Creative Formats & Assets

Image Assets vs Promotion Assets

In short: Both draw the eye to something beyond plain ad text, but one is visual and evergreen while the other is a monetary claim with an expiry date. Image assets show a photograph that stays live until you swap the file, governed by visual-content policy. Promotion assets state a discount amount or percentage with a start and end date, governed by whether the claim still matches the landing page. A bad image gets rejected in review; a stale promotion keeps showing a deal that's already gone. Use images to show what you're selling, and promotions to say why to buy it right now.

By the AdFlint research team · Fact-checked against current Google and Meta platform behavior · Last reviewed July 2026

Image Assets

Adds a square or landscape image to a text search ad, shown mainly on mobile results alongside the headlines and description.

Previously image extensions, these attach visual inventory to an otherwise text-only search ad, and Google serves them when it predicts a lift. Images must meet size rules and cannot be collages or carry heavy text overlays and corner logos. The mistake is uploading marketing banners, because text-laden creative gets rejected in review, while a plain product or service photograph passes and renders cleanly beside the ad.

Full definition

Promotion Assets

Highlights a specific discount or offer under a search ad, with an optional occasion label and defined start and end dates.

You set the deal as a monetary or percentage amount, optionally tie it to an occasion such as Black Friday, and give it a date range so it retires itself. Formerly promotion extensions, they earn their place when the discount is the main reason to click. The mistake is forgetting the end date or leaving the offer live after the landing page changed, sending people to a promotion that vanished.

Full definition

Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

 Image AssetsPromotion Assets
What it addsA photo.A discount amount or percentage with dates.
Content typeVisual.Monetary or percentage text, plus an optional occasion label.
Time-boundednessNone - evergreen until you swap the file.Built-in start and end dates; it self-expires.
Editorial concernImage content rules - overlay text, collages, corner logos.Claim accuracy against the landing page, plus date validity.
Auto-fill behaviorGoogle can auto-select an image from your site if the field is left empty.None - fully manual entry, nothing is invented for you.
Failure modeA banner-style image gets rejected in review.A stale end date leaves an already-expired deal advertised.
What it communicatesWhat the product or service looks like.Why to act now.

What actually separates them.

01

Image assets are visual and evergreen until you swap the file; promotion assets are text and self-expire on a date range you set.

02

Promotion content must match a real, currently-live discount on the landing page or it becomes a false-advertising risk; image content only has to be policy-compliant, with no claim to verify against the site.

03

Google can auto-select an image from your site when the field is left empty; there is no auto-fill equivalent for a promotion, since a discount has to be one you actually authorized.

04

Image assets fail on visual-policy grounds - overlay text, collage, logo placement; promotion assets fail on data-accuracy grounds - wrong dates, mismatched offer, missing occasion detail.

05

An image asset communicates what you're selling; a promotion asset communicates why to buy it right now - they answer different questions in the click decision rather than competing for the same one.

Which one should you use?

Use Image Assets when

  • You want visual proof of product or service quality.
  • You have clean, policy-compliant photography ready.
  • You have no active discount to promote right now.
  • You want evergreen creative that doesn't need calendar upkeep.

Use Promotion Assets when

  • You're running an actual time-limited discount and want savings to be the headline reason to click.
  • You're disciplined about setting and removing dates on schedule.
  • The landing page reflects the exact same offer stated in the asset.
  • You have a sale calendar - seasonal or occasion-based - worth calling out explicitly.

Common questions.

Can I run an image asset and a promotion asset together?

Yes, they're separate lines beneath the ad and commonly pair well - the image builds appeal, the promotion adds urgency.

Why did my promotion asset stop showing?

Its end date passed - that's the asset working as designed, not a malfunction, since promotion assets are built to retire themselves automatically once the date range closes.

Can I put a discount percentage inside the image instead of using a promotion asset?

You could design it into the photo, but heavy text overlay rules limit how much you can put there, and you'd lose the structured occasion and date fields promotion assets provide. A promotion asset is the better-built tool for that specific job.

Does Google verify my promotion percentage against my site automatically?

Not as a continuous live sync, but disapprovals happen when reviewers find the offer doesn't check out on the landing page. Keeping the page matched to the asset is worth doing proactively rather than waiting for a rejection.

Or stop choosing between them.

AdFlint picks the setting, writes the ads, and keeps optimizing inside the Google and Meta accounts you already own.

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