Ads not using the space Google gives them

Google builds each ad from the headlines and descriptions you give it, testing combinations against each search. Fewer pieces means fewer combinations and less chance of a close match to what someone typed.

Empty slots are also the main reason ads are rated below Good. The Ad strength check reads the rating, which is feedback rather than an auction input. This one says which slots to fill.

The check reads every enabled responsive search ad with its headlines and descriptions.

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.

1. In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Ads, and filter by ad type: Responsive search ad.
2. Open each ad, or add the Headlines and Descriptions columns where available.
3. Count the headlines and descriptions in each.
4. List the ads that leave many slots empty, starting with the ones that spend most.

Fill the slots with genuinely different lines: the offer, the price, a proof point, a guarantee, the location, the keyword itself. Ten variations of the same sentence do not help.

Keep each headline able to stand alone, since Google may show any two or three together in any order.

• Ad Strength
• Headline
• Responsive search ad

The checks next to this one in Ads and creative, each with its own page.

• Ads Google has refused to show
• An ad and its page with no word in common
• Ad groups where only one ad is still getting shown
• An ad test with a real winner
• Ad groups running on a single ad
• Display ads holding less than Google can use