How to Write Responsive Search Ads That Pass Review

A responsive search ad passes review when every headline and description follows Google’s editorial rules and your landing page works and matches the ad. Write 3 to 15 headlines of up to 30 characters and 2 to 4 descriptions of up to 90 characters. Keep capitalization, punctuation, and spacing normal, leave phone numbers out of the text, and name what you sell.

Key facts (as of October 2026)

Headlines: 3 to 15, up to 30 characters each. Descriptions: 2 to 4, up to 90 characters each. Display paths: up to 15 characters each (Google Ads Help).

An ad shows up to three headlines and up to two descriptions at a time (Google Ads API docs).

Ad Strength doesn’t directly affect whether your ad can serve (Google Ads Help).

Pinning isn’t recommended for most advertisers and can affect Ad Strength (Google Ads Help).

After you fix and save a disapproved ad, it goes back for review, which typically takes 24 to 48 hours (Google Ads policy).

What are the limits for headlines and descriptions?

A responsive search ad (RSA) is a set of text assets. Google combines them into different ads for different searches. These are the documented limits (Google Ads Help):

Field	Minimum	Maximum	Character limit
Headlines	3	15	30 each
Descriptions	2	4	90 each
Display path	0	2 fields	15 each

In double-width languages such as Japanese, Korean, or Chinese, every character counts as 2. A Japanese headline therefore fits about 15 characters.

At serve time, an RSA can show up to three headlines and up to two descriptions (Google Ads API docs). Google says headline positions 2 and 3 and description position 2 may appear “based on what’s predicted to perform best, or when there’s enough space” (Google Ads Help). Write every asset so it makes sense on its own and next to any other asset.

Should you pin headlines?

Pinning fixes an asset to one position, such as Headline 1. It is useful when one line must always show, for example a required disclaimer or your brand name.

Google’s guidance is clear about the trade-off: “pinning reduces the overall number of headlines or descriptions that can be matched to a potential customer’s search, pinning isn’t recommended for most advertisers and can affect ad strength” (Google Ads Help). Ad Strength guidance adds that pinning “limits the system’s ability to test combinations” (Google Ads Help).

If you must pin, follow these rules:

Pin required text to Headline 1, Headline 2, or Description 1. Google says text that must appear in every ad has to be pinned to one of those positions (Google Ads Help).
Pin two or three options to the same position. When several assets are pinned to one position, that position rotates among them (Google Ads API docs). You keep control and still give Google something to test.
Leave enough unpinned assets. Each position needs an asset that can fill it. If you pin every headline to position 1, positions 2 and 3 have nothing eligible (Google Ads API docs).

What does Ad Strength measure?

Ad Strength is feedback on your RSA while you write it. It runs from Incomplete to Poor, Average, Good, and Excellent (Google Ads Help).

It mainly looks at:

How relevant your headlines and descriptions are to your keywords.
How many headlines and descriptions you entered, up to 15 and 4.
How unique they are from each other.
Whether you have enough sitelinks. Google points to at least 6 across the account, campaign, and ad group levels.

Google says “The Ad strength rating of an ad doesn’t directly influence your ad’s serving eligibility” (Google Ads Help). A “Poor” ad can still run. Still, Google recommends at least two RSAs with “Good” or “Excellent” Ad Strength in each ad group (Google Ads Help).

Treat Ad Strength as a checklist for variety and relevance, not as a measure of results. Your conversion data decides which ads are actually better.

Which editorial rules cause disapprovals?

Most text disapprovals come from Google’s Editorial policy (Google Ads policy). The rules are short, and each one has its own page with examples.

Rule	Not allowed (Google’s examples)	Allowed exceptions
Capitalization	”FLOWERS”, “FlOwErS”, “F.L.O.W.E.R.S”	Common abbreviations like “ASAP”, coupon codes, brand names, trademarks, product names
Punctuation and symbols	Repeated punctuation like “flowers!!”, symbols replacing letters like “fl@wers” or “f1owers”, emoji, unsupported characters	Asterisks for star ratings (“5* hotel”) or legal disclaimers; brand names that use the symbol consistently on the site
Unacceptable spacing	”Sale,buy flowers”, “buyflowershere”, “f l o w e r s”	None listed
Repetition	Gimmicky or unnecessary repetition, repeating the advertiser or product name, assets that repeat text from other assets	None listed
Style and spelling	”Flowers here buy”, “Buy flwres here”, bullet points or numbered lists, generic calls to action like “click here”, cut-off text	None listed
Phone number in ad text	”Call 1-800-123-4567” in a description	Use call assets or call-only ads instead
Unidentified business	Ads that don’t include a product name, company name, or display URL	None listed

Two of these catch careful writers. First, the repetition rule covers assets that repeat text “within the same asset or another asset in the same ad group, campaign, or account” (Google Ads policy). Putting your brand name in five headlines is a risk. Second, “click here” counts as a style problem. Use a specific action instead.

Trademarks

Google’s trademark policy allows trademarks as keywords. It focuses on trademarks in the ad text, and trademark owners can file a complaint with Google. Google restricts ads that use the term in a confusing or misleading way, or that come from direct competitors. Resellers and informational sites can qualify for exceptions (Google Ads policy).

In practice: don’t put a competitor’s brand name in your headlines. If you resell a brand, make sure your landing page clearly sells or supports that product.

The landing page

Your ad text can be perfect and still get disapproved because of the destination. Google’s Destination requirements list problems such as pages that don’t work, a display URL domain that doesn’t match the final URL, pages Google can’t crawl, and pages that aren’t accessible in the targeted location (Google Ads policy). Open your final URL on a phone and a computer before you submit.

How do you write the headlines and descriptions?

Google’s best practices for RSAs come down to a few points (Google Ads Help):

“Showcase what makes your products, services, or offers competitive.”
“Include prices, promotions, or exclusives in the headline or description.”
“Use specific calls to action. Generic calls to action often show decreased engagement.”
Use your keywords in the text.
“Ensure the promotions or products in your ad are included on your website.”

A simple way to fill 15 headlines without repeating yourself is to write them in groups.

Group	How many	What to write	Example (for a fictional bookkeeping service)
Keyword	3–4	The service as people search for it	”Bookkeeping for Small Business”
Feature	3–4	What the customer gets	”Monthly Reports Included”
Benefit	2–3	Why it matters to them	”Spend Less Time on Receipts”
Proof or offer	2	Facts you can show on the site	”Fixed Monthly Price”
Call to action	2	A specific next step	”Book a Free Consultation”
Brand	1	Your business name	”Example Bookkeeping Co.”

Check each line against the rules above. Google’s capitalization examples target words written in all capitals or mixed case. Don’t write a whole word in capitals unless it is an abbreviation, a coupon code, or a brand.

For descriptions, use all four. Make each one a complete sentence or two. Combine a benefit with a call to action, for example: “Get clean books every month without hiring in-house staff. Book a call to see how it works.” Don’t use bullet points or numbered lists.

Only include an offer if it is live and shown on your landing page. Google’s best practices ask for that match, and an ad that promises something the page doesn’t show confuses visitors.

How do you test which ads work?

Google gives you three ways to learn from your ads.

Asset and combination reports. An RSA’s performance shows the totals for all its combinations. You can also look at individual assets and at the combinations that served (Google Ads Help). Replace headlines that rarely serve or perform poorly with new ideas, not reworded copies.
A second RSA in the ad group. Google recommends at least two RSAs per ad group (Google Ads Help). Make the second one take a different angle, for example price versus speed.
Ad variations. Ad variations test one change across many campaigns or the whole account, for example changing “Buy now” to “Buy today”. You choose what percentage of traffic sees the modified ads. Then you compare the results with the original ads and apply the winner (Google Ads Help). For several changes at once on a smaller scale, Google suggests custom experiments.

Judge tests on conversions, not on clicks alone. If you don’t track conversions yet, set that up first. Our guide on GA4 conversion tracking with Google Tag Manager walks through it.

Common mistakes

Writing 15 headlines that say the same thing. This hurts Ad Strength and can break the repetition rule.
Pinning everything. You lose most of the testing that makes RSAs useful.
Capitalizing words for emphasis. “FREE” fails the capitalization rule. “Free” is fine.
Double punctuation. “Save now!!” is a disapproval.
A phone number in the text. Use a call asset.
“Click here.” Google lists it as a generic call to action that breaks the style rule.
An offer that isn’t on the page. Keep the ad and the landing page in sync.
A broken or redirected final URL. Test it before you submit.

How do you fix a disapproved ad?

In Google Ads, go to Campaigns, then Ads.
Hover over the disapproved ad or asset and click Edit.
Fix the text named in the policy reason.
Click Save. The ad is reviewed again automatically, typically within 24 to 48 hours (Google Ads policy).

If you think the decision is wrong, you can appeal it instead.

Checklist before you submit

For the campaign settings around your ads, see the Google Ads Search Campaign Setup Checklist.