Why did extensions become assets?
Google renamed them as part of putting every piece of an ad, headlines and descriptions included, on one Assets page in the account. In Google Ads Help ("About assets"), headlines and descriptions are the required assets and everything else is optional. Older guides and some agency reports still say extensions, sitelink extensions or call extensions. They mean the same things.
Which assets suit a service business?
Most of them, and each one answers a different question before the click. Here is how a tutoring centre in Parramatta might fill them in:
| Asset | What it adds | A tutoring centre's version |
|---|---|---|
| Sitelinks | Links to other pages, under the ad | HSC tutoring, Selective school prep, Free assessment, Holiday courses |
| Callouts | Short selling points, not clickable | Groups of four or fewer, Working with Children checked tutors |
| Structured snippets | A labelled list | Courses: Maths, English, Chemistry, Physics |
| Call | A phone number or call button | The centre's number, during opening hours only |
| Location | Address and distance, from your Google Business Profile | The Church Street address, with directions |
| Price | A row of prices | Year 7 to 10 maths, $55 a session |
| Image | A small picture beside the ad | A photo of a real class |
There are others, including promotion, lead form and app assets. Add the ones you can fill with something true and specific. An asset that repeats the headline wastes the space.
Do assets cost extra?
Adding them is free. You pay for clicks as usual, and Google Ads Help says some asset interactions are charged as clicks too, such as tapping a call button or asking for directions. Google charges no more than two clicks per impression for an ad and its assets. Google also notes that ads with more assets often have a higher actual cost per click, and that this is still usually cheaper than paying to move up a position.
What did assets change for a Parramatta tutoring centre? (example figures)
The centre spent $1,200 a month on search ads with only headlines and descriptions. The ad converted 18 enquiries a month at $67 each, with a click-through rate of 4.1 percent. The owner added four sitelinks, two callouts, a structured snippet, a call asset limited to opening hours, and the location from the Business Profile.
Over the next month, on the same budget and keywords, the click-through rate rose to 6.3 percent and enquiries to 27, about $44 each. The sitelink to the free assessment page took a fifth of all clicks, and those clicks booked at twice the rate of the rest, because the people taking them had already chosen what they wanted. The owner then made the free assessment its own headline in the main ad.
What does CoraVision see of your ad assets?
CoraVision measures assets by what they do to the campaign, which it reads from Google Ads once when you connect and every night after: clicks, impressions, conversions and spend. If the click-through rate climbs in the week new sitelinks go live, the weekly check-in in your plan is where it shows. The assets themselves you add, edit and switch off in Google Ads, because CoraVision never creates or changes anything there.
Questions
Why are my sitelinks not showing?
Google decides for each search whether to show them, based on the ad's position, its Ad Rank and whether it predicts they will help. Approval alone does not guarantee they appear. An ad in the top position gets the first chance; one lower down often shows without them.
Can Google add assets I did not write?
Yes. Google can create automated assets, such as sitelinks or callouts drawn from your website, unless you switch them off in the account-level asset settings. Look at the Assets page now and then to see what has been added in your name.