Ad Writing

Read this article to get to know different types of online ads. Proceed to learn to write optimal text ads for Google Ads or similar providers.

The different types of Ads

Online advertising ads are messages that web users encounter when using search engines, surfing web pages, or watching videos. Web users can click on these messages to visit the website to which each ad is linked. The most common online ads are Image ads, Video ads, and Text ads.

On both the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network, text ads are available. They are the most common type of ad. Impressions are free of charge, but if someone clicks an ad, the CPC is charged. Actual prices are calculated on the basis of an auction between all competitors. In this article, we will only go into details for text ads.

Google offers to publish different sizes and forms of advertising banners throughout its network of publisher websites, the Google Display Network (GDN). They are priced according to the principle of CPM or CPC.

More from Google

Video advertisements are pre-rolls on sites like YouTube, or overlays placed in the bottom of a running video. Overlays can be either graphics or simple texts. Pricing is done according to CPC, CPM or CPV. With CPV, you are charged only if a viewer watches your video.

More from Google

General structure of text ads

Text ads generally consist of three main components, in addition to optional ad extensions. Every ad has a headline of maximally 25 characters, a display URL, and two lines of description of 35 characters each. Ad Extensions may complement the ad e.g. with Sitelinks (a map or other useful utilities).

TextAd

Any ad copy in Google Ads must comply with Google’s principles for a positive user experience from the Google Ads Policy Center. Apart from these, further determinants influence the success of an ad.

Google Ads Policy Center

User Experience

  • No incorrect grammar or misspellings in the ads; except for common misspellings or informal words, abbreviations
  • No excessive use of capitalized letters; exceptions are allowed for trademarks, brands, acronyms and other commonly capitalized words; capitalizing the first letter of each word is allowed and it has proved to generate higher CTR
  • No unnecessary / unusual punctuation or symbols (e.g. too many exclamation marks, repetitions, bullet points, emoticons, ASCII art codes)
  • No extra / missing spaces and excessive repetitions of a single word (e.g. Free Free Free!)
  • No inappropriate language (e.g. obscene or excessively generic language)

Safety and Security

  • No malwares or viruses
  • No deception of the search users
  • No spam

Accurate Ads

  • Relevance, clarity, and accuracy of the ads to get published in the paid search sections

Transparency and Privacy

  • No collection and improper use of personal information
  • No unclear billing methods
  • No redirection to domains that are different from that displayed in the ad

Legal

  • Compliance with local regulations
  • Compliance with trademarks and copyrights restrictions
  • No promotion of counterfeit goods

Google’s Brand Decisions

  • Compliance with further guidelines that reflect Google’s culture and values

Tips for Successful Ads

  1. Highlight the higher value of your offering compared to competitors
  2. Promote unique products, discounts or prices explicitly and offer them on the corresponding LP
  3. In order to have bold words in your ad, structure your campaign, book more exact or phrase keywords and use many keywords in your ad texts
  4. Include call to action for the user
  5. Provide a LP which exactly complements the ad
  6. Regularly create new ads and compare their success to older ones. Keep the best

External Links:

  1. Display URL