Ad Extensions

Extensions expand your ad with additional information—giving people more reasons to choose your business. They typically increase an ad's click-through-rate by several percentage points. Extension formats include call buttons, location information, links to specific parts of your website, additional text, and more.

This article gives an overview of extensions in general. To learn what each extension type does, and how to pick the right extensions for you, go to Select extensions to use.

To maximize the performance of your text ads, Google Ads selects which extensions to show in response to each individual search on Google. For that reason, it’s a good idea to use all the extensions relevant to your business goals.

By adding more content to your ad, extensions give your ad greater visibility and prominence on the search results page. That means you tend to get more value from your ad. Extensions often increase your total number of clicks, and can give people additional, interactive ways of reaching you—as with maps or calls.

Many extension types require a bit of set-up—those are manual. Some extensions are added automatically when Google Ads predicts they’ll improve your performance—those are automated. No setup is required for automated extensions, so they don’t show up among your options when you’re creating manual extensions. Learn more about automated extensions.

Adding an extension won’t guarantee that it will show with your ad all the time. Extensions show with your ad when:

• The extension (or combination of extensions) is predicted to improve your performance.

• Your ad’s position and Ad Rank is high enough for extensions to show. To show extensions, Google Ads requires a minimum Ad Rank. (Ad Rank calculations factor in your extensions).

Learn more about When extensions show. To keep track of when your extensions show See extension performance. Finally, you can find instructions to Make your extensions more likely to show.

There's no cost to add extensions to your campaign. Clicks on your ad (including your extension) will be charged as usual. (The exception is clicks on seller ratings, which are not charged.) So you’re charged for a click when someone calls you from a call extension or when someone downloads your app from an app extension. Google Ads charges no more than two clicks per impression for each ad and its extensions. Learn more About extensions and actual cost-per-click.

• 75 characters maximum.
• Shoot for a title 25 characters or less.
• Sitelink extensions on desktops allow up to 6 sitelinks, while mobile allows only up to 4.
• These are best used with branded campaigns or when Broad Match Keywords are used. This allows you to cast a wide net and still come away with a great haul.
• Be concise with your description. Make one selling point and move on.
• If you’re running a highly targeted campaign like one using the 1 keyword per ad group rule, don’t use sitelinks. They will pull away from your main call-to-action.
• Create mobile-optimized sitelinks to maximize your mobile ad performance.

• Location Extensions are most powerful with granular geotargeting around your agency’s location. For example, validate your “Buy Local XYZ” ad with a location extension proving your proximity.
• Not necessarily for brick and mortar – combine a location extension with a callout extension to advertise “in house valuations” or “free showings.”

• You may add up to 13 different types of values to your structured snippets, so be sure to utilize the diverse amount of content options by adding at least 4 values per header.
• Keep it under 25 characters.
• Keep your headers short, sweet, and easy to understand at a glance. Mobile users will appreciate you.

• BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to set up an Ad Schedule Bid Adjustment to make sure you and your staff are around to actually field your call.
• Use call extensions on desktop to get calls for free. If a person calls your number from your search ad but does not click, you will only be charged for an impression.
• Track all call activity by setting up call conversion tracking in AdWords with your very own Google Forwarding Number.
• If you want to show an ad that ONLY features a click-to-call CTA, create a Call-Only Campaign, a subset of Mobile-Only Campaigns.

• Message extensions may be added automatically for mobile users.
• You may create a message extension across multiple campaigns and ad groups.

• Provide additional selling points to set yourself apart from the competition.
• Improve CTR and conversion rate (mentioned above).
• This is a great area for general business attributes that set you apart like “Free Valuations” “Free Property Packages” “Open Houses” “No Notary Fees” and Open Houses.
• You can decide which callouts appear for different search terms.
• Great for broad match keywords.
• 25 character limit.

• Transparent pricing may decrease traffic, overall, but use CPA as your guiding metric. Fewer clicks for the same number of conversions means you’re driving more qualified traffic.
• Use unique final URLs for increased ad relevance.
• Price extensions only appear when your ad rank is #1.
• Use price extensions in conjunction with other extensions like Call extensions and Location extensions to drive more qualified calls and visitors.
• List a minimum of 3 items you want to feature. Having at least 5 is a common best practice.

• Be sure to create a cohesive landing page experience that also promotes the discount code. If you want to get real fancy, restrict just AdWords ads to a certain code to ensure your conversion tracking is actually leading to deals captured and sale made.