One creative to rule them all: AdWords launches responsive ads

Innovations / August 02, 2016

Introducing AdWords ridiculously easy responsive ads for every device, shape and size

With the proliferation of different devices and content formats out there today, it comes as no surprise that AdWords has rolled out responsive ads. Not only do these ads look pretty slick (especially when compared to their predecessors), they will responsively adapt to any device or format.

As a GDN advertiser, this means you can stop fiddling with a gazillion display ad formats every time you roll out a new campaign. And it gives more exposure to advertisers who don’t necessarily have the resources to meticulously design multiple display ads in multiple formats.

A vast improvement over those crusty GDN Text Ads

Responsive ads replace GDN richer text ads, which enabled text advertisers to run on AdSense sites that feature display ads. But the GDN text ads were awkward, often appearing as ugly text and randomly selected images where one would normally see a slick display ad.

Not only will responsive ads adapt to diverse ad formats based on a site’s content, the ads will reload in the correct size if a responsive page changes its layout, for example, if a device changes orientation from landscape to portrait.

With the launch of responsive ads, AdWords has also made more native ad inventory available to advertisers, giving your ads more reach and a wider audience. Responsive ads will adapt to the look and feel of the content in which they appear, making the experience more contextual and user-friendly.

The nuts and bolts

Think of the responsive ads as AdWords’ answer to the standard Facebook ad format. Upload an image, logo, headline and description, and the ads will adjust to each device and ad format.

In your AdWords account, click on the + Ad button and select “Responsive ad” in the dropdown. Here you enter your headline, description and URLs. Upload your ad image and logo, or run with Google’s suggestions. Easy peasy.

One more way to get your product and service out there

With responsive ads, AdWords has created a ridiculously easy way for advertisers to increase their exposure. Existing somewhere in between display ads and text ads, AdWords’ latest product kills two birds with one stone: it provides an easy way for advertisers to advertise on the GDN without painstakingly designing multiple display ads, and it gives advertisers easy access to diverse ad inventory regardless of its format or the device it appears on. Rejoice!