Google kills test of second description in search ads

A little over six months ago, Google began a small test allowing advertisers to add a second description line to expanded text ads in AdWords. The extra line of copy would add up to 80 more characters to ads.

That test is now winding down and will not be rolled out. Advertisers included in the test have begun seeing a notification in AdWords alerting them, “Starting this September, text ads will no longer include the optional Additional description field. Your existing ads will continue to show without it. To continue using the content you’ve added in this field, create a new ad. You can also bulk download your existing ad text.”

I never came across the extra-long ads in the wild. Presumably, they did not yield higher click-through rates, which was the main KPI touted by Google for the rollout of expanded text ads.

About The Author

As Third Door Media’s paid media reporter, Ginny Marvin writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She provides search marketing and demand generation advice for ecommerce companies and can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.