What Is Ad Assets?
Also written as ad extensions, Google Ads assets, extensions.
Definition
Ad assets are the content pieces that make up your ad and give shoppers useful business details, such as headlines, images, sitelinks and prices. Many of them used to be called ad extensions. A shoe store can use a sitelink to send shoppers straight to its sale page from the ad.
Written by Christopher Krassnig, Founder & CEO of ZenoX Media. Written by the ZenoX team from the accounts we run. Definitions are general; the numbers in examples are maths, not client results.
Ad Assets, Explained
Google's list of assets is long. Headlines and descriptions are the required ones. On top of those you can have images, sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, price, promotion, call and location assets, and a few more.
Adding an asset does not mean it shows. Google says an approved asset still will not appear with your ad all the time. It shows when Google predicts it will help performance and when your ad position and Ad Rank are high enough. So do not judge an asset by whether you spot it on one search.
Assets also feed the auction. The expected impact of your assets and other ad formats is one of the six things behind Ad Rank.
Most asset work is a waste of time for a store with a weak feed. Fix the product data and the offer first. Then make sure any asset you do add points to a real page with a real offer. A promotion asset for a sale that ended is worse than no asset.
How We Use It at ZenoX
Feed first. Our Performance Max campaigns start feed-only, with no headlines or videos from us, and assets come later only for a reason. Sitelinks, callouts, the logo and the business name are never added by hand. Google's automated assets at account level cover those.
Questions People Ask About Ad Assets
Are Ad Assets the Same as Ad Extensions?
Yes, for most people. Ad extensions is the older name for things like sitelinks and callouts. Google Ads now calls them assets. If you read an old guide about extensions, it is talking about the same kind of add-on, though the settings may have moved.
Why Is My Ad Asset Not Showing?
An approved asset does not show every time. Google shows it when it predicts the asset will help performance and when your ad position and Ad Rank are high enough. Check the asset is approved first. Then give it time before you decide it failed.
Related terms
- SitelinksSitelinks are extra links under a Google ad that send people to specific pages on your site.
- Asset GroupAn asset group is the building block inside a Performance Max campaign.
- Ad RankAd Rank is the score Google uses to decide if your ad can show and in what order among other ads.
- Responsive Search AdA responsive search ad is the text ad format for Google Search.
- Feed-Only Performance MaxFeed-only Performance Max is a Performance Max campaign built from your product feed, with no extra headlines or videos from you.
Go deeper
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