Google Ads video text assets: 40 and 35 characters, not in the cut

Google Ads' video specs page lists headlines as 2 lines of 40 characters per line and descriptions as 2 lines of 35. These are text assets that Google lays over or beside the video, so burning the same words into the picture risks doubling them. Sume's Video captions API is for speech, and is the right tool only when the clip has spoken words.

Where each text lives

The page headings these under text assets for in-video use. In-feed ads, per the Google page, show a thumbnail, a headline and up to two lines of text, depending on placement, so the video file itself should not carry that copy.

What captions are for

POST /v1/video-captions burns speech into a clip with a style such as slam, punch, tiktok-green or black-outline, in a font and language you choose. You can pass script_text or cues to control the words. The docs say a silent clip fails with caption_no_speech unless you supply cues.

Use captions for sound-off viewing of dialogue. Leave your headline and call to action to Google's fields.

Limits

A character count is not a pixel width, and Google's rendering decides wrapping. Test the longest headline you plan to run in the ad preview.

The Google page does not say which placements show the text over the video and which beside it, so confirm in the preview for each.