Introduced in 2018, Responsive search ads (RSA) are ads that adapt their content to closely align with the audience’s search terms. They tie machine learning to the creative aspects of digital marketing. Google claims that RSAs have proven to increase 10% more clicks and conversions when advertisers utilize them in their ad groups.   

In mid July, Google announced they will be adding 5 new features to RSAs. They are implementing this to make ads easier to manage and more relevant for the user.

Location Insertions

Location insertions will let you tailor the ad to be more relevant to users in individual locations. In this new feature, advertisers will be able to dynamically add where the product or service is offered. For example, if you have a national cabinet store the ad can produce headlines such as “Austin Cabinets,” “Los Angeles Cabinets,” etc to fit where the user is searching from or their location interest. 

Google created this feature because their research shows that “91% of smartphone owners purchased or plan to purchase something after seeing an ad they describe as relevant.” This will make creating RSAs more efficient because you will be able to customize your ads to the city, state, or country you want them to display in. 

How to use location insertions

The locations are selected from where you’re targeting your campaign. The headline code to use will be: {LOCATION(City)}. You will be able to select 1 location for your headline and up to 2 in your descriptions. You’ll also  be able to choose what level of location you want to show such as city, state, and country, and you can view and manage your targeting location in the “Locations” category in the menu page.

Countdown Customizer

This new feature will let advertisers promote sales and events in their RSA. This new feature is awesome because it will be another avenue to let the searchers know about any sales you are having, which can increase your CTR.

How countdown customizers work

The countdown customizers will show the sale you are having on your Text ad, RSA ad, or Dynamic Search ad.  Let’s say you are a clothing store and are having a summer sale. You will be able to automatically show how much time there is left on the deal you are having.  You can create this in the ad headlines for any type of ad. To trigger the countdown customizer widget, type in ( {COUNTDOWN ) and you will be able to select the start day, end day, and a custom time that it will end. 

One thing to remember when adding this widget to your ads is to make sure that your ad text stays within the character limits when it is displayed and that the ad copy allows for any additional characters. 

Copy Asset Suggestions

The RSAs show the strength of your ad ranging from “Incomplete” to “Excellent.” 

They provide feedback and ideas for your ad copy to improve ad performance. 

To make ad copy easier to write, Google has added 2 new categories to the recommended commonly used phrases to give advertisers ideas about highlighting online availability and return options for their businesses. 

All you need to do to get the asset suggestions is add your final URL to your ad. Super easy!

Cross- Campaign Asset Reporting

Cross-campaign asset reporting for RSAs lets you view your assets at the campaign level. Here you will be able to determine which assets are the best performers and which ones you should replace. 

This new feature is great because it shows you all of your RSA assets in one place, as opposed to clicking into each RSA — which, believe me, isn’t fun. 

New Recommendations

Google is introducing a new recommendation to help improve RSAs when the ad strength is below ‘Good.’ This is to help advertisers identify opportunities and improve the RSA scale. This one I would take with a grain of salt, since it isn’t accurate but it’s something to keep in mind.