What Are Ad Extensions? Features, Setup and How to Use Them Well

Search advertising has character limits, so it can be hard to fit in everything you want to say.
On top of that, what a searcher wants, whether a phone number, an address or an app, varies from person to person, and ad copy alone cannot cover it all.
Ad extensions, the subject of this article, let you customise the ad so users get the information they need.

1. What are ad extensions?

An ad extension is a feature that shows extra information below the ad copy, alongside the headline and the description.
You can show a phone number, an address, text or a link to your site, for example.

Call extensions, to take one example, let someone call straight from their phone, which meets the need of users after information in a hurry and can lift the conversion rate a great deal.

On service pages, sitelink extensions can carry details of deeper pages, which makes the ad more visible and sends each user smoothly to the page that matches what they came for.

Used well, ad extensions prompt all sorts of actions beyond a click, and you can expect more conversions as a result.

1.1 Ad extensions raise your ad rank

One of the factors that decide where your ad appears is ad rank, and ad rank is calculated from your bid and from ad quality, such as expected click rate and the quality of the landing page.
Ad extensions are one of the things that feed into ad rank.

Using them makes a single ad take up more space.
That makes the ad more visible, and you can expect a better click rate.
Using a range of extensions also makes it more likely that users take a concrete action, such as placing a call or looking up directions, which should raise the conversion rate.
So setting up extensions to improve your ad rank also improves where your ad appears.

1.2 How ad extensions are charged

A click or tap on the extension is charged just like a click on the search ad itself.
The charges work as follows.

• You are charged once per click on the ad.
• For a single impression you are charged for the first click on the ad itself and the first click on the extension, two clicks in total. Third and subsequent clicks are not charged.
• Seller rating extensions are not charged.
• On mobile, clicking the drop-down of a price extension is not charged either.

1.3 Some appear automatically

Ad extensions come in two forms: ones you set up by hand, and ones created and shown for you automatically.
The manual ones take your own work to set up, but there are more types available than with the automated feature.
Only Google supports automation; Yahoo! Ads does not.
With automation, extensions are created for you with no extra setup whenever they are predicted to improve performance.

The ad extensions Google Ads can set up automatically are as follows.
・Automated call extensions
・Automated message extensions
・Dynamic sitelink extensions
・Dynamic structured snippet extensions
・Automated location extensions
・Seller rating extensions

2. Differences between Google and Yahoo!

There are many kinds of ad extension, and what you can set differs between Google and Yahoo!. Google offers more.
Yahoo!’s extensions are close to Google’s in purpose and specification, so this article deals mainly with Google Ads extensions.
Items side by side in the table below go by different names but are essentially the same extension.

GoogleAds	Yahoo! Sponsored Search
Sitelink extensions	Quick link options
Call extensions	Phone number options
Callout extensions	Text supplement options
Structured snippet extensions	Category supplement options
App extensions	―
Review extensions	―
Location extensions	―

Looking ahead, we will keep producing strong articles steadily and prepare to offer promotion in other fields too, such as running events and publishing magazines.

3. Each ad extension and its specifications

Sitelink extensions

Sitelink extensions is This feature shows, below the ad copy, sitelinks to the pages you want people to go to, separate from the link shown in the ad itself.
Several pieces of text can appear, which strengthens the case you make and sends users straight to whichever site interests them most.

Sitelink extensions have the following rules.
■Character limits
Link text: up to 25 single-byte characters
Description: up to 35 single-byte characters (up to two per link text)
■Minimum number required to run
Link text: 2
■Number shown
Desktop: up to 6. Mobile and tablet: up to 8
■Maximum you can set: 20

Callout extensions

Callout extensions is This feature shows what your service covers and other details below the search ad.
It states the distinctive points of a product or service plainly without anyone having to visit the linked page, and it fills in information that would not fit in the ad copy.
Callout wording can be changed whenever you need, which makes it ideal for limited-time campaigns and the latest news.

Callout extensions have the following rules.
■Character limits
Callout: up to 25 single-byte characters
■Minimum number required to run
Callouts: 2
■Number shown
Up to 10
■Maximum you can set
20

Structured snippet extensions

Structured snippet extensions is This feature highlights part of your products, your types or your services under the theme of a header.
It looks similar to a callout extension, but differs in that Google Ads gives you a ready-made set of headers to choose from.
In a cosmetics ad, for example, you can add text such as foundation, toner and lipstick under the Type header to show what you sell.

Structured snippet extensions have the following rules.
■Character limits
Value: up to 25 single-byte characters (up to 10 per header)
■Minimum number required to run
Values: 4
■Number shown
Desktop: up to 2 headers
Mobile and tablet: up to 1 header
※How many values appear varies with their length, how many you set and the screen size of the device
■Maximum you can set
Values: 10

Image extensions

Image extensions is This feature shows an image next to the description of a search ad.
It conveys visually what text alone could not get across.
An image also makes the ad more memorable, which should help ad performance.

Image extensions have the following rules.
■Aspect ratio
Square: 1×1 (required)
Landscape: 1.91×1 (optional) (landscape is only used for ads shown in image search results)
■File formats
PNG, JPG, static GIF
■Minimum resolution
Square: 300×300 (1200×1200 recommended)
Landscape: 600×314 (1200×628 recommended)
■Maximum file size
5120 KB
■Recommended safe area for the image
Keep important content in the central 80% of the image

Lead form extensions

Lead form extensions is This feature places a link below the ad to a short form for document requests and enquiries.
Users fill in the required fields and can make an enquiry or download a document directly, without going to your site.
If the user is signed in to a Google account, details held there such as email address and name are filled in automatically, which makes things easier for them and should lift conversions.

Lead form extensions have the following rules.
■Headline
Up to 30 characters
Shown only in video or Discovery campaigns
■Business name
The company name to display, up to 25 single-byte characters
■Description
Up to 200 single-byte characters
■Questions
Choose up to 10 fields you want users to fill in, such as name and email
■Privacy policy URL
Enter a URL that goes straight to the privacy policy page on your site
■Background image (optional)
Set a background image for the lead form. The recommended size is landscape (1.91:1): 1200 x 628
Shown in search campaigns only

Call extensions

Call extensions is This feature shows a tappable phone number or call button on the ad so people can call from a mobile device.
With call extensions set up, reports also show the number of calls, their length, the caller’s area code and whether the call was answered.
This extension can appear on both the Search Network and the Display Network.
Note that the following are not available on the Display Network.
・Showing on desktop and tablet
・Call reporting
・Retargeting campaigns
・Campaigns with the app promotion goal
・Campaigns of the app type

Price extensions

Price extensions is This feature shows pricing below the ad.
You can show service details alongside the price and send users straight to the right page, which shortens the path to conversion.

Price extensions have the following rules.
■Character limits
Header: up to 25 single-byte characters
Description: up to 25 single-byte characters
■Minimum number required to run
Cards: 3
■Number shown
※This varies with the screen size of the device
■Maximum you can set
Cards: 8

Location extensions

Useful if you have a physical location such as a restaurant, a shop or a clinic is the location extension
An address, a map and a phone number appear below the standard text ad in search.
It also appears on the Display Network, in Google Maps results and in YouTube video ads.
To use location extensions you need a Google My Business listing and a link between Google Ads and Google My Business.

Promotion extensions

Promotion extensions is This feature shows discounts on a product or service below the search ad.
It only appears when the ad runs at the very top or the very bottom of the results page.
Timing it to a regular event, a seasonal occasion or a sale strengthens the case you make to users.
There is a format built for promotions, so you can update the details easily and reflect sale information without writing new ad copy.

Promotion extensions have the following rules.
■Character limits
Occasion: ※optional
Item: up to 20 single-byte characters
■Minimum number required to run
1
■Number shown
1 ※shown on up to two lines

Affiliate extensions

Affiliate location extensions is This extension lets a manufacturer selling through retail chains show the nearest stores stocking its products below the ad.
On mobile devices, users can see not only the address but also the route to the shop, which makes things more convenient for them.
It can run on the Search Network, the Display Network and YouTube video advertising.
※If you are showing the location of a shop or company you run yourself, use the location extension described above instead.

App extensions

App extensions is This lets you show a link to a page where the app can be downloaded, separately from the final URL shown in the search ad.
(The app page can be on either the App Store or Google Play.)
If you create one for iOS and one for Android, the link shown changes with the user’s device: a link to the App Store on iOS devices and a link to Google Play on Android devices.

The app extension has the following requirements.
■Character limits
Link text: up to 25 single-byte characters
■Minimum number required to run
1
■Number shown
1

Seller rating extension

Seller rating extension is This lets you show seller ratings left by users in your ads, collected from third-party data sources such as Google Customer Reviews.
When the following requirements are met, the number of reviews behind the rating and the overall star rating are shown automatically.
・At least 100 reviews posted
・An overall review rating of 3.5 or higher
・Running Shopping or search ads

4. How to set it up

The required fields differ from one extension to another, but the set-up is much the same. Here we use the sitelink extension as an example.

① Click “Ads and extensions” in the left-hand menu of the admin screen
② Click the “Extensions” tab at the top
③ Click the “+” button and choose the extension you want to set up from the drop-down menu
④ Here, as an example, choose “Sitelink extension”
⑤ If you are setting the extension at a level other than “Account”,
choose “Campaign” or “Ad group” from the “Add to” drop-down
⑥ Fill in the required fields and click “Save” to finish

5. In closing

The various extensions are useful because you can use them flexibly, according to the service or product you want to make the case for.
They also make things more convenient for users and strengthen your claim, so set them up wherever you can.
How you set them up can have a big effect on results, so use them well and aim to maximise the performance of your ads.