Improving Ads Using Responsive Search Ads
One of the ongoing tasks in managing Google Ads for travel clients is improving Quality Score — and click-through rate is one of the most direct levers we have for doing that. The more relevant your ad text is to the search query, the better your CTR; the better your CTR, the better your Quality Score; and a better Quality Score means lower CPCs and better ad positions. Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) are Google’s primary tool for improving that relevance at scale, and they’re now the default search ad format. Here’s how they work and how to get the most from them in travel PPC campaigns.
What Are Responsive Search Ads?
Responsive search ads let you provide up to 15 distinct headlines and up to 4 description lines. Google’s machine learning then tests different combinations of these assets and progressively serves the combinations that generate the highest CTR for different search queries. For travel, this means a single RSA can dynamically serve a headline about “Guided Tours to Japan” for one search and “Small Group Asia Departures” for another, without you having to manage separate ads for each variation. With billions of searches happening daily across travel queries, RSAs give your ads the best chance of matching what each specific user is looking for.
What Are The Key Benefits Of Responsive Search Ads?
1. They’re Time-Saving
Writing and testing individual ad variations used to be a significant time investment. RSAs consolidate that process — you write your best headlines and descriptions once, and Google handles the testing. In our experience, this frees up meaningful time that’s better spent on bid strategy, audience segmentation, and landing page optimisation for travel campaigns.
2. They Offer Flexibility
For tour operators running campaigns across multiple destinations and trip types, RSAs are particularly efficient. A single RSA in an “Italy Tours” ad group can serve headlines about small group experiences, guaranteed departures, expert-led itineraries, and direct booking benefits — adapting the combination shown based on what’s resonating with each user.
3. You’ll Have More Control
Despite Google’s automation, RSAs give you the ability to pin specific headlines or descriptions to fixed positions. This is useful for travel advertisers who need certain messages to always appear — your brand name, a key USP like “ATOL Protected” or “Guaranteed Departures”, or a seasonal promotion. Pinning should be used selectively; over-pinning limits Google’s ability to optimise, but strategic pinning ensures your most critical messages are never omitted.
4. Improved Ad Performance
Ad groups with RSAs consistently show higher CTRs than those without — often 5–15% improvements in our experience. This isn’t surprising: more relevant ad combinations generate more clicks from the searches most likely to convert. For travel, where competition from OTAs on high-volume terms means every efficiency gain matters, RSAs are a straightforward way to extract more value from your existing keyword targeting.
How do responsive search ads work and what is required from us?
Enter the Texts Assets
The quality of your RSA output depends entirely on the quality of the inputs you provide. Write headlines that cover the full range of angles a travel customer might respond to: destination specificity, trip type, experience quality, practical considerations (group size, departure frequency, what’s included), and direct booking benefits. Don’t write 15 variations of the same message — variety is what enables Google to find the combinations that work.
The Text Assets Combined By Google Machine Learning
Google’s system tests headline and description combinations over time and progressively weights the higher-performing combinations. The process takes time — typically several weeks before you have statistically meaningful data — so patience is important. What we’ve found is that RSA performance tends to improve significantly in the first 4–6 weeks as Google’s system accumulates enough data to make confident decisions.
Write A Unique Text Assets Per Line
Each headline and description should convey something distinct. For a tour operator, that might mean separate headlines for: the destination, the trip type, the group size, the experience level, what’s included, departure frequency, and your agency’s specialist credentials. The more genuinely different your assets are, the more combinations are available and the better Google can tailor the ad to each individual query.
Add Keywords In Your Text Assets
Including relevant keywords in your headlines improves relevance signals and can boost Quality Score. For travel campaigns, ensure your destination names and trip type descriptors appear in headlines — “Walking Tours Spain”, “Escorted Tours Italy”, “Family Safari Kenya”. These keyword-rich headlines typically perform strongly because they directly mirror what users are searching for.
Use The Pining Function
As noted above, pinning is most useful for trust signals and compliance messages that must always be shown — particularly important in travel where ATOL protection, guaranteed departures, and booking confidence are genuine decision factors. Pin these to Headline 1 or Headline 2 positions sparingly, and let the remaining headline positions remain unpinned for optimisation.
Ad Strength Indicator In RSAs
Google’s Ad Strength indicator rates your RSA from Poor to Excellent based on the variety and relevance of your assets. We use it as a quick quality check, but it’s a guide rather than a precise performance predictor — we’ve seen “Good” RSAs outperform “Excellent” ones. More useful is the “View Asset Details” report, which shows individual headline and description performance ratings and helps you identify which assets to replace or improve over time.
Get in touch
If you’d like to discuss your Google Ads strategy for travel, get in touch with the Summon team. We work exclusively with tour operators, airlines, ferry companies and activity providers.