In short: on Display the ad interrupts rather than answers, so the image rules and the message has to fit in a glance. One message per audience, and performance read per asset, format and audience — the CTR of small mobile formats misleads. The sign of fatigue is CTR falling while impressions stay flat: rotate before you get there.
On Search the ad answers a question; on Display it interrupts. That changes everything you know about copywriting: the image rules, the message has to fit in one glance, and the same banner seen twenty times stops existing. This lesson is the creative side of Display — and the discipline to keep it fresh.
What does a responsive display ad look like?
You upload assets and Google assembles the banner for each slot (there are hundreds of sizes). The assets:
| Asset | How many | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Images, landscape (1.91:1) and square (1:1) | Up to 15 | A large product or person, no text (Google crops and overlays), clean background, minimum 600×314 / 300×300, better 1200×628 / 1200×1200 |
| Logos (1:1 and 4:1) | Up to 5 | Transparent or white background |
| Short headlines (30) | Up to 5 | One benefit per headline; they must work on their own |
| Long headline (90) | 1 | The full sentence when there is room |
| Descriptions (90) | Up to 5 | Specific; with a call to action |
| Business name | 1 | Exactly as people recognise it |
| Video (optional) | Up to 5 | If you have one, it multiplies the formats |
Google tests combinations and favours the ones that perform; the ad's asset report (just like RSAs) shows the label for each asset. Settings to review: automated enhancements (Google crops images, adds generated video): switch off anything you cannot control.
Why a different message for each audience?
The most common mistake: the same creative for every audience. The person with an abandoned basket and the person in the "running" affinity segment do not need the same banner:
| Audience | What they know about you | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned basket | A lot; they have a product in mind | The product (dynamic), a reason to close: free delivery, limited stock, easy returns |
| Viewed a product | Something | The product or category + the main benefit |
| Engaged visitors | They know you | Brand + value proposition + social proof |
| In-market / custom | Nothing about you, something about the problem | The problem and your solution, without assuming they know you |
| Customers | Everything | What's new, cross-sell, loyalty scheme |
Each row is an ad group with its own assets. It is not five times the work: it is the same images with different headlines.
How do you read creative performance?
- By asset: the Best/Good/Low label in the asset report; replace the Low ones that have volume (the cycle from module 4, applied).
- By size/format: some slots (mobile 320×50) have accidental-click CTRs: look at conversions, not CTR.
- By audience: CTR and conversion rate per ad group; an audience's message is not judged by the average of all of them.
What is creative fatigue and how do you spot it?
On Display and video, a creative has a shelf life: an audience's CTR falls week after week even though nothing changes, because the same people have seen it too many times. Signs: CTR falling 20-30% from its peak with stable impressions; average frequency per user going up; conversions falling with no bid change.
What to do: rotate (new images or new headlines with a different angle) before it falls, not after. Rough cadence: remarketing on small lists, every 2-3 weeks; broad prospecting, every 4-6. And keep a bank of creative ready: fatigue does not give you much notice.
How does fatigue relate to frequency?
Fatigue and frequency are the same thing seen from two sides: capping frequency (lesson 2) delays fatigue; rotating creative cures it. With both, a 60-day remarketing list can stay useful for the whole period.
💡 Ninja trick: spotting fatigue is a simple calculation nobody does: this week's CTR against the peak of the last eight, per creative and per audience. The Suite's Demand Gen Optimizer calculates it every night for Demand Gen (where fatigue is even faster), compares audiences and suggests pausing or refreshing whatever is worn out; the same criterion works for Display, applied by hand with a spreadsheet.
What you should remember
- Responsive ad = clean images with no text + text assets that work on their own; review the automated enhancements.
- One message per audience: basket, product, engaged, prospecting, customers.
- Read by asset, by format and by audience; small-mobile CTR is misleading.
- Fatigue: CTR falling with stable impressions → rotate early; a bank of creative; capped frequency.