The New Creative Muscle: RSAs, Video, Shorts and Display in PMax/Demand Gen (2026 Guide)

Creative variety is no longer a nice-to-have in Google Ads. In 2026, the auctions you lose are often lost at the asset level, not the bid level. PMax, Demand Gen and Search RSAs all reward accounts that give Google’s machine learning enough to work with, and punish those that don’t. If you want more impressions, better placements and stronger conversion rates, the creative work happens before you hit publish.

This guide covers the exact specs, ratios, hooks and QA steps you need to get your creative right across RSAs, PMax and Demand Gen, including what’s changed heading into 2026.

Asset Ratios That Win More Auctions

Google rewards accounts that fill every available creative slot with quality assets. The more relevant variety you provide, the more signals the system has to optimise against. Here is what you need to hit across each campaign type.

RSAs: Search Campaigns

Each RSA allows up to 15 headlines (30 characters each) and 4 descriptions (90 characters each). In practice, aim for 10 to 12 unique, non-overlapping headlines and 3 to 4 descriptions.

• Pin sparingly. Only pin headlines that must appear for legal or compliance reasons. Pinning limits Google’s ability to find the best combinations.
• Headlines 1 to 3 should read well together. Google often shows these as a trio, so make sure they form a coherent message even when combined.
• AI Max for Search is the evolved version of RSA automation, now available across eligible accounts. It extends your reach by matching your ads to a broader set of relevant queries while keeping your brand messaging intact. If you haven’t reviewed your RSA setup alongside AI Max settings, that’s worth doing now.

PMax Asset Groups

Target Excellent Ad Strength as a minimum bar. That means:

• 11+ headlines (up to 15, each 30 chars max)
• 4+ descriptions (up to 5, each 90 chars max)
• Up to 5 long headlines (90 chars each)
• Images: 4+ landscape (1.91:1), 4+ square (1:1), 2+ vertical (4:5), up to 20 total
• Logos: 1 square logo minimum, add horizontal if available
• Video: Supply your own at 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16 (minimum 10 seconds, up to 5 per orientation). If you don’t upload video, Google will auto-generate one from your other assets. Auto-generated creatives are rarely good. Upload your own.

Google’s Asset Studio now makes it faster to produce image and video variants at scale. If you’re running multiple asset groups, use it to generate compliant variations without rebuilding everything from scratch each time.

Demand Gen Asset Groups

Demand Gen runs across YouTube, Discover and Gmail. The creative requirements reflect that multi-surface placement:

• 3+ images or videos per aspect ratio per ad group
• Images: 1.91:1, 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16, up to 20 total
• Videos: 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1, typically 10 to 60 seconds

Don’t just repurpose landscape content and call it done. Vertical and square formats are where a significant chunk of Demand Gen impressions land, particularly on mobile Discover.

YouTube Shorts

Shorts are vertical 9:16, 60 seconds or under. The rules that matter:

• Brand your video early, within the first 3 seconds
• Include a clear on-screen CTA, not just a verbal one
• Add captions. A large share of Shorts are watched on mute
• Use Google’s ABCDs framework: Attract, Brand, Connect, Direct

Headline and Hook Frameworks

Good specs get you into the auction. Good copy wins it. These frameworks apply across RSAs, video hooks and Demand Gen ad copy.

RSA Headline Patterns

• Outcome + timeframe: “Cut your cost per lead in 30 days”
• Pain then relief: “Wasting budget on ads that don’t convert?”
• Proof + CTA: “Trusted by 1,000+ businesses. Get a free audit.”
• Objection handler: “No long-term contracts. Cancel anytime.”

Rotate through all four types so Google has contrast to test. If all your headlines sound the same, the system has nothing meaningful to optimise.

Video and Shorts: ABCDs Framework

• Attract: Hook in the first 3 to 5 seconds. Make the viewer stop.
• Brand: Show your brand early and clearly. Don’t save it for the end.
• Connect: Speak to the viewer’s situation. Use emotion or relevance, not just features.
• Direct: Tell them exactly what to do next. One CTA, clearly stated.

Feed Imagery Rules and Avoiding Disapprovals

Shopping and feed-based creatives have strict image requirements. Get these wrong and your ads get disapproved or suppressed before they ever serve.

• No overlays. No text, watermarks or logos on product images. This applies to both Shopping and Performance Max shopping assets.
• Minimum sizes: Non-apparel products require at least 100×100 pixels. Apparel requires at least 250×250 pixels.
• Maximum: 64 megapixels and 16MB per image.
• Product fill: The product should occupy 75 to 90% of the frame. Too much white space reduces click-through rate and can trigger quality flags.

Creative QA Checklist: 15 Minutes Before Launch

Most creative errors are caught too late or not at all. Run this checklist before any campaign or asset group goes live.

Coverage and Ad Strength

• Every RSA should show Good or Excellent Ad Strength. Poor strength means you’re leaving impressions behind.
• All creative slots filled: images at each required ratio, video at each orientation, logos uploaded
• Descriptions cover benefits, not just features
• No duplicate or near-duplicate headlines

Policy and Previews

• Run Ad Preview and Diagnosis for your target location and device types
• Check for any policy flags in the asset status column before launch
• Review image assets for prohibited overlays or restricted content

PMax Diagnostics

• If a PMax campaign is under-serving, check Campaign Diagnostics. Google now surfaces 90+ signals that can explain limited delivery.
• Review channel performance reporting to understand where your budget is going. This has matured significantly since PMax launched, and you now have much more visibility into YouTube, Display, Search and Shopping splits within a single campaign.
• Flag asset groups with low coverage ratios and prioritise filling them before scaling budget.

Spec Confirmation

• Verify all image and video assets against the 2026 spec tables before upload
• Confirm video orientations are correctly labelled and not stretched or cropped in-platform
• Check that Demand Gen ad groups have the minimum 3 assets per ratio

Ready-to-Use Creative Packs

If you’re building from scratch, these category frameworks give you a starting structure to work from.

RSA 12-Pack: Headline Categories

• Outcomes (2-3 headlines): What the client gets. Be specific and use numbers where possible.
• Proof (2 headlines): Social proof, volume, years of experience, client results.
• Integrations or process (1-2 headlines): How it works. Reduces friction for informed searchers.
• Risk reversal (1-2 headlines): No contracts, free audit, money-back guarantee.
• Industry or audience (1-2 headlines): Specificity wins. “For eCommerce brands” beats “for businesses”.
• CTAs (2 headlines): Direct action. “Get a free quote today”, “Book your audit”.

PMax and Demand Gen Asset Mix Per Group

For each asset group, aim to have:

• At least one lifestyle or in-context image per ratio alongside product-only images
• At least one short-form video (under 30 seconds) and one longer-form (30 to 60 seconds)
• Copy variations that address different stages: awareness, consideration and decision
• Separate asset groups for meaningfully different audiences or product lines, not one group trying to do everything

What to Measure?

Creating good assets is only half the job. You need to know what’s working so you can iterate rather than guess.

PMax and Demand Gen

• Ad Strength score at the asset group level. Aim to keep all groups at Good or Excellent.
• Channel performance reporting within PMax. Use this to understand where spend is concentrating and whether it aligns with your conversion data.
• Low coverage ratios. Any asset group missing creative at a required ratio is limiting its own reach.

Search RSAs

• Assets report: shows impressions and performance rating for each individual headline and description
• Combinations report: shows which headline and description combinations Google is favouring
• Use both together. An asset with low impressions may be low quality, or it may just be outcompeted. The combination report tells you which.

YouTube Shorts

• Completion rate and view rate tell you whether your hook is working
• Tie these to downstream conversions, not just views. A Short with a 70% completion rate that generates zero conversions is not performing well
• Test hook variants before committing budget to a single creative

Get Your Creative Reviewed

If you’re not sure whether your PMax asset groups are set up to perform, or you’re seeing strong spend but weak results across Demand Gen, the issue is often creative, not targeting.

At Bizi Digital, we audit Google Ads accounts and creative setups as part of our Google Ads Audit service. We look at ad strength, asset coverage, copy quality and channel-level performance to find exactly where creative is limiting your campaigns.

If that’s useful, you can find out more at bizidigital.com or get in touch directly at zara@bizidigital.com.

Need expert help? Learn more about Google Ads management from Bizi Digital.