What to know about Google Ads Enhancements for Location Assets
You know how when you search for a local business near you or type in a specific location into Google and the first page to pop up (the SERP) includes the location and typically general info about that business (i.e. address, a map to your location, or the distance to your business to help people find your stores.)?
Well, those are Location Assets, previously known as Location Extensions, and they have been a staple of any good local business’s Google Ads for quite some time. You need to link your Google Business Profile to Google Ads and your ads will begin to show your location to searchers nearby.
And now to make things even more effective Google recently began automatically enhancing its location assets to include an image of said local business alongside their address and hours. This new feature is designed to help ads stand out on the busy SERP (Search engine results page), improve ad performance, and build or reinforce trust in your local business.
Example of Location Asset on SERP
Lincoln Park Therapy Group - Client of RevKey
How to feature your business’s images in your Google Ads location assets
Taking advantage of the image feature is actually quite simple. Advertisers just need to maintain their Google Business Profile, have it linked to Google Ads, and have their location extensions active in their campaigns. Google will automatically highlight any of your Google Business Profile’s merchant photos.
But your Google Ads location assets will only include images that you’ve uploaded directly to your Google Business Profile’s Merchant Photos–it will not pull any photos submitted to your GBP from past visitors or from reviews, so you’ll always set the right impression with your ads’ images.
Create & manage the photos in your Google Business Profile (GBP)
first sign into your Google Business Profile and select “Add Photo.”
Upload your images > will have the option to upload as either your logo, cover photo, or photo
Logo: this will help keep your brand consistent. Your logo icon will appear next to any posts from your profile or anytime you respond to a question or review.
Cover Photo: This is most likely to show up first in your GBP listing and will be used the most in your Google location assets images. So make sure it’s a good one!
Photo: These will be all of the other photos that show in your GBP listing
Remove old & poor quality photos
Log into your Google Business Profile and select anywhere in the photos section. Navigate to the “By owner” section and select the photo you wish to remove. In the top right corner, you should be able to select a trash can “delete” icon to remove it from your profile.
Best practices for Google Business Profile photos and Google Ads location assets
Optimizing your Google Business Profile isn’t just important for your Google Ads location assets. Your Google Business Profile is likely the first thing searchers will see when they find you online, and it’s a huge part of Google’s own local SEO ranking algorithm.
Spend the time to completely fill out your Google Business Profile and regularly update it to highlight to both Google and searchers alike that you’re an active, responsive, and trustworthy business.
Prioritize a high-quality cover photo
Your cover photo will usually be shown first and most prominently on the SERP, alongside your GBP, and now alongside your Google Ads. It’s very important to make sure that your cover photo best represents the image of your brand.
Use proper lighting, focus, and minimal alterations. Google recommends your cover photo to be at least 720 x 720 px in size.
Include multiple images
People are visual creatures and a picture is worth a thousand words so make sure to include a good amount of relevant photos for your business.
Content ideas include exterior images, interior images, & staff photos.
Example of multiple images attached to a Google Business Profile
My TherapyNYC - Client of RevKey
Using a consistent Logo
Make sure to include a logo in your GBP as it will then be automatically featured alongside your posts and responses. It’s important to feature that same logo alongside all your Google ads to reinforce your brand consistently on the SERP.
Enhance your ads with image assets
So we’ve established that your location assets and images from your Google Business Profile will automatically appear when a user is searching for you locally–but searchers outside of your area may not always see these assets.
Image assets in your Google Ads campaigns can provide more visual aspects to your search ads, whether or not a user is searching locally or not. Image assets are also more flexible and don’t need to be directly related to your physical location.
Use them to highlight images that can be more specifically related to your ad campaign or the time of year that your campaign is running, like seasonal events, sales, products, and services that wouldn’t always be appropriate to be prominently displayed on your Google Business Profile.
Example of Google Ad image extension
How to opt out of including images
Say your business is just getting started and you don’t have the best aesthetically pleasing photos to include on your Google Business Profile just yet. No worries with the location asset image feature you can opt out of including photos of your location within Google Ads.
Follow these steps if you want to opt out of the image inclusion:
Within Google Ads, select “Ads and Assets” from the left-hand bar, then select “Assets.”
Under the “Associations view,” select the 3-dot “More” icon. Then select “Account-level automated assets.”
From here, click the three-dot “More” icon again. Now select the option “Advanced settings”
Under “Automatic locations,” there is a check box to “Grant Google Ads license to use merchant photos and other rich media from the linked Google Business Profiles in the advertising campaigns from this account.” Unselect this option and hit save. This will prevent Google from pulling any photos from your Google Business Profile to serve alongside your ads.
Ta-da, no more images if you’re not ready for them!
The Location Asset feature in Google Ads is designed to help local businesses stand out and not fall to the bottom of the SERP. It’s important that you take advantage of this feature to do so and now you can do it well by following the best practices we mentioned above.
But even with the step-by-step instructions we’ve included in this article, we know many people still aren’t Google Ads savvy or they simply just don’t have the time. So to make things a little easier you can contact us today and get in touch with one of our Google Ad pros who can take your online presence to the next level.
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