Marketing · Guide
Google Ads headline character limits
Google Ads enforces a hard 30-character limit on every headline in a responsive search ad. Go over and the platform rejects it. Hit the limit exactly and your headline still might get clipped on mobile. Here are the numbers and the practical guidance around them.
Last reviewed: April 2026
The numbers
Responsive search ads (RSAs) have these limits per asset:
- Headlines: up to 15, max 30 characters each.
- Descriptions: up to 4, max 90 characters each (see the description limits article).
- Path fields: 2 paths, max 15 characters each.
Why ‘exactly 30’ isn't always safe
Google rotates 3 headlines into the visible ad slot. Two will usually appear stacked. On narrow mobile widths, long headlines wrap or get truncated with an ellipsis. Aim for around 25 characters when possible — leave a small buffer.
Special characters and emoji count as one character each but are visually wider. Test on a real mobile preview before locking copy in.
How many headlines to write
You can supply up to 15. The system rotates the best-performing combinations, so giving it variety helps. A practical minimum is 8 — fewer than that and your Ad Strength score drops to ‘Poor’.
Pin headlines sparingly. Pinning more than 1–2 limits the system's ability to optimize.
Validate before you upload
Pasting a list of headlines into the Google Ads Headline Checker shows pass/warn/fail per line, so you catch the over-limit ones before the platform rejects your ad.