for advertisers with larger budgets, it is not statistically significant on accounts with smaller spending. In addition, we can no longer see how these changes affect our advertising data because we don't know how asset changes affect our click-through rates. ”
So, all of these new tests, combined with a reduction in ad data and a decrease in the visibility of search query data, will only further force us towards full automation, which is not suitable for all advertisers using Google Ads. ”