Google announces longer headlines for AdWords adverts

On Thursday Google announced that they’d been testing longer headlines on certain PPC adverts within their search engine results pages (SERPs).

The longer headline’s have consisted of the existing headline plus the first line of the description, separated by a hyphen (-).

Google says: “For some ads where each line appears to be a distinct sentence and ends in the proper punctuation, description line 1 will be moved to the headline and separated by a hyphen.”

Here are the two examples Google gave:

They claim that the new advert format has increased the click through rate (CTR) in comparison to the older format. Google says not all adverts will use the new format but you can increase your chances of being included by “ensuring that each line of your ad appears to be a distinct sentence and ends in the proper punctuation (e.g., a period or a question mark).”

While I agree that the longer headline might attract more click-throughs (as they appear more like organic listings), I certainly wouldn’t rush into your AdWords account and update all of your adverts in one go. By making such a big change across your account you will affect your previous performance history and could inadvertently increase your average cost per click (CPC).

I would recommend you create a new advert variation, based on your best performing advert, and make sure your first line description is a nice succinct sentence, ending in a full stop or period.

Yet another move by Google to generate more revenue from AdWords with the aim for world domination.