Just like always, Google’s never standing still. The casualty this time: expanded text ads. Coming soon, new expanded text ads will be a thing of the past. What’s the timeline, and what does it matter?

Let’s check it out.

What’s happening and why?

Starting June 30th, 2022, you’ll no longer be able to create new expanded text ads or edit old ones on Google.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use them at all — old expanded text ads can still be served from your account, but you won’t be able to make any changes to those ads. You still will, however, be able to remove, pause, or enable these ads from your account.

Now, why?

Per Google, they’re removing ETAs so that users are being presented with the best possible ad message. The thinking is that responsive search ads (also known as RSAs) do this job better.

We at Fujisan dove into responsive search ads a bit ago, but the basics are that they let advertisers use up to 15 ad headlines and four ad blurbs, and then Google serves any given combination of these to users depending on what it thinks is most relevant. The longer these ads are in rotation, the more Google learns about which combinations work best for which users, and the more effective they can be.

Screenshot of ETAs and RSAs on Google Ads on mobile device.

How does this affect your business and its online advertising?

On the most basic level, the removal of ETAs means you’ll have less precise control over what users see on Google when they see your ads — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s natural and reasonable to want to have every detail under your control, but one of the things that make RSAs ideal is that they take the human compulsion to micromanage out of the equation.

After June 30th, when you no longer are able to create new ETAs, think of RSAs as your worker bees — you put all the initial creative input in, then delegate it to the RSA to effectively decide what works best.

What should you do to prepare for this development?

First thing’s first: Test while you still can! Obviously, once you’re unable to create new or edit existing ETAs, you’ll be kind of screwed if you decide you want to test variables since you’ll be already stuck with what you have.

This means going all in on testing different ETA variables now, so that once they have to be set in stone by June 30th, you know exactly what you like and what works best for what circumstance.

Bottom line is that gathering testing information should be a major priority between now and June 30th.

Other than testing, you’ll want to make sure the ETAs you do create between now and the deadline are evergreen — there’s not much use for an unchangeable ad, no matter how perfect it is in the moment, if it becomes completely irrelevant down the line. So, for example, probably don’t waste too much time making ETAs for your spring sale 2021. The ETAs that you create, test, and carry over shouldn’t be topical or too dependent on the season or an event; you want them to be timeless so they work for you as long as possible.

Lastly, even if you create some ETAs that will work for you long after the June 30th deadline, you should spend this time to get used to RSAs, too. If you haven’t already, start creating and deploying them (and of course, testing them) to get a sense of how they can most effectively be utilized for your business. See what impacts they have on your account, if you haven’t been following that already.

Really, the sun setting on expanded text ads isn’t a crazy thing to freak out about. Rather, it’s just one of many constant evolutions that are always happening online. As long as you have a clear approach and stay ahead of the game, there’s no reason you and your business can’t do quite well through this transition.