Highlight upcoming events with countdowns

30/11/2019

Let potential customers know about sales or special events by adding a countdown to your ad text.

Countdown customizers come in both COUNTDOWN and GLOBAL_COUNTDOWN formats. Use GLOBAL_COUNTDOWN if you're counting down to a time that's consistesnt globally, like the time of a sports match.

Function	What it does
`COUNTDOWN`	Counts down to a set time, adjusted to the timezone of the person searching.
`GLOBAL_COUNTDOWN`	Counts down to a "global" time consistent with your account's timezone. If the ad says "ends in 4 hours" in California, it will also say "ends in 4 hours" in New York.

Both countdown functions count down by day, then by hour, then by minute. So a line of ad text with a countdown customizer might say "Hurry, sale ends in 3 hours," and then 2 hours and 28 minutes later say, "Hurry, sale ends in 32 minutes."

You can set up countdowns in any text ad.

Instructions

Start editing your ad

Sign in to your Google Ads account.
From the page menu on the left, click Ads & extensions.
Click a text ad you want to add a countdown to, or click the plus button and choose Text ad.
Fill in your ad text.

Trigger the countdown widget

In the place you want your countdown to appear, type a brace ( { ) and select Countdown from the drop-down menu.
Beside "Countdown ends," fill in the date and time when you want your countdown to end. Put your time in a 24-hour format (optional).
- For example, if your end time is 6:30 PM on July 14, 2017, your date would be 2017/07/14, and your time would be 18:30:00.
- If you don’t add a specific time, it will default to midnight (00:00:00).
Beside "Countdown starts," enter the number of days before your end date you want your ad to start showing. If you leave this blank, it will start showing 5 days before your end date.
- For example, if your end time is 6:30 PM on July 14, 2017, and you want your ad to start showing 7 days before then (at 6:30 PM on July 7, 2017), you would enter "7" here.

Keep in mind, countdown customizers automatically stop showing after their specified end date.

Set time zone and language

Select Account time zone to count down to your end time in your Google Ads account's time zone, or select Ad viewer's time zone to count down to your end time in the ad viewer's time zone.
- If you're counting down to an event that happens in a specific place, like a game, talk, concert, or conference, it's a good idea to use your account time zone.
- If you're counting down to an event that's not geographically specific (like an online sale), you can use the ad viewer's time zone.
To change the language that the countdown shows, choose a language next to "Language." When you choose a new language, you'll see an example of what's displayed.

Set the countdown and save your ad

Click Apply to save your countdown. You'll see the countdown customizer within your ad text.
Make sure your ad text will stay within the character limits when it's displayed. The countdown customizer code could generate a string that's 8 characters long. Make sure your ad copy allows for the additional characters.
Click Save new ad or Save new version.