Large format text ads are showing up on Google Ads. Are you enthusiastic? But, more importantly, are you ready? Large format text ads are one of the more important big changes from Google Ads. Imagine that Google will soon double the size of the text of its ads. What’s the big change? Here are 10 features marketing professionals should look for:

1. What’s a large format text ad?

Large format text ads will be twice as long than regular ads. This new advertising format is designed to maximize your presence and performance in mobile search results with a larger headline and descriptions that are 80 characters longer. It is mobile adapted advertising which will work on both mobile devices and desktops as well.

Large format text ads can adapt to both mobile and desktop devices and their format adapts directly to their screen sizes. Google has started to test these new ads in the second trimester of 2016.

2. Why did Google make this change?

Google announced this new format as one of the more important changes in text ads since the launch of the Adwords platform 15 years ago. A few months ago, Google started thinking about what Adwords advertising would look like if it was created for the mobile world of today. Today more than half of the billion annual searches on Google come from a mobile device.

Google made a giant leap by creating a unified experience for the different devices in February when it stopped advertising on the right side of the computer screens. Following all restrictions generated by the end of advertising in the right column, this addition seems to be a natural progression following large format headlines introduced in 2011.

3. What is the size of these large format text ads?

These large format ads are twice as long (precisely 47% longer) as standard advertising. Actually, you have a total of 140 characters and an advertising space to use, marking the end of 25-35-25 limits. Twitter has made no comment regarding the 140 characters adopted by Google.

Make sure to put each added character to use. Create attractive and relevant ads which Internet users won’t be able to resist clicking.

4. How do large format text ads look?

Here’s how large format text ads look like in Google Ads interface:

5. What is the new headline length?

You have the ability of posting 2 x 30 characters headlines with large format text ads. Don’t forget that your ad headline is the element users are most inclined to notice. When it shows on search result pages, your ad title fields are combined and separated by a hyphen. Previously, headlines were limited to 25 characters, which means a 140% increase.

6. How much have descriptions grown?

You now have an 80 characters description line versus 35 characters previously, which is an increase of 14%.

7. What are the changes with advertising links?

Google Ads will automatically extract the domain of the final URL. You will be able to add 2 paths to multiply advertising links (up to 15 characters). It is suggested to use this path field to help users see your ads and be able to have a more precise idea of the page of your website they will access. Text that you use should not necessarily contain your website URL, but it should be linked to the content of your landing page.

8. Does it improve conversion rates?

Of course, more text brings more ad visibility. The first reports show that large format text ads provide a click rate of up to 20%. Click rate is even more important when we add to the ads an advertisement and an extension with a telephone number.

9. When will these new ads be available?

As of now, large format text ads are available for advertising professionals. Google has announced that it will remove standard text ads as of January 31, 2017. You should therefore transform your standard advertisement into large format text ads by this date.

10. What should be expected from large format text ads?

You will increase your quality score immediately. Quality score is already an important measure in a Google Ads account, but it will become even more important.

In conclusion, large format text ads offer you:

• 2 headline fields (up to 30 characters each)
• A larger description field (up to 80 characters)
• A URL to be displayed including the domain of your final URL
• 2 optional field paths used in the URL to be displayed in the ad (up to 15 characters)

You will have to make sure that your text ads have been rewritten to benefit from this new format.

Google offers you twice as much space with these new large format text ads so be ready to optimize it to your benefit.