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The short answer
A responsive display ad is assembled to fit slots on other sites, and the slots come in shapes. With no square image it cannot appear anywhere square. Oppy lists the display ads short of headlines, descriptions, landscape or square images, the ones that spend most first.
Why it matters
The ad does not fail. It is quietly absent from part of the inventory, and nothing reports the absence. The campaign looks like it is reaching less than it should, and nobody knows why.
It is the same fault as a thin search ad, and it bites harder here, because the shapes are physical: a missing format is a slot the ad simply cannot fill.
How Oppy decides
The check reads every enabled responsive display ad and counts four things against what Google can use: headlines, descriptions, landscape images and square images.
Checks that weigh money or clicks judge what they find on your own account's numbers, not on one figure applied to every account, so what counts as a problem on a small account is not the same on a large one. Checks on settings read how the account is set up.
When there is too little to go on, the check says so instead of guessing. A finding always comes with the rows behind it, so you can read the evidence before you decide.
| This check | |
|---|---|
| Step of the audit | Ads |
| What it reads | Ads and their ratings |
| Needs trustworthy conversions | No. It does not wait for the tracking step. |
| What happens next | Reported in the audit with the rows behind it. The decision stays with you. |
Check it yourself in Google Ads
- In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Ads, and filter by ad type: Responsive display ad.
- Open each ad and count its headlines, descriptions, landscape images and square images.
- Note the ads short of headlines, descriptions, landscape or square images.
- Start with the ones that spend most.
What to do about it
Add square and landscape images of the product or service, cropped properly for each shape, and a logo in both formats.
Fill the headlines and descriptions with distinct lines. Google combines them freely, so each must make sense alone.
Terms on this page
Other checks in this area
The checks next to this one in Ads and creative, each with its own page.