Responsive Search Ads are one of the sharpest arrows in the Google search ads quiver. Before we dive into the details of RSAs, their benefits, use, and differences with DSA, let's cover the basics. What does the word “responsive” mean here? This category of ads, which uses machine learning and automated testing, can adapt and respond to the user's search query, device, and other real-time signals. Let's go into some background of Google Ads.
Why do businesses run Google Ads?
It also brings us to the more fundamental question. Why do we run Google Ads? Advertisers, which are businesses or digital marketing agencies in Dubai or, for that matter, anywhere on the globe, take up the campaign on the company's behalf to meet some targeted results, such as sales, leads, and brand visibility, or even to drive more traffic to the website. Ads appear to customers at the exact moment they are searching for products or services.Example: Desert Delights
Imagine there's an online store called "Desert Delights," a Dubai-based online gourmet date shop. It sells fresh and juicy dates. They want more sales, let's take that as their aim for the sake of discussion. They contact us to run ads for them. When a potential customer in Dubai searches for something specific like "premium dates online" or "Ramadan sweets delivery," Google Ads allows Desert Delights' advertisement to appear directly at the top of the search results.Google Ads connects the interested buyer to this business at the exact moment they are interested in buying. The last action on the website is a sale. Running a Google Ads campaign correctly can mean a lot of sales for the business.
The Need for Responsive Search Ads
To meet your business expectations (sales/traffic/leads), you have to first meet the user’s expectations. Are your ads helpful and relevant for the search query? But the beauty and complexity of modern-day search lies in the dynamic nature of search. It’s changing. People are using voice search more than ever. The increasing use of voice assistants leads to more conversational and longer-tail search queries.Demography, technology, individual knowledge, culture, local nuances, and trends influence search. Then there’s AI, completely altering how people consume search results. Google says that every day, the engine records some 15% new searches. With roughly 14 billion searches per day, you can imagine this number. We leave the calculation to you.
It’s beyond human to analyse every search query. No matter how many combinations you come up with, it won’t accurately match every query. Here’s where RSA excels using Google AI and ML.
How do responsive search ads work?
Recall expanded text ads (ETA), where there are fixed headlines and descriptions. In RSA, Google tells you- give me 15 different headlines (max 30 char each) and 4 distinct descriptions (max 90 char each) and it's done! These are the assets for Google.Now, Google's machine learning and AI, like a seasoned chef, cooks up the most relevant ad variation for each search query. To give a glimpse into the power and scale of its capabilities, with the assets it gets, it can produce as many as 43,000 variations.
So what happens behind the scenes? Search ads are generated in 3 steps.
- Google listens carefully to what someone types into the search bar to find the keyword match.
- It then automatically builds different versions of your ad using the pool of headlines and descriptions you gave it, trying to make each one perfect for that search.
- Google quickly checks these new ad versions for quality (A/B testing included). It removes any identical ones, flags anything too similar, and then scores them. It moves to Google's real-time ad auction system, where these selected ad combinations compete for limited spots on the Google search results page
This way, your ads reach the intended user. It happens dynamically at the very moment the ad is served. The right ad delivered to the right person.
A critical point to note in the context of RSA is that Google doesn't generate new text, rephrase your text, or add words/phrases when creating the ad from the asset pool. It will not take your submitted headline "Luxury Dates Dubai" and rephrase it into "Premium Dates in Dubai" just because it's missing. It works on what you provide it. In a way, it's good because it gives advertisers complete control over the messaging.
The flip side is that a poor asset will deliver poor results. The better the quality and diversity of the assets (headlines+descriptions), the larger the segment of potential customers you can reach, and naturally, the better the outcomes. So, make sure your digital marketer gets the assets right.
What is RSA in advertising?
Let's circle back to the original example. While basic Google Ads effectively connect Desert Delights with immediate, known searches, what if they could get even more sales? Isn't it great if they can capture customers with very unique requirements? Of course, to get there means coming up with a very intelligent system that processes queries in real-time and, no matter the search, dynamically pushes the best match.This is where Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) emerge as the game-changer. The Desert Delights' team, no matter how brilliant they are, cannot come up with all the variations. It's unlikely you'd have a specific ETA built and optimized for every single date variety ("Sukari," "Ajwa," "Medjool," etc.) combined with options like "near me" or "delivery." RSA is there to help us in such a situation.
All you need to do is provide RSA with 15 assets:
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These can be well-researched terms, such as:
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"fresh emirati dates"
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"luxury gift boxes"
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"healthy sweet treats"
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"order dates online Dubai"
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And 4 descriptions such as:
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"premium quality guaranteed"
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"nationwide delivery"
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"perfect for every occasion"
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"Explore our exclusive collection"
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That's it. So when a customer searches for a very unique or niche item like "Sukari dates near me," it means they have a very high purchase intent. They know what they want, and they want it now. The moment Google sees the query, since you're running RSA, there's a relevant ad from Desert Delights telling the user –Hello, we have these!
Missing out on these clicks means that you are losing sales to a competitor who is using RSAs effectively or has extremely granular traditional campaigns. An ad that dynamically pulls a headline like "Sukari Dates Available" tied with a description like "Fast Local Delivery" from an RSA's asset pool would be far more relevant and effective than a generic "Premium Dates Online" ad. Hope that makes RSA clear.
How responsive search Ads adapts to each user as per context
In the very start, we talked about what makes RSA responsive. Let's look into what makes it responsive.Search Query
This must be clear by now. How the ad selects headlines and descriptions that best match the user's specific search terms. RSA works to make the ad more relevant to the user's intent. For example, if a user searches for "grey running shoes," the ad might prioritize a headline about "grey Running Shoes" alongside a description about "Lightweight & Durable."
Device
It just isn't about mobile optimization. In fact, Google has a "mobile-first" approach in terms of layout across all its ad formats. RSAs take it a step further in terms of dynamic display adaptation for text ads specifically. RSAs can adjust their display depending on the user's device type (e.g., mobile, desktop, tablet). They ensure the ad looks good and is readable.
There's layout adaptation (like wrapping text, showing fewer components on smaller screens) coupled with dynamic selection of which headlines and descriptions to show from your pool. There's a guaranteed minimum. Even if the user has the smallest screen, a minimum baseline of at least two headlines and one description would be shown.
User data
Google Ads operates under the Google ecosystem. It collects a vast amount of user data, which RSA uses to deliver precise ads that seem personalized. The data collection occurs through various location-based touchpoints, including IP address, GPS data, Wi-Fi connection, Google Maps usage, browsing history (search queries, website visits, YouTube watch history), and demographic details from Google account settings, as well as third-party interactions.
Every time a user searches for something, this set of information is bundled into a "bid request". The request gets to the ad groups. Google AI leverages all the real-time signals to show the combination that is most relevant, most likely to be clicked, and most likely to convert.
As the RSA ad campaign matures, the learning model continuously learns from the queries and analyzes which combinations perform best (leading to higher click-through rates, conversions, etc.). These automated insights refine output and prioritize winning combinations that are most likely to convert.
How the quality of your input directly impacts RSA performance
The RSA performance is directly linked to the quality of inputs supplied. Google's AI output is only as good as the inputs you provide. Let's dig more into this important part of the discussion.Ad strength score
Google provides an "Ad strength" score to help you assess the quality of your RSAs. It rates them as Poor, Average, Good, and Excellent. Your score reflects the quantity, diversity, and uniqueness of the assets you have supplied. If your Ad Strength is higher, your RSA has a good chance of doing well. It impacts conversions.
Relevance and Quality score
Relevant ads get high clicks because they incorporate the target keywords users are actively using to search. With high relevancy and matching user intent, your ads' expected CTR improves, leading to a better quality score. The result- the CPC (cost per click) for the same ad position comes down.Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Are your copies compelling enough? What makes it compelling and clickable? The headlines and description should be well-written and highlight USPs. Google AI looks for the most relevant combination. If you supply more varied assets, the machine has more options to choose from for each query, resulting in higher CTRs.Conversion Rate (CVR)
Clicks are good, but qualified clicks are the best. The secret lies in how well you know your users' intentions and map them in your ads to make them relevant. A precise match gives your buyers who convert because your landing page has what they are searching for. High-quality inputs have clear CTAs guiding the user to take the next step.
What is the difference between DSA and RSA ads?
It is a very common question our clients ask us about running Google Ads. The common three letters, overlapping use in the campaign, creates intrigue. Knowing the difference between the similar-sounding terms broadens our understanding of Google Ads.- On a fundamental level, Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) are an ad format, whereas Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) are a campaign type. So, as we can see, they operate on different layers. That’s the fundamental difference.
- In RSAs, as we have seen so far, you supply a given set of headlines and descriptions, the building blocks, and Google (AI) builds the ad. While in DSA, you provide the URLs that Google should crawl. The website content is used by the engine to automatically or dynamically generate headlines and select landing pages.
- In RSA, the goal is to optimize the message you want to convey. DSA is about optimizing discovery.
- The better the asset quality you offer to Google AI, the better the messaging. Similarly, if your website is well-structured and has compelling content, the better your DSA results will be.
How does RSA perform compared to ETA (expanded text ads)?
Before the RSA, we had the ETAs. So it’s just right to compare it with its predecessor. It’s a common notion that what comes next is an implicit improvement over the previous. It’s contextual to hear what Google has to say about responsive search ads.- On average, RSAs give us 5-15% higher click-through-rate (CTR) over static search ads (like ETAs).
- RSAs see an average of 7% more conversions at a similar cost per conversion (FoundSM, Datafeedwatch)
- When it comes to impressions, which is a measure of reach, they score better. Sometimes 3x-4x.
ETAs scored initially due to tighter control on the messaging and strict filtering, which ensured only higher-intent users clicked when RSA was just catching up in the Ads world. Also, even if the CVR or conversion ratio of RSA is slightly lower, since it conventionally has more impressions, it will have more total conversions.
We at Proquantic have used selective “pinning” in cases where clients wanted the core brand message to be prominent or when legal compliance required it to appear in every ad. But we have used it only sparingly, without sabotaging the dynamic optimization power of RSA. We assume pinning helps gain back some of the precise structural control that ETAs provided.
When should you use RSA?
When a Dubai-based business comes to us for consultation, enquiring whether RSAs are suitable for them, the first thing we ask them is what their goals and expectations are. Over the years of offering white-hat SEO and Google Ads services in Dubai for e-commerce and other businesses, we suggest RSAs if your goals align with one of these:- Increase website traffic and generate qualified leads or sales.
- Improve ad relevance and quality score to get better ad positions at a lower cost.
- Utilize Google AI to find optimal, high-performing ad copy combinations, overcoming limitations of manual effort
- Take the simple automated route to ad management and optimization rather than drown in extensive A/B testing of ad variations.
- Get a competitive edge in the Dubai market.
Google Responsive Ads Best Practices
Getting started with responsive search ads? Here are some tips to implement it the right way and ensure success.
- Maximize assets for maximum results- We recommend supplying all 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Fill all the slots you see, keeping the details unique. With a larger set, Google can test more combinations to get the best-fit match for user queries.
- Vary content in each headline and description- It should be different from one another, with each one offering a distinct selling point. You can talk about benefits, features, offers, and even approach with variations in CTA.
- Aim for “Excellent” ad strength- Leverage Google’s guidance in the form of Ad strength, in assessing the quantity, relevance, and diversity of your assets. Rework if it’s below good.
- Use keywords but naturally- While it might be tempting to add keywords in every headline, it’s a bad idea. Try getting a clear, value-driven message to the intended audience by talking about their needs and standout features.
- Use pinning only where required- As discussed earlier, use pinning strategically and only where it is absolutely necessary. Using it excessively undermines the overall optimization and results in subpar performance.
- Review asset performance routinely- Continuous monitoring and optimization are key to RSA success. Analyze the assets report from the Google Ads account to identify low-performing assets and replace them with more effective ones.
- Make use of broader Google ads feature- Make sure you’re using relevant ad extensions such as callouts, structured snippets, and call assets. These image assets provide additional information about your ads, boosting their click-through rate (CTR).
- Ask the right questions, always- In any campaign, it’s essential to take a stock of how things are working. The focus should always be on business metrics. The ad performance should always be seen in the context of your business goals. Ask yourself these key questions. Are people taking the intended action (CVR)? How much am I paying for a conversion (CPA)? What’s the ROAS?
Conclusion
As a trusted digital marketing agency in Dubai, we have consistently delivered results for our clients year after year, forging a relationship that has helped them achieve more sales, brand visibility, and website traffic. We have achieved an ROI of 7X for our clients' ad spend on more than one occasion.We work on advanced strategies like RSA optimization, launching successful PPC campaigns leveraging the Google's advertising ecosystem. If that sounds exciting, and you're looking for measurable growth for your business in Dubai, we are here for you.
