When someone tells me:
“My Google Ads aren’t working.”
There are several things I normally investigate.
Conversion tracking.
Keywords.
Search terms.
Negative keywords.
Bidding.
Campaign structure.
Landing-page experience.
Offer.
All of those are important.
But there is another issue I repeatedly see when auditing Google Ads accounts:
Advertisers are running incomplete Search ads because they’re barely using Google Ads assets.
This may sound like a small thing.
I don’t consider it small.
Your Search ad is the first interaction many potential customers have with your business.
If your competitors are showing useful links, service information, prices, promotions, locations and contact options while your ad consists of only a headline and two descriptions, which business looks more useful to the searcher?
Let’s discuss how Google Ads assets work and what I would check in your account.
What Are Google Ads Assets?
Google Ads assets are additional pieces of information that can appear with your advertisement.
They were historically called ad extensions, which is why you may still hear PPC professionals using that terminology.
Google currently describes assets as content that makes up or enhances an ad with information such as additional webpage links, call buttons, locations and other business details.
Google automatically determines which eligible assets and combinations to display for individual searches.
That means you don’t control exactly what appears every single time.
But you can give Google’s system more useful options.
Google itself recommends using the asset types that make sense for your business.
Why Assets Matter
Imagine two advertisers bidding on the same keyword.
The first ad shows:
Professional Plumbing Services
Fast local plumbing service. Contact us today.
That’s it.
The second advertiser can potentially show:
Professional Plumbing Services
Emergency Plumbing
Drain Cleaning
Boiler Repair
Bathroom Plumbing
24/7 Service
Call Now
Local Address
Service Categories
Pricing Information
Special Promotion
Which ad gives the customer more information?
Which one gives them more ways to take action?
Which one can occupy more useful visual space?
That’s why I pay attention to assets.
Google says adding assets can give ads greater visibility and prominence, provide more information and offer additional ways to interact, such as calling a business or navigating to another page.
1. Sitelink Assets
Sitelinks are among the first assets I check.
Instead of sending everyone through one generic landing page, sitelinks allow you to provide additional links.
For a digital marketing agency, for example, we could potentially use:
Google Ads Management
Facebook Ads Management
SEO Services
Web Development
Each sitelink can take the visitor to the relevant page.
Google currently recommends adding at least four sitelinks where appropriate.
Think about search intent.
Someone may like your business but want a specific service.
Why force that person to navigate your entire website after clicking?
Take them closer to what they want.
2. Callout Assets
Callouts allow you to highlight important selling points.
They aren’t links.
They’re short pieces of additional information.
Examples could include:
24/7 Support
Free Consultation
Google Partner Agency
10+ Years Experience
No Long-Term Contract
The exact callouts obviously depend on what your company genuinely provides.
Don’t fill them with meaningless marketing language.
Use them to answer:
Why should someone consider my business?
Google recommends using callouts for short, specific information that complements rather than simply repeats the main ad copy.
3. Structured Snippet Assets
Structured snippets are excellent for showing the range of something you provide.
They use predefined Google headers.
For example, an agency might use:
Service catalog: Google Ads, SEO, Meta Ads, Web Design
A travel company might use:
Destinations: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah
A training business might use:
Courses: Google Ads, SEO, Facebook Ads
One important detail:
Structured snippets themselves aren’t clickable.
Their purpose is to provide context before the visitor clicks your ad.
4. Call Assets
Does your business generate valuable leads over the phone?
Then check your call assets.
A potential customer may not want to visit five pages and complete a form.
They may simply want to call.
A call asset can provide that action directly from the ad.
This is particularly relevant for industries such as:
- Local services
- Legal services
- Home services
- Medical businesses where advertising policies permit
- Automotive services
- B2B companies with sales teams
If phone calls matter to your business, make sure you’re also tracking qualified call conversions instead of celebrating every accidental tap.
5. Location Assets
If customers physically visit your business, location information can be extremely useful.
Location assets can help customers identify where your business operates and potentially take actions such as getting directions or calling.
For local businesses, I consider the connection between Google Ads and the business’s location presence particularly important.
If I’m advertising a local business but making it unnecessarily difficult for the searcher to understand where that business is located, I’m creating friction.
6. Price Assets
Price matters.
In many industries, potential customers actively want to know:
“How much does this cost?”
Price assets allow eligible advertisers to showcase services or categories together with pricing information.
This can also help qualify clicks.
Suppose your service starts from $500.
Someone looking for a $20 solution might avoid clicking.
That can actually be beneficial.
I don’t always want more clicks.
I want more of the right clicks.
Google notes that price assets can help users understand pricing before visiting the website and potentially improve click quality.
7. Promotion Assets
Running a genuine promotion?
Don’t bury it deep inside your landing page.
Promotion assets can make special offers more visible directly from the Search ad.
They can be particularly useful around:
- Black Friday
- Holiday promotions
- Seasonal offers
- Product sales
- Limited-time campaigns
- Special service packages
Just make sure the advertised promotion is accurate and available.
8. Image Assets
Search advertising is no longer purely text.
Eligible advertisers can add relevant images to help showcase products or services.
Google currently recommends adding at least three unique images where image assets make sense for the campaign.
Your images should support the searcher’s decision.
Don’t upload random stock photos simply because Google gives you an image slot.
9. Lead Form Assets
In eligible situations, Google can allow potential customers to submit information through a lead form associated with the ad.
This can reduce the number of steps between:
Search → Interest → Lead
But there is an important trade-off.
Removing friction can increase lead volume.
It can also sometimes reduce lead quality.
So if you use lead forms, don’t judge performance only by the number of submissions.
Look at:
qualified leads → sales opportunities → customers
Google notes that advertisers can use additional lead-form questions to help qualify incoming prospects.
10. Message Assets
Google also currently provides message assets in eligible accounts and markets.
These can allow potential customers to begin a conversation through supported messaging platforms.
Availability is not universal, and Google currently describes this functionality as being in beta.
So if you have access to it and messaging is important to your business, it may be worth testing.
But again:
Don’t use an asset just because it exists.
Use it when the action makes sense for the customer journey.
What About Ratings?
In the example I demonstrated in my video, the fuller ad also included rating information.
There is an important distinction here.
Store ratings aren’t simply another manual asset that every advertiser can switch on.
Google uses review information from eligible sources and applies additional requirements before ratings can appear.
Google currently says a store rating of at least 3.5 is required for ratings to show on text ads, and sufficient review information must be available.
Even then, the rating isn’t guaranteed to appear in every auction.
So build genuine customer satisfaction and collect legitimate reviews.
Don’t treat ratings like another checkbox inside your Search campaign.
More Assets Do Not Mean Every Asset Shows Every Time
This is probably the biggest misunderstanding I want to prevent.
Let’s say you create:
Four sitelinks.
Five callouts.
A structured snippet.
A call asset.
A location asset.
Images.
Prices.
A promotion.
That does not mean Google will show all of them simultaneously every time somebody searches.
Google determines the combination it predicts will work best for each auction.
That’s why my advice isn’t:
“Force every possible item into every ad.”
My advice is:
Give Google a strong library of relevant, accurate assets to choose from.
Google makes the final serving decision.
Your Search Ad Is a Creative
Advertisers sometimes understand this immediately on Facebook or Instagram.
They know the creative matters.
They spend hours working on:
Images.
Videos.
Hooks.
Copy.
CTAs.
Then they open Google Ads and think:
“It’s just text.”
I disagree.
Your Search ad is also a creative.
Your headlines matter.
Descriptions matter.
Offer matters.
Sitelinks matter.
Images matter.
Callouts matter.
Prices matter.
Promotions matter.
The way all those elements work together can shape the searcher’s decision before they ever reach your website.
Think About the Journey Before the Landing Page
A lot of CRO discussion begins with:
“What happens when the user reaches the landing page?”
That’s important.
But I want you to go one step earlier.
What was going through the customer’s mind before the click?
What did they search?
What promise did the ad make?
What services did the assets show?
Did they see a price?
Did they see your location?
Could they call you?
Was there an offer?
Which landing page did the sitelink promise?
Your ad and landing page should be part of one continuous journey.
Don’t Use Irrelevant Assets Just to Fill Space
Google recommends enabling asset types relevant to your business.
I agree.
The word relevant matters more to me than simply having “more.”
If you don’t accept phone enquiries, don’t prioritize call assets.
If you don’t have physical customer-facing locations, a location asset may not serve the purpose you think.
If there is no real promotion, don’t manufacture one.
If your prices vary dramatically and can’t be represented accurately, think carefully before using price assets.
If a sitelink sends people to an irrelevant page, it isn’t helping just because it’s technically a sitelink.
Everything should support search intent.
How to Check Your Google Ads Assets
Inside Google Ads, go to:
Campaigns → Assets → Assets
Review what is already active.
Then ask:
Which relevant asset types am I not using?
Google’s current documentation highlights asset types including sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, calls, locations, prices, promotions, images and lead forms.
Also check the performance reporting.
Don’t assume every asset is successful simply because it exists.
Use actual campaign data.
Use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool Properly
Google’s official Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool can help you check whether your ad or asset is appearing for a particular search without repeatedly searching Google yourself.
You can find it under Google’s troubleshooting tools.
It is useful because manually searching your own ads can distort your impression behavior and doesn’t reliably tell you why something is or isn’t serving.
The tool can provide diagnostics when ads or assets don’t appear.
Are Missing Assets the Only Reason Google Ads Fail?
No.
And I want to make that very clear.
A campaign with excellent assets can still fail because of:
Poor conversion tracking.
Bad keywords.
Irrelevant search terms.
Weak bidding decisions.
Poor landing pages.
Bad offers.
Wrong geographic targeting.
Low-quality leads.
Poor sales follow-up.
Assets don’t magically rescue a broken business funnel.
But they are an important part of Search advertising that many advertisers still underuse.
And unlike rebuilding your entire website, creating a stronger asset library can often be relatively straightforward.
My Google Ads Asset Checklist
Before I consider a Search campaign properly built, I want to ask whether we’ve considered the relevant opportunities for:
Sitelinks
Callouts
Structured snippets
Calls
Locations
Prices
Promotions
Images
Lead forms
Messages where available
Ratings eligibility
Not every account needs everything.
But every account should at least evaluate them.
Final Thoughts
If your Google Ads aren’t generating enough results, don’t immediately assume the only solution is:
Increase budget.
Before spending more, inspect the advertisement people are already seeing.
Does it clearly explain what you offer?
Does it give them useful choices?
Can they navigate directly to relevant pages?
Can they contact you easily?
Can they see your services?
Do they understand your offer?
Does your ad look competitive beside the other businesses bidding for the same customer?
Sometimes an advertiser spends weeks optimizing what happens after the click while barely paying attention to what convinced the user to click in the first place.
Don’t make that mistake.
Build better ads.
Use the relevant Google Ads assets available to you.
Then measure whether those improvements translate into better-quality traffic, leads and sales.
Need Professional Google Ads Management?
If your Google Ads are spending money without generating enough qualified leads or sales, my team can help you identify where the campaign is losing performance.
AARSWEBS is a Google Partner company providing professional Google Ads campaign management, account optimization, conversion tracking, search-term management and digital marketing services.
👉 Google Ads Management:
https://aarswebs.com/google-ads-management/
👉 AARSWEBS:
https://aarswebs.com/
Don’t optimize Google Ads only for clicks.
Optimize the entire journey from:
Search → Ad → Click → Landing Page → Lead → Sale
Ali Raza
Google Ads Professional & Digital Marketer
AARSWEBS Solutions
