Set up an ad variation

Ad variations make it easy for you to test multiple versions of your ads by changing up the headline or description text, testing out different promotions or highlighting the benefits of your products and services in various ways. Ad variations can also be applied to the final URL as well as the mobile URL.

This article explains how to set up and edit an ad variation. Learn more about ad variations

Set up an ad variation for a text ad

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop-down in the section menu.
3. Click Experiments.
4. Click Ad variations. You’ll see a table of ad variations that you’ve created, along with information about each variation.
5. To create a new ad variation, click the plus button .
6. Under the “Select ads” section, select All campaigns or select the campaign you want to create an ad variation for.
7. Under the “Target ad type” section, select Text ads.
8. You can establish rules in the Filter ads section:
   • Filter ads by the headlines, descriptions, path fields and URLs.
9. Click Continue.
10. In the 'Create variation' section, choose which type of variation you want to apply to your ads. Bear in mind that variations are case sensitive. Select an option from the list.
    • Find and replace. Finds text within the ad and replaces it with another. For example, you may want to test a variation of your ad by replacing “Book now” with “Call now”.
    • Update text. Modifies existing text in the ads. You can add, remove or pin assets for your:
      • Final URL
      • Headlines
      • Display path
      • Descriptions
      • Final mobile URL
    • Swap headlines. Swaps headlines 1 and 2.
11. Click Continue.
12. In the 'Set variation details' section, give your ad variation a name.
13. Set the Start date and End date of when you want to run the ad variations. Your ad variation will automatically start running on the date you select. If that date is today, it will start running soon.
14. In Experiment split, enter the percentage of your campaign’s budget you wish to allocate for the ad variations. Your ad variation and original ads will be split by assigning cookies to users. That means that users may see only one version of your ad, regardless of how many times they search. This can help ensure that other factors don’t impact your results, and may give you more accurate data.
15. Click Create variation.

Set up an ad variation for a responsive search ad

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop-down in the section menu.
3. Click Experiments.
4. Click Ad variations.
5. To create a new ad variation, click the plus button .
6. Under the “Select ads” section, select All campaigns or select the campaign you want to create an ad variation for.
7. Under the “Target ad type” section, select Responsive search ads.
8. You can establish rules in the Filter ads section:
   • Filter ads by the headlines, descriptions, display paths and final URLs.
9. Click Continue.
10. In the 'Create variation' section, choose which type of variation you want to apply to your ads. Bear in mind that variations are case sensitive.
    • Select an option from the list.
      • Find and replace. Finds text within the ad and replaces it with another. For example, you may want to test a variation of your ad by replacing “Book now” with “Call now”.
      • Update text. Modifies existing text in the ads. You can add, remove or pin assets for your:
        • Headlines
        • Descriptions
      • Update URLs. Modify existing final URLs, display paths and final mobile URLs.
11. Click Continue.
12. In the 'Set variation details' section, give your ad variation a name.
13. Set the Start date and End date of when you want to run the ad variations. Your ad variation will automatically start running on the date that you select. If that date is today, it will start running soon.
14. In Experiment split, enter the percentage of your campaign’s budget you wish to allocate for the ad variations. Your ad variation and original ads will be split by assigning cookies to users. That means that users may see only one version of your ad, regardless of how many times they search. This can help ensure that other factors don’t impact your results, and may give you more accurate data.
15. Click Create variation.

Edit your ad variation

Once you’ve created your ad variation, you can edit parts of it. You can edit the name, start date and end date of your ad variation. To change more details, you will need to create a new ad variation.

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop-down in the section menu.
3. Click Experiments.
4. Click Ad variations, which lists the ad variations you’ve created, along with information about each variation.
5. Find the ad variation that you want to edit.
6. Hover over your ad variation and click the pencil icon that appears beside the column you want to edit.
7. You can add more columns by selecting the columns icon . You won’t be able to edit ad variations that are no longer running, or have been removed.
8. You can edit:

   • Name. The name that you’ve chosen for your ad variation.

   • Start date. Your ad variation will automatically start running on the date that you select. If that date is today it will begin running soon. If your ad variation has already started you won’t be able to change this date.

   • End date. The date your ad variation will stop running. If your ad variation has ended, expired or has already been applied, you won’t be able to change this. To re-run your ad variation, you can click Restart in the 'Actions' column. Keep in mind that expired ad variations can't be re-run.

9. Click Save.