nova Creative Affinity: Google Search

Creative Affinity now analyzes Google Search creative alongside Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and the other Google channels.
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Search is a different kind of creative analysis, and that's exactly why it's valuable. Search is usually the highest-intent, most revenue-attributed channel in a client's media plan — and it's the one channel where "creative" means messaging, not imagery. Bringing it into Creative Affinity means you can finally see which messages are converting at the moment of highest intent, and whether the angles winning on Search are the same ones winning on Meta and Demand Gen.
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That's a genuinely new question to be able to answer: does the offer-led message that converts on Search also resonate upstream in the feed, or are we telling two different stories?
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Text ads that appear on Google's search results page, triggered by keywords matching what someone is actively typing. It's intent-driven — the ad shows up because someone is already looking.
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What it's good at

How clients typically use it

This is the key difference when you open Search data in Creative Affinity. A Search ad has no image or video. Instead, each ad carries a pool of text assets that Google assembles dynamically:

So a single responsive search ad isn't one fixed creative — it's a set of messaging angles competing for the same impression. When you analyze Search creative, you're analyzing which angles are present in that pool:

The practical use: when a Search ad is outperforming, look at which of those angles it's built from — then test that angle in the feed on Demand Gen or Meta, where you have far more creative volume to work with.
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Search data is available at all three levels, same as your other platforms:

Metrics available at every level:

Expect higher CVR and lower volume. Search captures existing demand rather than creating it, so conversion rates run well above Display and Demand Gen while impression volume runs below. Don't read a low impression count as underperformance.
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Last click actually works here. Unlike Display and Demand Gen, Search attribution is clean — the click and the conversion are genuinely linked. ROAS and CVR carry real weight on this channel, and you can trust them more than you can elsewhere.
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Cost is competitive, not creative. Search CPCs are set by real-time auction on the same terms as every competitor in the category. If costs climb on a client, that's often category competition rather than a creative problem. Check the message before you conclude the creative is fatigued.
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Branded and non-branded behave completely differently. Branded campaigns will always show strong ROAS because they're capturing people who already know the brand. When you're evaluating creative impact, separate the two — blending them will make your messaging conclusions meaningless.
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Watch what happens upstream. Search usually gets credit for conversions that Demand Gen and Display helped create. When you see Search performing well on a client running a full Google mix, look at the upper-funnel channels too — that's where the demand came from.
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Affinity Score works the same way it does everywhere else — a blended score built from engagement, clickthrough, and conversion signals. It's available for ads with at least $25 in spend and refreshes with every data load. On Search, where intent is already high, Affinity Score is most useful for separating messaging angles within a campaign rather than comparing across channels.
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LTV follows the exact same process as every other platform. It's based on matching a user in GA4 to a real transaction in the client's e-commerce platform, then attributing that customer's lifetime revenue back to the creative they engaged with. LTV is static once calculated and isn't affected by the date filter.
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Search is a particularly good channel for the Affinity Score plus LTV pairing. High Affinity Score with low LTV on Search often means the messaging is winning discount-motivated, low-value customers — worth knowing before you scale that angle.
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The Compare view (up to 4 creatives side by side) is especially useful on Search for putting two ad variants against each other and seeing which messaging pool is carrying the performance.
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The more integrations in place, the better the matching algorithm performs, and the more accurate the LTV and CAC figures attached to each creative.
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Can I see how individual headlines performed?

Not individually. Responsive search ads report at the ad level, and Google assembles headline and description combinations dynamically, so performance belongs to the pool rather than to any one line. Read the messaging angles present in that pool, then test the winning angle in the feed on Demand Gen or Meta, where you get a true asset-level read.
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Should I separate branded and non-branded campaigns?

Always. Branded campaigns capture people who already know the brand, so they will show strong ROAS no matter what the copy says. Blending branded and non-branded together makes any messaging conclusion you draw meaningless.
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There's no image on these ads. Is something missing?

No — Search ads are text only. What you're analyzing is the headline and description pool rather than a visual asset.
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Why does Search ROAS look so much better than Display or Demand Gen?

Because Search captures demand that already exists, while the other channels create it. That's expected, not a reason to shift all budget to Search. Look at the full Google mix before making that call.
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Affinity Score is high but LTV is low. What does that mean on Search?

On Search it often means the messaging is winning discount-motivated, low-value customers — strong engagement and conversion, but customers who don't come back. Worth checking before you scale that angle or push it into the feed.
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​Looking for something else?

Questions about integrations, data load timing, comparing across platforms, and which metrics the date filter affects are answered in the nova Creative Affinity: Google Ads overview article.