Last month, Google announced some pretty exciting news.

They have unveiled Click-to-Message Extensions which allows mobile searchers to start a text message conversation with your company, straight from the search engine results page.

If this doesn’t prove that we are living in a ‘mobile-first’ world, then I don’t know what does!

How do Message Extensions Work?

By tapping the texting option in mobile search, the user’s SMS app opens with a pre-written message tailored to the product or service they’re interested in.

As you can see from the example below, someone looking for a hotel in Times Square can tap the extension to message a specific hotel for a reservation. So convenient!

This new offering allows advertisers to designate the copy used to start the conversation and a phone number to receive the messages. Exciting stuff!

But, I can’t be available all day!

Google allows advertisers to schedule the extensions to certain hours/days. For example, if you and your team are not available on the weekend, then you can schedule them accordingly.

Is there any downside to this new feature?

Unfortunately, there is just one thing to note. Any advertisers who use this extension can track the number of people who click on the extension, but the texts are not trackable to conversions. In our opinion though, conversions can be manually tracked on the advertiser’s side.

What types of businesses are a good fit for this extension?

Honestly, all businesses are!

That said, it’s important to note that this extension requires a specific device and someone to regularly monitor and respond to messages. You know what that means – these messages are yet another medium of customer communication to manage!

Keep an eye out for this extension within your account and let us know if you have tried it with any success!

If you are interested in this ad extension, or have paid search questions, please give us a shout!