A callout asset is a short piece of plain text, up to 25 characters, that Google can show beneath a search ad to highlight a practical reason to choose you. Unlike a sitelink, a callout is not a link: it simply adds a fact such as “Free UK Delivery”, “No Call-Out Fee” or “Gas Safe Registered” to the ad.
How callout assets work
You write a set of callouts in Google Ads and attach them at account, campaign or ad group level. The most specific level wins, so callouts added to an ad group replace the campaign or account set for that ad group rather than adding to it. Callouts belong to the wider family of ad assets, the extra pieces of information Google can add to a text ad.
Each time your ad enters an auction, Google decides whether to show any callouts and which ones. It considers the predicted effect on the ad’s performance, the space available on the device and your Ad Rank. A callout needs at least one partner to appear, so you need two or more eligible callouts before Google will show any, and in practice it often shows between two and four in a line separated by dots.
Callouts can be scheduled, so a line such as “Open Sundays” only appears on the days it is true, and they can be set to show only on mobile if a message only makes sense there.
Why it matters
A search ad gives you three headlines and two descriptions to make your case, and those are usually spent on the service and the offer. Callouts carry the reassurance that tips a cautious buyer: delivery terms, guarantees you actually offer, trade memberships, payment options or response times. For a UK trade business, “Gas Safe Registered” or “NICEIC Approved” (only when true) answers a question searchers are already asking themselves.
Callouts also make the ad physically larger on the results page, pushing competitors further down. They cost nothing to add; you still pay only when someone clicks the ad itself. Google also counts the expected impact of assets when calculating Ad Rank, so a well-built set of assets can help an ad compete without raising the bid.
Common mistakes
- Repeating the headline. If your headline already says “Free Delivery”, a callout saying the same thing wastes the space.
- Vague claims like “Great Service” or “Best Prices”. They say nothing a reader can check, and superlatives can fall foul of the CAP Code if you cannot substantiate them.
- Adding callouts at ad group level for one campaign and forgetting that this hides the campaign-level set for that ad group.
- Leaving out-of-date offers live, such as a seasonal discount still showing in January.
- Writing only two callouts. With a larger pool, Google has more combinations to test and is more likely to show something.
How to act on it
List every concrete reason a customer might pick you over the next result: delivery and returns terms, opening hours, accreditations, how quickly you respond, how people can pay, and where you operate. Keep the ones that are specific and true, write each in title case within 25 characters, and add six to ten at campaign level as a starting point. Use my ad copy character counter to check they fit.
Then add ad group callouts only where the selling points genuinely differ, for example an emergency service ad group that should mention 24-hour cover. After a few weeks, review the asset report to see which lines are being shown and remove the ones Google rarely picks. Callouts work best alongside sitelink assets and well-written responsive search ads; they are one of the first things I check when I run Google search ads management for a client.