Let potential customers know about sales or special events by adding a countdown to your ad text.
Countdown customisers come in both COUNTDOWN and GLOBAL_COUNTDOWN formats. Use GLOBAL_COUNTDOWN if you're counting down to a time that's consistent globally, like the time of a sports match.
| Function | What it does |
|---|---|
COUNTDOWN |
Counts down to a set time, adjusted to the time zone of the person searching. |
GLOBAL_COUNTDOWN |
Counts down to a 'global' time consistent with your account's time zone. If the ad says 'ends in four hours' in London, it will also say 'ends in four hours' in Birmingham. |
Both countdown functions count down by day, then by hour, then by minute. So a line of ad text with a countdown customiser might say 'Hurry, sale ends in three hours' and then two hours and 28 minutes later it would say 'Hurry, sale ends in 32 minutes'.
You can set up countdowns in any responsive search ad, text ad or Dynamic Search Ad.
Instructions
Start editing your ad
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- From the page menu on the left, click Ads assets.
- Click Ads.
- Click an ad that you want to add a countdown to, or click the plus button
and select Responsive search ad, or Dynamic Search Ad.
- Fill in your ad text.
Trigger the countdown widget
- In the place where you want your countdown to appear, type a brace ( { ) and select Countdown from the drop-down menu.
- Beside 'Countdown ends', fill in the date and time when you want your countdown to end. You can select:
- Start of day
- End of day
- Custom time
- Put your time in a 24-hour format (optional). For example, if your end time is 6.30 p.m. on 14 July 2017, your date would be 2017/07/14, and your time would be 18:30:00.
- Beside 'Countdown starts', enter the number of days before your end date that you want your ad to start showing. If you leave this blank, it will start showing five days before your end date.
- Note: Days are defined as the number of midnights. For example, if your end time is 6:30 p.m. on 14 July 2022 by entering seven days before then, your ad will start showing at midnight on 7 July 2022.
Note: Ads with countdown customisers automatically stop showing after their specified end date. Remember to unpin or change the headline when the countdown is over to ensure your ad continues to serve.
Set time zone and language
- Select Account time zone to count down to your end time in your Google Ads account's time zone, or select Ad viewer's time zone to count down to your end time in the ad viewer's time zone.
- If you're counting down to an event that happens in a specific place, like a game, talk, concert or conference, it's a good idea to use your account time zone.
- If you're counting down to an event that's not geographically specific (such as an online sale), you can use the ad viewer's time zone.
- To change the language that the countdown shows, choose a language next to 'Language'. When you choose a new language, you'll see an example of what's displayed.
Note: You won’t be able to change the language that the countdown shows for your responsive search ads.
Set the countdown and save your ad
- Click Apply to save your countdown. You'll see the countdown customiser within your ad text.
- Make sure that your ad text will stay within the character limits when it's displayed. The countdown customiser code could generate a string that's 8 characters long. Make sure that your ad copy allows for the additional characters.
- Click Save ad.
Note: The preview always shows a static countdown that does not reflect real-time.
Responsive search ads countdown customisers
RSA countdown customisers are a simplified version of the original ETA countdown customisers. Make sure to add at least three headlines without a countdown customiser, or you can use default text.
| Syntax differences | ETA countdown customisers | RSA countdown customisers |
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