> Quick answer: Text in Google Ads lives in structured input fields, not painted on images. RSAs support up to 15 headlines (30 chars) and 4 descriptions (90 chars). Performance Max adds long headlines and more slots. Heavy image text overlays hurt reach. Fill every field. Use AI to do it faster.
How to Add Text to Google Ads: The Right Way
Text in Google Ads is structural, not decorative. You write headlines and descriptions into dedicated fields. Google's machine learning assembles them into the best-performing combinations for each placement and audience.
Understanding where text goes, and what the limits are, saves time and prevents policy violations.
Text in Responsive Search Ads (RSA)
RSAs are Google's default Search ad format. You write the raw material. Google builds the final ad.
What are responsive search ads?
Per Google's Ads Help Center, RSAs automatically combine your headlines and descriptions to find which arrangements perform best. Google tests combinations over time and shifts toward winners. The more variety you provide, the more the algorithm has to work with.
Adding headlines (30-character limit)
Every RSA headline maxes out at 30 characters. You can add up to 15 headlines per ad. Google selects up to 3 to display at a time.
Write each headline with a different angle. Benefit. Price. Brand. Urgency. A feature. A problem you solve. Keep each tight. Double-width characters in Korean, Japanese, or Chinese each count as 2 characters toward the limit.
Adding descriptions (90-character limit)
Descriptions allow 90 characters each. You can add up to 4. Google displays up to 2 per impression.
Write each description as a standalone statement. Don't assume a specific headline will appear alongside it. Each needs to make sense on its own.
Best practices for RSA text
Per Google's Ads Help Center, more unique text variants improve Ad Strength. Higher Ad Strength correlates with better click and conversion rates. Fill all 15 headline slots when you can. Avoid repeating the same message across variants. Include your primary keyword in at least one or two headlines.
Text in Performance Max Campaigns
Performance Max (PMax) runs across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discovery, and Maps. One asset group powers all those placements. Text assets do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Text assets overview
PMax combines your text assets with image and video assets automatically. Google's machine learning serves the right combination to the right person at the right time. Your job is to give the algorithm plenty of quality inputs.
Headlines, long headlines, and descriptions
PMax supports three text asset types. Regular headlines (30 characters), long headlines (90 characters), and descriptions (90 characters). Long headlines are exclusive to PMax. They give you room for a more complete sentence where the format supports it.
Character limits and minimums
Per Google's Ads Help Center documentation on Performance Max text assets, the limits are: up to 15 headlines at 30 characters each, up to 5 long headlines at 90 characters each, and up to 4 descriptions at 90 characters each.
Fill every slot you can. Google optimizes better with more variety. Stopping at the minimum leaves performance unrealized.
Pinning required text
Some industries require disclaimers or mandatory disclosures in every ad. Don't overlay that text on an image. Pin it to Headline position 1, 2, or Description position 1 instead. Per Google Ads policy documentation, pinning is the correct approach for legally required text. Your images stay clean. Your ads stay compliant.
Text Overlays on Image Assets: When Not to Use Them
Google's platform is built around structured text fields. Images are meant to be clean visual assets. Mixing the two causes problems.
Why Google discourages image text overlays
Per Google's best practices guide for responsive display ads, advertisers should avoid inserting text on top of images. The algorithm performs best when image assets are clean. Text overlays interfere with how Google crops and formats images across placements.
Impact on reach and performance
Ads with heavy image text overlays lose eligibility for placements across the Google Display Network. Fewer eligible placements means fewer impressions. Your cost per result climbs. That's a performance penalty for putting text in the wrong place.
When minimal overlays are acceptable
A small logo or minimal brand watermark can work. Long copy on an image does not. If you want a tagline, discount callout, or offer visible in your ad, put it in a headline or description. That's the right field for it. Google will make sure it gets seen.
Speed Up Your Google Ads Text with AI Copywriting
Writing 15 headlines, 5 long headlines, and 4 descriptions for every campaign takes real time. Most advertisers hit the minimum and move on. That leaves combinations untested and performance on the table.
Coinis AI Copywriting generates on-brand headlines, descriptions, and CTAs fast. Your Brand Profile stores your voice, your offers, and your audience context. The AI writes to those guardrails every time. No blank-page paralysis. No inconsistent messaging.
Coinis doesn't publish directly to Google Ads yet. That capability is on the roadmap. But you can generate your full text library here, copy it into Google Ads Manager, and cut copywriting time significantly. Same quality. A fraction of the effort.
Or let Coinis do it.
From a product URL to a live Meta campaign. AI-generated creatives. On-brand copy. Direct publish to Facebook and Instagram. Real performance reporting. All in one platform.
Start free. Upgrade when you're ready.
15 AI tokens a month. No credit card.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many headlines can I add to a Google responsive search ad?
You can add up to 15 headlines, each capped at 30 characters. Google selects up to 3 to show at a time and tests combinations to find the best-performing arrangements.
Can I put text on images in Google Ads?
Google discourages heavy text overlays on image assets. They reduce placement eligibility across the Google Display Network and hurt performance. Put your copy in headline and description fields instead.
What is the difference between a headline and a long headline in Performance Max?
Regular headlines are capped at 30 characters and appear across all PMax placements. Long headlines allow up to 90 characters and are exclusive to Performance Max, used where formats support a single longer line of copy.
How do I add required legal text to Google Ads?
Pin the required text to Headline position 1, 2, or Description position 1. Don't overlay it on your image assets. Google's policy documentation confirms pinning is the correct approach for legally required disclosures.