Short answer
A promotion asset adds one offer, such as a percent or money amount off, to your Google Ads, with an optional occasion like Black Friday. Most occasions limit your dates to a set window, for example Oct 15 to Dec 15 for Black Friday, and each promotion can use a promo code or an "orders over" amount, but not both.
How to use the Google Ads Promotion Asset Generator
- Choose an occasion, or none, and set promotion dates inside the occasion's window.
- Pick the promotion type and amount, name the item, then add a promo code or an orders-over amount, not both.
- Enter the final URL of the page that shows the offer and its terms.
- Review the checks and the 3 item wordings, then copy the promotion as a table and enter it in Google Ads.
What goes into a promotion asset?
A promotion asset, which many people still call a promotion extension, shows one offer with your ad in up to 2 lines of text. You build it from these fields, in the order Google's promotion assets help page lists them:
- Occasion (optional), such as Black Friday or Summer Sale.
- Language and currency.
- Promotion type: Monetary discount, Percent discount, Up to monetary discount or Up to percent discount, as labeled in Google's list of promotion types.
- Item, the product or service on offer.
- Final URL, the page that shows the offer.
- Promotional details, for requirements such as a promo code or a spending limit.
- Promotion dates (optional).
A promotion can be attached to your account, a campaign or an ad group, and no single impression is charged for more than 2 clicks.
Which occasions can you choose, and what are their dates?
Pick an occasion and your promotion must run inside its date window. In Google's words, "You can narrow the date range, but you can't select dates outside of the occasion date range." These are the windows Google lists:
| Occasion | Allowed dates |
|---|---|
| New Year's | Dec 1 to Feb 28 |
| Boxing Day | Dec 15 to Jan 15 |
| Epiphany | Dec 15 to Jan 31 |
| Chinese New Year | Jan 15 to Mar 1 |
| Valentine's Day | Jan 15 to Feb 28 |
| Carnival | Feb 1 to Mar 31 |
| Holi | Feb 1 to Mar 31 |
| Women's day | Feb 15 to Mar 31 |
| Passover | Feb 15 to May 1 |
| Easter | Mar 1 to Apr 30 |
| Parent's Day | Apr 15 to Aug 1 |
| Labor Day | Apr 15 to Sep 15 |
| Rosh Hashanah | Aug 15 to Nov 1 |
| Diwali | Sep 1 to Dec 1 |
| Navratri | Sep 15 to Oct 31 |
| Halloween | Oct 1 to Nov 15 |
| Singles Day | Oct 15 to Nov 30 |
| Black Friday | Oct 15 to Dec 15 |
| Cyber Monday | Oct 15 to Dec 15 |
| Christmas | Nov 1 to Jan 15 |
| St. Nicholas Day | Nov 1 to Dec 31 |
| Hanukkah | Nov 15 to Jan 31 |
These occasions have no fixed window and can run on any dates: Back to school, Mother's day, Father's Day, Independence Day, National Day, End of Season, Winter Sale, Summer Sale, Fall Sale, Spring Sale, Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Two more are limited to one language: Year-end Gift (Japanese only, Nov 1 to Dec 31) and Songkran (Thai only, Mar 15 to May 1).
The window covers the dates the offer can be redeemed. Google's API asset definitions say that if an occasion is set, "the redemption window will need to fall within the date range associated with the occasion." If your Black Friday sale starts before Oct 15, choose a different occasion or none. The tool checks your dates against the window for you.
Can a promotion have both a promo code and a minimum order?
No. Google allows one discount and one trigger per promotion, and the Google Ads API's asset error definitions spell out what happens if you set two:
- One discount. Percent off or money amount off, never both: "Cannot set both percent off and money amount off fields of promotion asset."
- One trigger. A promo code or an "orders over" amount, not both: "Cannot set both promotion code and orders over amount fields of promotion asset."
The tool enforces both rules. To offer a code and a spend threshold, set up two separate promotions.
What goes in the promo code field
Only the code. Google's promotion asset requirements treat product descriptions, phone numbers and promotional statements in that field as violations. "FALLTUNEUP" is a code; "Use code at checkout for savings" is not. Capitals are usually fine, since Google's capitalization policy may allow non-standard capitalization in coupon codes.
When do promotion assets stop showing?
Google pauses promotions that sit untouched. Its help page says occasion promotions "must be created or edited within 6 months of their start date to be eligible to serve", and existing promotions that haven't been modified for the last 6 months are paused automatically. Set dates that match your real offer, and review your promotions before the 6 months are up.
Tips for a clear, accurate promotion
- Keep the item short. We keep item text to about 20 characters so it fits on small screens, and the tool's 3 item wordings aim for that length.
- Name the item plainly. "Furnace tune-ups" or "Kids' haircuts" tells people more than "Selected services".
- Put the offer on the landing page. The page should show the offer and its terms. Google's misrepresentation policy covers unavailable offers.
- Use "Up to" honestly. Pick an Up to type only when the discount varies, and make sure some items really get the full amount.
- Check everything around it. Preview the ad itself in the Google Ads Preview Tool, test the page with the Landing Page Audit Tool, and list your everyday prices with the Price Asset Generator.
The tool's preview of the promotion line is an illustration. Google decides how the asset looks and whether it is approved.
Sources
- About promotion assets (Google Ads Help)
- About promotion assets for App campaigns (Google Ads Help)
- Promotion asset requirements (Advertising Policies Help)
- Google Ads API asset definitions (googleapis on GitHub)
- Google Ads API asset errors (googleapis on GitHub)
- Misrepresentation (Advertising Policies Help)
- Capitalization (Advertising Policies Help)
Updated 2 October 2026 by the Paid Pilot team. Google Ads is a trademark of Google LLC; Paid Pilot is an independent agency.