Google Testing Increased AdWords Character Limits

Google UK are displaying extra-long titles in paid search results. According to a London-based Google account manager, they have been testing this for the last month or so. Unlike the favicon test where advertisers were unaware their favicons were being stored in Gstatic to appear in paid SERPs, there is an opportunity for advertisers to "game" AdWords for character-stretching gain.

If you perform a search on "below market value properties" (in this corner... weighing in at a whopping 29 characters), Google serve two ads in the paid results that exactly mirror my query. Rewinding a bit back to PPC 101, Google's character limit in titles is 25 (advertisers are allowed an extra ten - 35 characters - in the description lines). That means query strings like "Kerstin Baker-Ash" or "Flights to Canada" are perfectly acceptable at 17 characters each, but Google will prevent you from being able to type any further once you reach the 25 character limit:

Presumably (and without confirmation from Google), they're not publicizing this potential character limit increase. So why is it then possible for advertisers like the Property Frontiers and Intelligent Investments to get around what has been a hard and fast rule since AdWords began? Enter Dynamic Keyword Insertion.

Going from regular, static title insertion to DKI is kind of like the difference between a single line fishing pole with a fish-specific sinker and a lobster trap or trawling net. You get all the lobsters you're supposed to catch with DKI, and a load of crabs, crayfish and shrimp too. Stepping away from the crustacean analogy, it basically means that you're able to incorporate different search strings in your ad group's keyword list in your creative without adding additional ad group creatives. Advertisers can cover more keywords and pick up a couple on broad match that might (or might not) relate to the product or service which they sell. 

How do you use DKI? By entering {KeyWord:BMV Properties} (and assuming the keyword "below market value properties" is in your ad group's keyword list) in your headline text instead of a static, 25 character title - you potentially have the chance to circumvent the 25 character limit (as long as it's under 30 characters). DKI also gives you the opportunity to sweep up any ill-fitting keywords which are relevant, traffic-driving or perhaps misspelled by the searcher (I get a lot of hits for Kristin Baker-Ash, etc).

Google aren't officially sanctioning this backdoor workaround. From our account manager, it is a very limited test (again with the limited tests, Google!). The system cherry picks ads with DKI which might exceed the character limit by a few characters, but only if they deem the ad is relevant (read: paying enough money per click) to searchers. I'm trying desperately not to sound cynical, but in the "rare" cases where this "super title" is appearing on paid SERPs, the titles are for searches which are expensive to bid (£5 - £10/$7.30 - $14.60 CPC) on and relatively high volume.

I have been unable to replicate this test (using the Ad Preview Tool and individual country domains) in any region other than the UK. It would be interesting to see if the UK were again being used as English-language guinea pigs to test the efficacy and success of increased character limits.

Thanks again for another great heads up, Eloi Casali!