For a list of frequently asked questions about multimedia ads, please see below.
Multimedia ads capture a potential customer's attention with large visual imagery that showcases your brand and products to increase traffic and sales on your website. We match your multimedia ads with potential customers' search queries by displaying the most optimal combinations of headlines, descriptions, images, and logos. You can enhance ad relevance and performance by enabling auto-generated assets for multimedia ads.
There are three ways to create multimedia ads: You can manually create your own, apply our recommendations, or leverage existing content by copying your responsive search ads to multimedia ads. Multimedia ads are also available in dynamic ad groups, which automatically generate multimedia ads based on your website content and campaign information. For more information, see About multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups.
Save time by using multimedia ads' ad creator to seamlessly add images from your website to your ads. You can also enhance your images with smart effects, including designer effects, background blur, and background color.
Multimedia ads serve in distinct sidebar ad positions and won't replace your text ad placements.
Not everyone has the option to select Logos, copy their existing responsive search ads to multimedia ads, or add multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups yet. If you don't, don't worry—they're coming soon!
Note: Microsoft Advertising will only extract images from your Final URL's domain. In the future, we will support image extraction from website subdomains as well.
You need to choose at least one image with 1.91 : 1 aspect ratio and one image with 1 : 1 aspect ratio. The ad's imagery and overall appearance adjust responsively so it can blend in across a variety of publishers and placements.
Your images must meet the minimum dimensions in pixels for the following aspect ratios:
Aspect ratio | Minimum dimensions (pixels) |
---|---|
1.91 : 1 | 703 x 368 |
4 : 1 | 608 x 152 |
1 : 1 | 470 x 470 |
1 : 2 | 470 x 940 |
Optional: Select Add logos. Adding logos to your ads allows you to better showcase your brand and reach potential customers.
Note: You can add up to 5 square (1 : 1) and 5 landscape (4 : 1) logos. You can choose which aspect ratios you want when adding your logos. We will crop your logos in your chosen aspect ratios. Your selected logos will appear in the thumbnail list below Logos.
To re-crop your logos, select the pencil icon below your logo in the thumbnail list.
Your logos must meet the minimum dimensions in pixels for the following aspect ratios:
Aspect ratio | Minimum dimensions (pixels) |
---|---|
1 : 1 | 128 x 128 |
4 : 1 | 512 x 128 |
Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!
Note: Smart effects are selectively enabled based on image quality.
The redesigned multimedia ads' ad creator experience allows you to apply smart effects and choose which images from your website you would like to include in your ads.
Microsoft Advertising may create suggested additional ads for ad groups that appear to be underperforming. Learn about Recommendations, how you can apply them, and how to opt out.
Asset-level reporting displays your performance ratings per asset as well as top-performing asset combinations. This reporting can help you decide which assets you should use to improve ad performance.
View reports per assetYou can adjust your bids for multimedia ads by specifying a multimedia ad bid adjustment at the campaign or ad group level. Any bid adjustment set for an ad group will take precedence over the campaign bid adjustment. Multimedia ad bid adjustments work the same way as other bid adjustments for Microsoft Advertising campaigns and is a percentage (%) increase on your ad group bids. Multimedia ad bid adjustments can be +20% to +900%. Because multimedia ads don't compete with other ad types, we recommend a minimum default value bid.
Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!
Showcase your brand and products from your Microsoft Merchant Center store's catalog by enabling product offers in multimedia ads. Product offers in multimedia ads use large visual imagery to increase brand recognition and provide potential customers with more information about your business and the products you sell, which can lead to more clicks and sales on your website. All multimedia ads are eligible for this experience.
Get started with product offers in multimedia adsNot everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!
Enable dynamic search ads in your campaign settings for multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups eligibility. For more information, please see About dynamic search ads.
Multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups provide a streamlined, low-touch way to make sure customers find your products or services using large visual imagery. After you enable multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups in your Account level options, we'll automatically generate one placeholder multimedia ad for each dynamic ad group you create based on your website and campaign information. This means that you don't need to do anything on your end to create your ads. Our optimization will dynamically populate your multimedia ads during ad delivery with visual imagery from your website. Your multimedia ads will be eligible to serve unless you pause or delete them.
The ad creation process is different whether you want to create multimedia ads for new or existing dynamic ad groups. To create multimedia ads for new dynamic ad groups after opting into multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups, see Get started with multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups. To create multimedia ads for existing dynamic ad groups—e.g., dynamic ad groups you created before opting in to multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups—see Create multimedia ads for existing dynamic ad groups.
Get started with multimedia ads in dynamic ad groupsNote: You must create at least one dynamic search ad for this ad group.
Note: By selecting Save, you are creating a placeholder multimedia ad for your existing dynamic ad group. We'll dynamically populate your placeholder ad during ad delivery.
Opt out of multimedia ads in dynamic ad groups
When you opt out, we will not create any new placeholder ads. However, your existing placeholder ads will continue running unless you pause or delete them. You won't be able to edit or update existing placeholder ads after opting out. To pause or delete your multimedia ads, please see below.
You can easily create multimedia ads by copying individual or multiple responsive search ads to multimedia ads. We'll take your existing responsive search ad assets and use them to convert your ads to multimedia ads—all you need is to add Images.
Note: Your existing responsive search ads will remain active and continue to serve after you copy them.
Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!
Auto-generated assets for multimedia ads is a campaign-level setting that allows Microsoft Advertising to automatically generate assets to enhance your ad relevance and performance. We use information pulled from your Final URL as well as any assets you provide to automatically generate additional assets for your ads when available.
Please note that automated call to actions are the only auto-generated assets currently supported for multimedia ads.
Benefits of using auto-generated assetsNo, multimedia ads don't compete with other ad types. Multimedia ads serve in their own ad positions on the right rail in their own ad auction. For more information about ad position, please see What is "ad position"?
Can multimedia ads appear next to text ads?Since text ads and multimedia ads serve through two different ad auctions, it's possible for both ads to appear next to each other on the search engine results page. If you have a strategy for bidding on mainline 1 or mainline 2 ad positions and you're currently running multimedia ads with low competition, potential customers are more likely to see your ads next to each other. Over time, as the competition increases for multimedia ads, this scenario is less likely.
Do multimedia ads replace an advertiser's existing text ads in the same campaign?No, multimedia ads appear in a different ad position on the search engine results page and won't replace existing text ads.
Do tool providers support multimedia ads?Yes, Google Ads' Search Ads 360 supports multimedia ads. Advertisers can create, manage, find reports, and sync image assets for their multimedia ads within new or existing Microsoft Advertising campaigns directly in Search Ads 360. Bulk upload is also supported. Please note that only the current version of Search Ads 360 supports Microsoft Advertising multimedia ads—the previous version of Search Ads 360 doesn't support it.
Note: Multimedia ads are created within search campaigns with keywords that you bid on for your ad to display. For tracking clicks, impressions, and conversions, you can always create a report at the keyword level without the use of tool providers. For more information about creating a report, see Create a report. If you want to understand multimedia ads' performance, you will need to set up a separate campaign containing only multimedia ads.
Can I see what search queries triggered my multimedia ads?Yes, you can view the search queries (brand and non-brand) in the campaigns/ad groups for which the multimedia ads are created and serve in. To view these search queries, from the collapsible menu on the left, select All campaigns > Keywords > Search terms.
Are advertisers able to show their multimedia ads on search queries for competing brands or businesses?Yes.
What factors determine what ad position multimedia ads serve in?Bid amount and ad relevance are the main determining factors for ad placement. Please see Best practices for multimedia ads for information on optimizing your ad relevancy and be sure to use the multimedia ad bid adjustment setting in your campaign or ad group settings to positively boost your ad position.
Are logos available for multimedia ads, and can I use my business's logo for my multimedia ad's image?Yes.
Not everyone has the option to add Logos yet. If you don't, don't worry—they're coming soon!
Yes. The text and images will be from the ads in the same ad group.
Can multimedia ads with short and long headlines serve together? How many headlines can appear at a time?Yes, multimedia ads with short and long headlines can serve together, depending on the ad placement.
Can multimedia ads' ad text or headlines be pinned like with responsive search ads? Or is auto-rotation enforced?No, auto-rotation is enforced for multimedia ads.
If I opted out of auto-apply recommendations at the account-level (and haven't yet created any multimedia ads), will Microsoft Advertising still serve multimedia ads for my campaigns and ad groups?No, if you've opted out of auto-apply recommendations and haven't manually created any multimedia ads, no multimedia ads will serve.
With multimedia ads serving alongside text and product ads do we understand the impact/incrementality?Multimedia ads can show up when there are product ads shown and or next to the text ads. Since text ads and multimedia ads are serving through two different ad auctions, it's possible to see both ads next to each other on the search engine results page. If you have a strategy for bidding on the mainline placement for text ads and are currently running multimedia ads, you're more likely to see your ads next to each other. While we don't have any data to share at this time on the impact of multimedia ads on text ads, we've seen other vertical ads in the right rail drive incremental clicks for participating advertisers.