An Expanded Text Ad (ETA) is an expanded ad format with two title fields and support for upgraded URLs. They provide more content than Standard Text Ads (STAs), giving you more space to encourage clicks and conversions. Well-crafted ETAs generally see better click through rates than standard text ads.
At-A-Glance
- Three headlines
- Two descriptions
- More characters per field
- Upgraded URLs
Comparison Matrix
The table below compares the latest Microsoft Advertising ExTA format with the legacy Standard Text Ad and Expanded Text Ad formats.
| Marin Field | Text Ad | Expanded Text Ad | ETA Improvement (ExTA) |
| Headline 1 | 25 chars | 30 chars | 30 chars |
| Headline 2 | N/A | 30 chars | 30 chars |
| Headline 3 | N/A | N/A | 30 chars |
| Description | 71 chars | 80 chars | 90 chars |
| Description 2 | N/A | N/A | 90 chars |
| Destination URL | 1024 chars | N/A | N/A |
| Display URL | 35 chars, manual entry | Automatic extraction from Final URL + Nav1 & Nav2 | Automatic extraction from Final URL + Nav1 & Nav2 |
| Display URL Nav 1 | N/A | 15 chars | 15 chars |
| Display URL Nav 2 | N/A | 15 chars | 15 chars |
| Device Preference: Mobile | True / False | N/A | N/A |
Marin Support For Microsoft Advertising Expanded Text Ads (ETAs)
Below we'll outline the specific platform support for Microsoft Advertising's ETAs.
Sync
Expanded Text Ads that are created in Microsoft Advertising and are active will automatically be synced into the platform each night. ETAs with no ad spend (paused) can be brought into Marin by syncing a campaign or group that contains ETAs. Expanded Text ads will sync into the platform even if you have not yet migrated any portion of your accounts in Marin to Upgraded URLs.
Bulk Creation
We recommend that you fully migrate to Microsoft Advertising Upgraded URLs before using Expanded Text Ads. If you have not started using Upgraded URLs, please contact your platform representative. Attempting to create ETAs without using Upgraded URLs first will result in an error message since Microsoft Advertising ETAs use Landing Pages (rather than Destination URLs).
| Account | Campaign | Group | Creative Type | Headline | Headline 2 | Description | Landing Page | Display URL Nav 1 | Display URL Nav 2 |
| Example Account | Example Campaign | Example Group | Expanded Text | Example Headline 1 | Example Headline 2 | This is my new description | https://www.example.com |
Clothing |
Single Edit
In the Navigation Bar, click Accounts > Ads. In the drop-down Creative Type menu, select Expanded Text. Editing an Expanded Text Ad is similar in many ways to Standard Text Ads. If you want to change the default ad type from ‘standard text’ to ‘expanded text,’ you can file a request with your platform representative.
Additional Notes
- If you are still using Standard Text Ads, you will receive the error Microsoft Advertising Error: Creating or updating ads of this type is not allowed. In order to resolve, you will need to switch to Expanded Text Ads.
- As of July 31st, 2017, Microsoft Advertising Ads has ended support for creating and editing existing STAs. You can now only create and edit Expanded Text Ads, however, all of your existing Standard Text Ads will continue to serve alongside expanded text ads for the foreseeable future, though you may start to see some deprecated features over time. For example, Sitelinks are no longer supported for Standard Text Ads and custom parameters will not be appended.
