AdPlus / Ad Specs Validator / Ad Description Character Limit

Ad Description Character Limits by Network (2026)

Description fields are the most inconsistent component across ad networks — ranging from Meta Carousel's 20 characters to Pinterest's 500. This page documents the exact limits, what happens when you exceed them, and why the caps exist where they do.

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The 2026 limits, by network and placement:

  • Google Ads (RSA): 90 characters per description, up to 4 descriptions per ad. Google rotates and pins them.
  • Microsoft Ads (RSA): 90 characters, up to 4 descriptions. Mirrors Google.
  • Meta Feed (description below headline): 27 characters on most mobile placements before truncation.
  • Meta Carousel card description: 20 characters. Tightest field in mainstream paid media.
  • Meta primary text (not technically "description" but commonly confused): 125 characters before the "See more" cutoff; hard limit 2,200.
  • LinkedIn Sponsored Content (intro text): 150 characters before truncation; hard limit 600. LinkedIn Text Ads description: 75.
  • TikTok in-feed ad text: 100 characters. Hard rejection at 101.
  • Snapchat: 34 characters for top-line, 100 for body description on Story Ads.
  • Pinterest: 500 characters on Promoted Pins, but only the first 50-60 show in feed.
  • Reddit: 300 characters for promoted post body excerpt.
  • Spotify Audio + Companion display: 100 characters for companion banner copy.

What happens when you exceed the limit

Three behaviors, depending on the network:

  • Hard rejection at upload: Google, Microsoft, TikTok, LinkedIn. The ad won't save. You'll see a character-count error on the field.
  • Silent truncation at render: Meta Feed descriptions, Pinterest in-feed previews, LinkedIn intro text. The full string is stored but the user sees ... mid-sentence.
  • Placement-dependent truncation: Meta is the worst offender — your 27-char description renders in Feed, but on Marketplace or Right Column it may be cropped further or hidden entirely. Always preview per placement.

Why the limits exist where they do

Most caps are layout-driven, not arbitrary. Google's 90 was set when SERP descriptions wrapped to two lines on desktop at the old font size — exceeding it pushed the second description off-screen. Meta's 27 is the legacy Feed below-headline slot that sits above the CTA button on a 360px-wide mobile viewport. Pinterest's 500 is generous because Pinterest descriptions live on the pin detail page, not the feed card — they're SEO content as much as ad copy.

Byte vs. character gotchas

Not every "character" counts as one:

  • Emoji count as 2-4 characters on most networks (Google counts a flag emoji as 4). One 🎉 can blow your buffer.
  • Em dashes, smart quotes, and en dashes sometimes count as 2 (Microsoft) or 1 (Google). Inconsistent.
  • RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew): character counts match Latin, but rendered width is different — copy that fits the count may still truncate visually.
  • Trademark/registered symbols (™, ®) count as 1 but render at variable widths.

Rules for writing inside the limit

  • Front-load the value prop in the first 25-30 characters. Treat everything after as bonus content that may not render.
  • No orphan words. If your 87-char description ends mid-thought because the truncation point falls there, rewrite.
  • Write the shortest version first (20 chars for Meta Carousel), then expand for roomier networks. Reverse-engineering a 90-char description down to 20 produces worse copy than building up.
  • Avoid mid-sentence proper nouns near the cap. "Try Acme's new..." truncating to "Try Acme's new" is fine; "...for under $50" truncating to "...for under $" is broken.
  • Test with the network's preview tool, not just the character counter. Counters lie about emoji and special characters.

Example

Original headline draft: Stop wasting budget on bad ads — let AI plan and launch them (60 chars).

Trimmed to fit Google RSA description (90): Stop wasting ad budget. AI plans and launches campaigns across 10 networks for you. (84 chars). ✅

Trimmed to fit Meta Carousel description (20): AI ad planner (13 chars). ✅

The 60-char version fits nowhere cleanly without rewriting.

Tip — Build a three-tier description set per campaign: a `20`-char version (Meta Carousel), an `88`-char version (Google/Microsoft/LinkedIn/TikTok), and a `300`+ version (Reddit/Pinterest). Writing all three at once is faster than retrofitting one to fit the others.

Questions

Why does Meta's description field cap at 27 characters when primary text allows 125?
They render in different slots. Primary text sits above the image and gets a `See more` expansion at `125` characters. The description field renders below the headline in a small font next to the CTA button, and the layout only fits about `27` characters on a 360px mobile screen before truncation. Most Meta advertisers put the real message in primary text and leave description blank or use it as a microsubhead.
Should I always write to the maximum character limit?
No. Google's own internal data has consistently shown that descriptions in the `75-88` character range outperform maxed-out `90`-character descriptions, likely because they read less padded. The exception is Meta primary text, where the `125`-char preview cutoff means longer copy that earns the `See more` click can lift engagement. Write to the message, leave a 2-character buffer, and stop.

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