How to Use Ad Extensions in Google Ads (Now Assets)

Okay, let’s start with the thing nobody warns you about: you can write a beautiful Google ad, pour your heart into the headlines, and still end up with a tiny two-line text ad that looks a little lonely on the page. Meanwhile the advertiser above you is taking up half the screen with links, phone numbers, prices, and little bonus details. That extra real estate isn’t luck — it’s ad extensions. And if you’ve been trying to figure out how to use ad extensions in Google Ads, let me give you the calm, direct answer before we dig in.

To use ad extensions in Google Ads — which Google now officially calls “assets” — you add extra pieces of information to your text ads (things like sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, phone numbers, prices, and images) so your ad takes up more space and gives people more reasons to click. You create them inside your Google Ads account at the account, campaign, or ad group level, write them to complement your ad rather than repeat it, provide plenty of options so Google can assemble the best combination for each search, and keep every detail accurate and current. They’re usually free to add — you only pay for the same click you’d pay for anyway — which makes learning how to use ad extensions in Google Ads one of the highest-return habits in all of paid search.

I promise this is one of the friendlier corners of Google Ads. There’s no risky bidding math here, no budget to accidentally torch — just thoughtful little additions that make your ad more useful and more clickable. Let’s walk through it together.

What exactly are ad extensions (now “assets”) in Google Ads?

Let’s clear up the terminology first, because it trips everyone up. For years these features were called “ad extensions.” Then Google rebranded them as “assets.” Same concept, new name. So when you’re reading how to use ad extensions in Google Ads and you notice the interface saying “assets” instead, don’t panic — you’re in the right place. I’ll use both terms here so they feel interchangeable, which they basically are.

An asset is any extra piece of information you attach to your text ad beyond the core headlines and description. Think of your base ad as the main course and assets as the sides that round out the plate: links to specific pages, a phone number, a list of features, a special offer, an image. When someone searches and your ad is eligible, Google decides which of your assets to show alongside it, aiming for the combination most likely to earn a click in that moment.

Here’s the genuinely lovely part: assets are typically free to add. You’re not paying for the extra space itself. If someone clicks a sitelink instead of your main headline, you pay the same kind of click cost you’d have paid anyway. So you get more visibility, more information, and more entry points into your site — without a separate bill for the privilege. That’s about as close to a free lunch as paid search offers, which is exactly why skipping assets is such a common and costly beginner mistake.

One honest caveat I want you to carry through this whole guide: this area changes frequently. Google adds new asset types, retires old ones, renames things, and shifts which assets are available for which campaign types. Everything I describe here reflects how these features generally work, but the specific names, formats, and availability genuinely evolve. Before you build a plan around any single asset, confirm its current status in the official Google Ads Help documentation. The concepts are stable; the details drift.

Why do ad extensions matter so much?

If assets are free and optional, why treat them as essential? Because they quietly do three powerful things at once, and together those things change how your ad performs.

First, they expand your real estate. A bare text ad is small. Add sitelinks, callouts, and a couple of other assets, and your ad can physically grow — sometimes dramatically — pushing competitors down the page and commanding more of the searcher’s attention. On a crowded results page, size is presence, and presence gets noticed.

Second, they give people more reasons and more ways to click. Your main headline speaks to one angle. Sitelinks offer four more doorways into your site. A price asset answers “how much?” before they even click. A call asset lets a mobile searcher phone you directly. Each asset is another chance to match what that specific person cares about, which tends to lift your click-through rate — and a healthier click-through rate is one of the clearest signals of a relevant, well-built ad.

Third, they add useful information that builds trust. Prices, locations, star-worthy features, special offers — these details help people self-qualify before they click, so the clicks you do get are warmer and more likely to convert. An ad that answers questions upfront feels more credible than one that makes people guess.

There’s also a relevance benefit worth naming. Google rewards ads that are genuinely useful to searchers, and a rich set of relevant assets is part of being useful. If you want to go deeper on the click-through side specifically, our guide on how to improve your Google Ads click-through rate pairs perfectly with everything here, because assets are one of the most direct levers you have for lifting that number.

What are the main types of ad extensions, and when should you use each?

This is the heart of it. There are quite a few asset types, each built for a different job. Let me walk you through the main ones, then give you a quick-reference guide you can scan whenever you’re building a campaign.

Sitelink assets are additional links beneath your ad that send people to specific pages — “Pricing,” “Contact,” “Our Services,” “Book a Demo.” They’re the most universally useful asset, because almost every business has more than one page worth visiting. Use them to guide different visitors to the page that fits their need, and give each a short descriptive label plus (where supported) a line or two of description.

Callout assets are short, non-clickable snippets that highlight selling points — “Free Shipping,” “24/7 Support,” “Family Owned Since 1998.” They don’t link anywhere; they just reassure. Use them to stack up the little trust-builders that don’t fit in your headlines.

Structured snippet assets let you list specifics under a predefined header like “Services,” “Brands,” “Types,” or “Destinations.” If a callout says “we’re great,” a structured snippet says “here’s exactly what we offer.” Use them to show the range of what you carry or do.

Call assets add your phone number, often as a tappable button on mobile. Use them when phone calls are a real conversion path for you — service businesses, bookings, high-consideration purchases where people want to talk to a human.

Location assets show your business address, often tied to a linked Business Profile, and can display a map pin and distance. Use them when you have a physical location and want to drive foot traffic or local trust. (Google has reworked how business and location information connects over time, so verify the current setup.)

Lead form assets let someone submit their details directly from the ad, without landing on your site first. Use them when you want to capture leads with minimal friction — but handle the data responsibly and make sure it fits your privacy obligations. Availability for this one has shifted, so confirm it’s offered for your account and region.

Price assets display a set of products or services with prices, each linking to the relevant page. Use them when showing cost upfront helps the right people click and filters out the wrong ones. Only ever show real, current prices.

Promotion assets highlight a specific deal — “20% off,” “$10 off orders over $50” — often with an occasion tag like a holiday sale. Use them for genuine, time-bound offers, and take them down the moment the promotion ends.

Image assets add a relevant picture beside your text ad, making it more visual and eye-catching. Use clear, high-quality images that genuinely represent what you offer — not generic stock that could mislead.

App assets promote your mobile app with a direct link to download it. Use them when driving app installs is an actual goal, not just a nice-to-have.

Here’s a scannable per-type guide to keep beside you while you build:

Asset type	What it does	Reach for it when…
Sitelinks	Extra links to specific pages	You have more than one page worth visiting (almost always)
Callouts	Short non-clickable selling points	You want to stack quick trust-builders and perks
Structured snippets	Lists under a set header (Services, Brands…)	You want to show the range of what you offer
Call	Your phone number, tappable on mobile	Phone calls are a real conversion path
Location	Address, map pin, distance	You have a physical place and want local trust
Lead form	Capture details straight from the ad	You want low-friction leads (handle data responsibly)
Price	Products/services with prices	Showing cost upfront helps qualify clicks
Promotion	A specific, time-bound deal	You have a genuine current offer
Image	A relevant picture beside the ad	A visual makes your offer clearer or more appealing
App	Direct link to download your app	App installs are an actual goal

You don’t need every type. You need the ones that honestly fit your business — and ideally more than one option within each, which we’ll get to in a moment.

Should you add assets at the account, campaign, or ad group level?

One thing that confuses newcomers is where assets live. Google lets you attach them at three levels, and understanding this saves you a lot of duplicate work.

Account level assets apply across your whole account — every eligible campaign and ad group can use them. This is perfect for information that’s true everywhere, like your main phone number or a universal callout such as “Free Returns.” Set it once, and it’s available throughout.

Campaign level assets apply only to a specific campaign. Use this when a particular campaign needs tailored information — say a “Summer Sale” campaign with its own promotion asset and sale-specific sitelinks that wouldn’t make sense in your evergreen campaigns.

Ad group level assets are the most granular, applying only to one ad group. Reach for this when you want tightly matched detail — sitelinks specific to a single product line, for instance, so the extra links echo the exact theme of that ad group.

The gentle rule of thumb: add information at the broadest level where it’s still accurate. If it’s true everywhere, put it at account level so you don’t recreate it a dozen times. If it only applies to one campaign or ad group, scope it there so it stays relevant. And note that more specific levels generally take precedence over broader ones, which lets you set a sensible default up top and override it where needed. This mirrors good campaign structure overall — if you’re still building your foundation, our walkthrough on how to set up your first Google Ads campaign shows where assets fit into the bigger picture.

How do you actually add an asset in Google Ads?

The exact clicks move around as Google updates the interface, so treat this as the general shape rather than a pixel-perfect map — and lean on Google Ads Help for the current steps.

• Open the Assets area. In your Google Ads account, find the Assets section (it has lived under different menu names over time). This is your hub for creating and managing every asset type.
• Choose the asset type you want to add — sitelink, callout, price, and so on — and start a new one.
• Pick the level. Decide whether this asset applies to the whole account, a specific campaign, or a single ad group, and set it accordingly.
• Fill in the details carefully. Enter the text, links, numbers, or images. Keep labels short, links pointed at the most relevant page, and every fact accurate.
• Add plenty of options. Create several sitelinks, several callouts, and so on, rather than the bare minimum. More on why this matters next.
• Save and review. Check that everything looks right, then let it run. New assets often go through a short review before showing.

That’s really it. No bidding, no budget risk — just thoughtful setup. The craft is less in the clicking and more in what you write, so let’s talk about that.

How do you write assets that complement your ad instead of repeating it?

Here’s the part nobody tells you: the most common asset mistake isn’t technical — it’s redundancy. People fill their sitelinks and callouts with slight rewordings of their headlines, and the whole ad ends up saying the same thing five times. That wastes your biggest advantage.

The goal is complement, not repeat. Every asset should add a new piece of information or a new angle the searcher didn’t already have. If your headline shouts your main offer, your callouts should cover the supporting perks — shipping, support, guarantees. Your sitelinks should open different doors — pricing, a specific category, your story. Your structured snippets should lay out range. Picture the whole ad as one conversation where each asset contributes a fresh, useful sentence instead of echoing the last one.

A simple test I love: read your full ad with all its assets as if you’re the searcher, and ask, “Did I just learn several different things, or the same thing several times?” If it’s the same thing, rewrite. Spread your messaging so the headlines, descriptions, and every asset each carry their own weight. This is the same discipline that makes a great headline land — if you want to sharpen that core copy, our guide on how to write a Google Ads headline is the natural companion, because strong headlines plus complementary assets are what make an ad genuinely sing.

And here’s why providing plenty of options matters so much: Google doesn’t show every asset every time. It assembles a combination for each individual search, choosing what it predicts will perform best in that context. If you give it only the minimum — say, the fewest sitelinks it’ll accept — you’ve handed it nothing to optimize. Give it a generous, varied menu of accurate assets, and you let its system mix and match to find the strongest combination for each searcher. Think of yourself as stocking a well-organized pantry and trusting the chef to plate the best dish for each guest.

How do you keep your asset information accurate and current?

This is the ethical heart of the whole topic, and I want to be really clear with you, because it matters both for your reputation and for staying inside Google’s rules.

Every detail in your assets must be true and current. If your price asset says $49 but checkout says $59, you’ve misled someone and broken trust before they ever arrived. If your promotion asset advertises a sale that ended last week, you’re false advertising — and that can trigger disapprovals or worse. If your call asset lists an old phone number, people reach a dead line and you’ve paid for nothing. Outdated or inaccurate information isn’t a small housekeeping issue; it’s a policy problem and a credibility problem rolled into one.

So build a simple maintenance rhythm. When prices change, update price assets the same day. When a promotion ends, pull the promotion asset immediately — don’t let a stale “20% off” linger. When a phone number, address, or hours change, fix the call and location assets right away. And periodically skim all your assets to confirm the links still work, the pages still exist, and every claim still holds. Accuracy isn’t a one-time setup; it’s an ongoing promise you make to the people who click.

A related honest note: I’m not going to hand you made-up numbers about how much assets lift performance, and you should be wary of anyone who does. You’ll see confident “assets increase clicks by X%” claims all over the internet. The truthful answer is that results depend entirely on your ads, your audience, your industry, and your offer. The only numbers worth trusting are the ones in your own account once your assets are running. Use those, not someone’s tidy blog-post average.

What should your ad extensions (assets) checklist look like?

Let’s turn all of this into something you can actually work through. Here’s a checklist you can run every time you build or review a campaign. Keep it handy — it’s the fastest way to make sure you’re squeezing every bit of free value out of your ads.

• Sitelinks added? At least a healthy handful, each pointing to a genuinely different, relevant page.
• Callouts added? Several short, benefit-led snippets that don’t repeat your headlines.
• Structured snippets added? A relevant header with a real list of what you offer.
• Call asset set if phone calls matter to you — with the correct, current number.
• Location asset set if you have a physical presence — with accurate address and hours.
• Price and/or promotion assets added where relevant — with real, current figures and offers only.
• Image asset added if a clear, honest picture strengthens your ad.
• Lead form or app assets considered if they fit your real goals (and availability).
• Right level chosen for each — account, campaign, or ad group — based on where the info applies.
• Plenty of options provided so Google can assemble the best combination.
• Everything complements rather than repeats your core ad.
• Every detail verified accurate and current — prices, promos, numbers, links.
• Current availability confirmed in Google Ads Help, since types and names change.
• Performance monitoring planned so you can see what’s working.

Run that list and you’ll already be ahead of most advertisers, who tend to add two sitelinks and call it a day.

How do you monitor which assets are working?

Adding assets isn’t the finish line — it’s the start of a little feedback loop. Google reports on how your individual assets perform, and checking that data turns guesswork into informed tuning.

Within your Assets area, you can see how often each asset shows and how it’s performing. Some reporting even labels assets with ratings that indicate relative performance, so you can spot which sitelinks earn attention and which get ignored. Make a light habit of reviewing this — not obsessively, just regularly enough to learn. The two moves are simple: lean into what works by creating more variations in the style of your strong performers, and fix or replace what doesn’t by rewriting weak assets or swapping them for fresher angles.

Be a little patient, though. Assets need enough impressions before their numbers mean anything, so resist judging a brand-new sitelink after a day. Give things room to gather real data, then let that data guide you. Over time this gentle pruning and polishing compounds — your asset set slowly becomes sharper, more relevant, and more effective, shaped by what your actual searchers respond to rather than your day-one guesses.

How do assets fit alongside your organic social presence?

Here’s something I care about telling you straight. Google Ads is paid search, and assets make that paid reach work harder — but it’s still attention you’re renting. The moment your budget stops, the ads stop. That’s not a criticism; it’s just the nature of paid media. The businesses that win long-term pair that rented reach with an organic presence they actually own.

That’s the lane SocialBlaze lives in, and I want to be completely honest about what we are and aren’t. SocialBlaze is not a Google Ads tool, an asset builder, or a PPC platform — we don’t create ad extensions, run ads, or touch your paid campaigns. What we do is make the organic side effortless: scheduling and auto-publishing your posts across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, Tumblr, and X, plus analytics and a unified inbox so you can manage everything from one place. Think of your Google Ads assets as the polish on the attention you rent, and your organic social as the audience you keep. They complement each other beautifully — and keeping them in separate, well-run lanes is exactly how smart marketers build something durable.

What asset mistakes should you avoid?

Let me save you a few of the bruises I’ve watched people collect. None are fatal, all are fixable.

Adding the bare minimum. Two sitelinks and nothing else gives Google almost nothing to optimize and leaves free real estate on the table. Be generous with accurate options.

Repeating your headlines. Redundant assets waste your biggest advantage. Make every asset add something new.

Letting information go stale. Old prices, expired promos, dead phone numbers — these mislead people and risk policy trouble. Maintenance is part of the job.

Ignoring the right level. Cramming everything at one level, or recreating the same callout fifty times, just makes a mess. Add info at the broadest level where it stays accurate.

Setting and forgetting. Assets have performance data for a reason. Skim it, keep the winners, refresh the laggards.

Do this well — generous, accurate, complementary assets at the right levels, monitored lightly over time — and you’ll get more visibility and more clicks from the exact same budget. It really is one of the kindest wins in paid search, and you’ve absolutely got this.

Frequently asked questions

Are ad extensions the same as assets in Google Ads?

Yes — they’re the same thing under two names. Google rebranded “ad extensions” as “assets,” so you’ll still see both terms in guides, forums, and older help articles. The underlying idea is identical: extra pieces of information attached to your ads. Because naming and availability in this area change fairly often, it’s always worth confirming the current terminology directly in Google Ads Help.

Do ad extensions cost extra in Google Ads?

Generally no — adding assets doesn’t carry a separate fee. If someone clicks an asset like a sitelink, you pay the same kind of click cost you’d pay for a click on your main ad, not an additional charge for the asset itself. That’s a big part of why assets are considered such high-value, low-risk additions. Still, review Google’s current terms, since billing details can evolve over time.

How many ad extensions should I add?

More than the minimum, as long as each one is accurate and genuinely useful. Google assembles a different combination of your assets for each search, so giving it a generous, varied menu lets its system find the strongest mix for each person. Add several sitelinks, several callouts, relevant structured snippets, and any other types that fit your business — just never pad the list with repetitive or inaccurate entries.

Why aren’t my ad extensions showing?

Several things affect whether assets appear, and Google doesn’t show every asset every time. New assets may still be under review, some need a minimum ad rank or position to display, and the system only shows the combination it predicts will perform best for a given search. Make sure your assets are approved, accurate, and plentiful, then check Google Ads Help for the current display requirements, which do change.

Can ad extensions improve my ad performance?

They often help, because they expand your ad’s size, add useful information, and give people more reasons and ways to click — all of which can support a stronger click-through rate and more relevant traffic. That said, be skeptical of any fixed percentage claims, since real results depend on your ads, audience, industry, and offer. The trustworthy numbers are the ones in your own account once your assets have gathered enough data.