The short answer
To add a special promotion to Google Ads, open your account, go to Assets in the left navigation (the new home for what used to be called "Extensions"), click the blue plus, choose Promotion, then fill in the occasion, discount type, value, dates and final URL. Apply it at account, campaign or ad-group level. Google will display the promotion alongside your ad for searches that trigger it.
That's the mechanic. The bigger lift comes from which promotion to use, when to schedule it and how to format it so it doesn't get disapproved. Ben has reviewed enough UK accounts to know that most promotion extensions are either unused or set up wrong - typically losing 20-30% of the CTR they could be earning.
What a promotion extension actually is
A promotion extension is an optional asset that adds a price-cut or offer line beneath your text ad. It looks like:
Plumbing Services London - Same Day Repairs
www.example.co.uk
Trusted by 500+ households. 24/7 emergency cover...
🏷 Black Friday: 20% off boiler installs - Ends 1st Dec
Promotion extensions are free to add - you only pay for the click as normal. They show on Search, and partially in Performance Max and Display.
Step-by-step: how to add a promotion to Google Ads
- Sign in to ads.google.com.
- In the left navigation, click Assets (formerly "Ads & assets > Assets" in the legacy UI).
- Click the blue + button and select Promotion.
- Choose where to add it: Account, Campaign or Ad group. Account-level applies everywhere; campaign-level overrides account-level.
- Pick an Occasion (e.g. Black Friday, Boxing Day, New Year, Mother's Day, Easter, none).
- Select Currency (GBP for UK).
- Choose the Promotion type: Monetary discount, Percent discount, Up to monetary discount, or Up to percent discount.
- Enter the Item the promotion applies to (e.g. "boiler installs", "all orders", "first month").
- Enter the Discount value (e.g. 20% or £50).
- Set the Promotion details if applicable: minimum order value, promo code, eligibility (e.g. "new customers only").
- Add a Final URL - ideally the dedicated promo landing page, not the homepage.
- Set Start and end date (Google won't show the promotion outside these dates).
- Optionally set day/hour scheduling for when within those dates the promotion is eligible.
- Click Save.
The promotion enters review (typically 1-24 hours) and then starts serving inside the dates you set. You can edit, pause or delete promotions at any time without affecting the parent ad's performance.
The four promotion types and when to use each
| Type | Best for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Monetary discount | High-ticket items where £ value is meaningful | £200 off boiler installs |
| Percent discount | Mid-range products and services | 20% off all orders |
| Up to monetary discount | Tiered discounts across a range | Up to £100 off selected sofas |
| Up to percent discount | Site-wide sales with varied levels | Up to 50% off winter sale |
Rule of thumb: use percent discount when the % is bigger than the £ figure ("20% off" beats "£15 off" if average order value is £75). Use monetary discount when the £ figure is bigger than the % ("£200 off" beats "5% off" on a £4,000 boiler install).
Scheduling and seasonal occasions
Google supports 20+ pre-set occasions including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day, New Year, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Back to School, Halloween and Christmas. Selecting an occasion does two things:
- Adds a relevant icon (e.g. a tag for sales) to the promotion display.
- Lets Google prioritise showing the promotion during high-intent search windows for that event.
For non-event promotions, choose "None" and the promotion still serves - it just won't carry an event icon.
Booking promotions in advance
You can create a Black Friday promotion in October with a start date of late November. Google won't serve it until the start date, but you've removed the "set it up the morning of" pressure. For UK retailers, Ben recommends scheduling Black Friday and Boxing Day promotions at least 2-4 weeks in advance so they pass policy review well before peak.
Shopping campaigns and Merchant Centre promotions
Shopping promotions are different from text-ad promotion extensions. They live in Google Merchant Centre, not Google Ads, and they show as a "Special offer" link or sale price badge on Shopping results.
To add a Shopping promotion:
- Sign in to merchants.google.com.
- Go to Marketing > Promotions.
- Click + New promotion.
- Pick a country (United Kingdom) and language (English).
- Define a unique Promotion ID, the offer details, eligibility and dates.
- Submit. Promotions take up to 24 hours to review.
For sale prices on individual products, use the sale_price and sale_price_effective_date attributes in your product feed. Google will automatically display a strikethrough original price and the sale price - no manual promotion creation needed.
Adding a promotion to Performance Max
Performance Max can display promotion assets across Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube and Discover. Promotion assets added at account or campaign level automatically flow into PMax campaigns where eligible.
For PMax-only promotions:
- Open the PMax campaign.
- Go to the Asset groups view.
- Click into an asset group and add a Promotion asset at the asset group level.
- Fill in the same fields as a standard promotion extension.
Note: PMax asset-group-level promotions only show within that asset group's targeting. For broad rollout, use account or campaign level.
UK formatting and policy rules
Promotions get disapproved more than any other extension type. The most common UK-specific rules:
Currency
Always GBP (£) for UK accounts. Don't enter $ or € - the promotion will be disapproved or shown to the wrong audience.
Item description must be specific
"All orders" and "Selected products" are usually accepted. Vague items like "Best deals" or "Latest offers" often fail review.
Promo code length
Maximum 15 characters. Avoid spaces, special characters or codes that look like spam (e.g. "FREE100").
Final URL must show the promotion
Google's reviewers check the landing page. If the landing page doesn't visibly show the discount, terms and eligibility, the extension gets disapproved. Always link to a dedicated promo page or a category page where the offer is clearly displayed.
"Up to" promotions need at least one product at that level
"Up to 50% off" requires at least one product on the landing page actually discounted at 50%. If the maximum discount is 30%, set the promotion at 30%.
End date must be in the future
Promotions with past end dates are auto-rejected. Schedule end dates in advance and set calendar reminders to refresh.
UK consumer law disclosures
If your promotion has restrictions ("new customers only", "minimum spend £50", "not valid with other offers"), include them in the Promotion Details field. The CMA's price comparison guidance also applies - "was/now" pricing must be genuine.
Common mistakes that disapprove or underperform promotions
1. Linking to a homepage instead of a promo page
The user sees "20% off" in the ad, clicks, and lands on a generic homepage with no mention of the offer. CTR is fine, conversion rate tanks. Always send promotion clicks to a dedicated promo page.
2. Vague item descriptions
"Best deals" gets disapproved. "All boiler installs" gets approved. Be specific.
3. Forgetting to refresh end dates
"Black Friday: 20% off - Ends 26th November" still showing in February makes the brand look asleep. Audit promotion extensions at the start of every month.
4. Stacking too many promotion extensions
Google rotates up to 5 active promotions per ad group, but more than 2-3 active at once dilutes message. Keep it focused.
5. Using promo codes nobody can find on the landing page
If the ad says "Use code SAVE20" but the landing page doesn't mention it, users get confused and bounce. The code must be discoverable on the destination page.
6. Setting up but never measuring
Promotion extensions show in Assets > Promotions. Filter by date range and check CTR uplift versus the period before the promotion went live. If CTR didn't lift, the format is wrong.
How to measure promotion impact
Three things to track:
- CTR uplift - compare campaign CTR for the 14 days before vs the 14 days during the promotion. A well-formatted UK promotion should add 10-30% to CTR on Search.
- Conversion rate - if CTR goes up but CVR drops sharply, the promotion is over-promising or driving low-intent clicks.
- CPA / ROAS - the only metric that decides whether the promotion was profitable. Track this against the same period without the promotion if possible.
For granular reporting, segment campaigns by extension type using Reports > Custom > Asset performance. Ben recommends running a 7-day "control" window before launching seasonal promotions so you have a clean baseline to compare against.
How Ben uses promotions in the 90-Day Revenue Takeover
In Phase 1 (audit), Ben checks whether any promotion extensions exist - they're missing in roughly 70% of UK accounts he reviews. Phase 2 always adds at least 2-3 always-on promotion extensions (e.g. "Free quote in 60 seconds", "10% off first booking"). Phase 3 layers seasonal promotions for the next 90 days mapped to the calendar (Black Friday, January sales, Easter, Father's Day, etc.). Phase 4 measures CTR and CVR uplift weekly.
Across 250+ accounts, the median CTR lift after Phase 2 promotion-extension work alone is 14%, with high-performers seeing 30%+. That's free CTR - no extra spend, just better setup.
