What is the character limit for a Google ad?

For Responsive Search Ads, each headline is capped at 30 characters (you can provide up to 15), each description at 90 characters (up to 4), and each display path at 15. Performance Max long headlines allow 90. These are hard caps, Google won't accept copy that exceeds them.

Should I always use the maximum length?

No. Use the recommended length, which is where your copy displays in full before truncation. Maxing out a field often pushes your key message past the cutoff. It's better to say one thing clearly within the visible window than to cram everything in and have half of it hidden.

Do character limits include spaces and emoji?

Yes, spaces count as characters, and most emoji count as one or two each depending on the platform's encoding. This counter counts every character including spaces and treats emoji by their visible character length, which matches how platforms display them.

Why does my ad copy get cut off?

Because it exceeded the truncation point for that placement, not necessarily the hard cap. Feeds clip long copy to keep layouts tidy. The fix is to front load your hook and offer into the visible characters and keep the most important words first.

Write to the limit,not past it.

Every ad platform truncates copy at its own cutoff, and the words that get cut are usually the ones that mattered. Pick a placement, paste your copy, and watch the count against both the recommended length and the hard cap, live. No more guessing which headline fits or why yours got an ellipsis.

Try

Your ad copy

Placement

Paste your copy

0 words0 / 3000 chars

The fit

Start typing

Recommended

0 / 125

Hard cap

0 / 3000

Note

Truncates ~125 characters on most placements.

Your move

Fitting the box is easy. Filling it with words that sell is the craft.

0 chars in Meta (Facebook/Instagram) primary text — start typing.

Anyone can hit a character count. Writing 30 characters that stop the scroll and earn the click is the part most people get wrong. Bring me your ad account and I'll show you, free, which copy is leaking spend and what I'd write instead.

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Plain English

The cutoff is where your best line goes to die.

Every placement, a Google headline, a Meta primary text, a LinkedIn intro, has two numbers that matter: the hard character cap the platform enforces, and the shorter point where it visually truncates with an ellipsis. Most advertisers only know the first. They write to the cap, then watch the platform clip the back half of their message in the feed.

Those limits also change by placement and over time, which is why hard coded counters go stale. A Google Responsive Search Ad headline is 30 characters; Meta primary text technically allows thousands but truncates around 125; LinkedIn intro text clips near 150 on desktop. Writing to the recommended length, not the maximum, is what keeps your hook visible.

This counter holds the current recommended and maximum lengths for the major placements across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and email. Choose where the copy is going, paste your draft, and it shows characters used, how much room is left before truncation, and whether you've blown the hard cap, so the part that sells survives the cut.

The formula

Safe copy = within the recommended length (not just under the hard cap)

A Meta primary text can run 3,000+ characters, but it truncates to a 'See more' around 125. Write a 400 character hook and the feed shows only the first 125, so put the offer and the curiosity in those first 125, and treat the rest as bonus for the few who expand.

Character limits by placement

The recommended length (before truncation) and the hard cap for the placements you'll actually use. Write to the recommended column to keep your message intact:

Placement	Recommended	Max
Google Search · Headline (each, up to 15)	30	30
Google Search · Description (each, up to 4)	90	90
Google Search · Display path (each, 2)	15	15
Google Performance Max · Long headline	90	90
Meta (Facebook/Instagram) · Primary text	125	3000
Meta (Facebook/Instagram) · Headline	27	255
Meta (Facebook/Instagram) · Link description	27	255
LinkedIn · Introductory text	150	600
LinkedIn · Headline	70	200
LinkedIn · Description	70	300
X (Twitter) · Promoted post text	100	280
TikTok · Ad text / caption	80	100
YouTube (video action) · Headline	15	15
YouTube (video action) · Long headline	90	90
YouTube (video action) · Description	70	70
Pinterest · Pin title	40	100
Pinterest · Pin description	60	500
Email · Subject line	50	150
Email · Preview / preheader	90	150

Source: Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok & Pinterest ad specs · 2025

Your copy doesn't fit. Here's the move.

01

Over the hard cap.

The platform will reject or chop it. Cut to the single most important idea, ad copy rewards ruthless editing more than any other format.

02

Under the cap but over recommended.

It'll publish but truncate in feed. Front load the hook into the visible window and let the rest run long for the few who expand.

03

Headline maxed out.

A 30 character Google headline is tiny. Drop articles ('the,' 'a'), use numerals not words, and lead with the benefit or the brand, not setup.

04

Same copy across placements.

A Meta headline and a Google headline have different limits and contexts. Tailor the length to each placement instead of reusing one draft everywhere.

05

Important words at the end.

Whatever sits past the truncation point is invisible to most viewers. Move your CTA, offer, or key number to the front.

How to write tight ad copy

01Front load everything

Assume the back half gets cut. Put the hook, the number, and the benefit in the first visible characters of every field.

02Cut articles and filler

'The,' 'a,' 'in order to,' 'that', ad copy can drop them. Tighter copy fits the limit and reads punchier.

03Use numerals, not words

'5' not 'five,' '30%' not 'thirty percent.' Numerals are shorter, scan faster, and feel more specific.

04Write to recommended, not max

The recommended length is where your copy shows in full. Treat the hard cap as a wall, not a target.

05Tailor per placement

Rewrite for each field's limit and context. A reused draft that fit one placement almost never fits the next.

06Test multiple lengths

Most platforms reward several headline and description variations. Give the algorithm short and long options and let it learn.

The vocabulary

Character limit: The maximum number of characters a platform will accept in a given ad field.
Truncation point: The shorter length at which copy visually cuts off with an ellipsis or 'See more,' even if more is allowed.
Primary text: Meta's main body copy above the image. Allows thousands of characters but truncates around 125 in feed.
Responsive Search Ad: Google's format where you supply up to 15 headlines (30 chars each) and 4 descriptions (90 chars) that the system combines.
Preheader: Email preview text after the subject; counts toward how your message reads in the inbox.

Ad length questions, straight answers

Meta's primary text technically allows over 3,000 characters, but it truncates to a 'See more' link around 125 characters in most feed placements. Headlines show best around 27 characters and link descriptions around 27. The practical rule: write your hook into the first 125 characters of primary text.

Keep going

Headline AnalyzerScore any headline, and learn the awareness stage it's built for.

CTA Generator & GraderGrade your call to action, then generate stronger ones.

Hook GeneratorTurn a topic into scroll stopping opening lines, on proven frameworks.

Reading Time CalculatorHow long your post, email, or script takes to read or say out loud.

Hashtag & Caption LimitsCaption and hashtag limits for every platform, plus a live checker.

All calculators ↗

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