Google Ads Character Limits 2026 – Headlines & Descriptions
Google Ads gives you 30 characters for a headline and 90 for a description, and it enforces both strictly — the editor simply will not accept a character over the limit. That constraint is unusually tight, and it is the single biggest reason good offers produce weak ads. This guide lists every character limit across responsive search ads, Performance Max, display ads and assets, plus the writing techniques that buy you back space you did not know you were spending.
Paste your text below to check your Google Ads content length in real time — the Google Ads limit is pinned to the top of the checker.
Platform Limit Checker
Google Ads Character Limits at a Glance (2026)
| Content Type | Character Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Responsive search ad — headline | 30 | Up to 15 headlines per ad |
| Responsive search ad — description | 90 | Up to 4 descriptions per ad |
| Display path (each of two) | 15 | The /path shown after your domain |
| Performance Max — headline | 30 | Same as search |
| Performance Max — long headline | 90 | Used in larger placements |
| Performance Max — description | 90 | Short description is 60 |
| Responsive display — short headline | 30 | Long headline is 90 |
| Business name | 25 | Shown with the ad |
| Callout asset | 25 | Per callout |
| Sitelink text | 25 | The clickable label |
| Sitelink description line | 35 | Two lines available |
| Structured snippet value | 25 | Per value in the list |
Why 30 Characters Is Harder Than It Looks
Thirty characters is roughly four to five average English words. Spaces count. Punctuation counts. That means the standard marketing headline — brand name, product, benefit and call to action — will not fit, and trying to force all four in produces the vague copy that Google Ads accounts are full of. Pick one job per headline and let the other headlines do the rest.
Key points
- ✓'Free Shipping Over $50' — 22 characters, one clear promise.
- ✓'Book a Demo in 60 Seconds' — 25 characters, one clear action.
- ✓'Best Quality Products for Your Business Needs' — 45 characters, will not fit, and says nothing.
Buy Back Characters Without Losing Meaning
A handful of mechanical substitutions reliably free up space in a headline that is a few characters over:
- •Use numerals rather than words — '3' instead of 'three' saves four characters.
- •Use '&' rather than 'and' — saves two characters, and Google permits it.
- •Use '%' rather than 'percent' — saves six characters.
- •Drop articles: 'Get the Free Trial' becomes 'Get Free Trial'.
- •Cut the brand name from most headlines. It already appears in the display URL and business name.
Write 15 Headlines, Not 3
Responsive search ads accept up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google's system mixes and matches them per auction. Supplying only three or four headlines gives the system almost nothing to test and typically caps your Ad Strength at 'Poor' or 'Average'. Supply a genuinely varied set rather than 15 rewordings of the same sentence.
- •Cover different angles: price, speed, trust, outcome, objection handling, and a direct call to action.
- •Vary the length. A 16-character headline and a 30-character headline fit different placements.
- •Pin sparingly — every pinned headline removes combinations the system could otherwise test.
- •Keep at least three headlines that make sense as the very first thing a person reads.
Google Truncates in Pixels, Not Characters
The character limits are hard rules enforced by the editor, but what a person actually sees is decided by pixel width. A 30-character headline made of wide characters (capital W, M) can render wider than a 30-character headline of narrow ones. Google may also shorten your ad on smaller screens or drop a headline entirely from a combination. Preview your ad rather than trusting the counter alone.
Examples: Good vs. Bad
✅ Fits, and does one job
“Same-Day Delivery in Dallas”
❌ Over the 30-character limit and unfocused
“We Offer the Best Same-Day Delivery Services Across the Dallas Area”
Frequently Asked Questions
Each responsive search ad headline is limited to 30 characters, and you can supply up to 15 of them per ad. The limit is enforced by the Google Ads editor — you cannot save a headline that exceeds it. Performance Max and responsive display ads use the same 30-character short headline, plus a 90-character long headline.
90 characters per description, with up to 4 descriptions per responsive search ad. Performance Max uses the same 90-character description and additionally offers a shorter 60-character description field.
Yes. Spaces and punctuation both count as characters. A 30-character headline is roughly four to five average English words once spaces are included, which is why headlines that try to carry brand, benefit and call to action at once rarely fit.
15 characters for each of the two display path fields. These are the optional /segments shown after your domain in the ad — they do not have to match your real URL structure, so use them for keyword-relevant words rather than copying the actual path.
Callouts are 25 characters each, sitelink text is 25 characters with two 35-character description lines, structured snippet values are 25 characters each, and the business name is 25 characters. Assets are shown at Google's discretion, so every one needs to read well on its own.
Ad Strength measures variety, not just validity. Supplying only a few headlines, repeating the same phrasing across them, pinning most positions, or omitting your keywords all reduce it. Adding genuinely different headline angles usually raises Ad Strength faster than rewriting the ones you have.
Check Your Google Ads Character Count Now
Scroll back up to the counter on this page, or open the full character counter. Either one shows whether you’re within the recommended range — along with limits for Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Meta Description, and more at the same time.
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