Discover how you can boost your Google Ads performance with Callout Extensions

Callouts are ad extensions that allow you to attach additional text to your Google Ads search ads. This is usually used to highlight the unique aspects of your service or business. 

Here is an example, the callouts in this ad are “International Artists. Trusted Shops. 100 Day Return Policy. More than 20.000 designs.”

These main features make this brand different from their competitors. The callout extensions should capture the attention of the searcher and lead to more clicks. Similarly in the example below, the advertiser has listed, “Deals and offers, UK’s No 1 MOT Tester, Certified Technicians”, as the main benefits they want to communicate. The idea is that your callout extensions include the key information about your brand that you want the searcher to know.

The Appearance of Callouts in Search Results

Callout extensions, like other extensions, do not always appear every time your ad shows up in the search results. Google determines which extensions appear based on relevance and other factors that are not public knowledge. When callout extensions do show up, there are a few factors which affect how they appear. This is for example the user’s device or browser.. On phones the callout texts will appear in paragraph form, whereas on the computer, they appear on the same line as the description line of the text, separated by a full stop or a bullet point. The appearance of callout extensions, like all other elements of a Google ad is evolving all the time, so you might also see it displayed differently.

The Requirements for Callouts

Callouts have a limit of 25 characters. You need a minimum of 2 callouts in order for them to be shown with your text ads. Google can show up to ten callouts but this will also vary depending on similar factors which affect the appearance of callouts in search results.

Best practices when using callout extensions

• Use short and concise text so that more callouts can show in your ads e.g. replace ‘“we ship items globally” with “global shipping”
• If you have time sensitive information in your callouts you can schedule them in Google ads to stop running once the information is no longer relevant
• If you are implementing callouts on an account level, they should be generally about the whole business. The callouts you implement on campaign and adgroup levels should be specific to the ads on the level they are implemented on.
• Give the searcher detailed and specific information so that it’s easier for the searcher to decide if you offer what they need. For example ‘Same day fitting’ or ‘ Certified technicians’

Callout examples for different industries

B2B: Detailing B2B satisfaction here would be good e.g. ‘5* Trustpilot rating’

Ecommerce: For this industry it may be beneficial to highlight the ways your business interacts with customers e.g. 24/7 Customer Support, Fast and Free Shipping 

Hotels: Many hotels include the following aspects of their business as callouts; 5* rated, 24 hour Check-In, Late Check-Out

Healthcare: Healthcare services can include similar callouts as Hotels such as their customer satisfaction rating, qualifications and certifications relevant to their services. For example a dental practice may include ‘Tooth Whitening’ or ‘Highly qualified hygienists’