What your RSA data is actually telling you - and how to use it

When Google moved to RSAs as the primary ad format, the sell was flexibility and machine learning optimisation. The reality is a bit more nuanced. RSAs do test combinations at scale. But if you just load 15 headlines, tick the box, and move on - you are leaving a significant amount of value on the table.

Reading the asset strength indicator properly

Google gives each RSA an asset strength rating from poor to excellent. Most people treat this as a target to hit. It is better understood as a guide to variety. Google rewards asset strength when you have a mix of ad lengths, unique value propositions, and different themes across your headlines. It does not like duplicate messaging or headlines that are just keyword variations of each other.

Chasing excellent for its own sake is a trap. I have seen accounts with excellent-rated RSAs that perform worse than ads rated good, because the excellent rating was achieved by ticking Google's structural preferences rather than by writing compelling copy.

The combinations report is where the real insight lives

Most advertisers never look at the combinations report. This shows you which headline and description combinations Google has actually served the most, and how they are performing. Pull this from the Ad Assets section in your campaign. If your top-performing combinations are consistently using certain headlines, those are your winners. You should be testing variations around those themes, not spinning up new concepts from scratch.

Pinning - use it sparingly but deliberately

Pinning a headline to position 1, 2, or 3 overrides Google's combination testing. That means you need a strong reason to do it. I pin when there is a legal or compliance requirement - something that must appear in every ad. Or when testing a specific hypothesis - pinning a value proposition to position 1 to see if it moves CTR. Pinning everything defeats the purpose of RSAs entirely. Pinning nothing means you have no control over what leads the ad.

How often to add new assets

RSAs are not set and forget. I review asset performance monthly on active campaigns. Assets marked low are replaced. But I do not replace them randomly - I look at what the high-performing assets have in common and write the replacement to test a variation of that theme. Over time you build a picture of what messaging your audience responds to. That insight transfers beyond Google Ads into landing pages, emails, and organic content too.

The data is there. Most people just never look at it properly.