A practical way to validate Google Ads RSA headlines before publishing

hack game — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 10:08:39 +0000

Google Ads responsive search ads ask for multiple headlines and descriptions that may display in different orders. A small-looking change in copy can push a field over its limit.

The relevant search-ad reference limits are separate:

Headline: 30 characters each; 3–15 assets.
Description: 90 characters each; 2–4 assets.
Display path: 15 characters for each optional path field.
The tricky part: double-width Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as two. A plain visible-character count may therefore be too optimistic for bilingual copy.

My workflow is to write at least three independent headlines, two distinct descriptions, validate every field, then review one illustrative combination. The final Google Ads editor remains the source of truth; a preview cannot guarantee which assets Google will show.

I put together a free in-browser workspace that checks multiple headlines and descriptions and lets you copy the draft into Google Ads: https://postchars.com/twitter-character-counter/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=postchars_launch&utm_content=twitter_x_character_counter

The specifications are documented here: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7684791

Would a paste-from-CSV feature or a shareable text-only checklist be more useful?

Why a Twitter/X character counter can't just use JavaScript .length

hack game — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 10:07:30 +0000

When you're writing for X, one character is not always one counted unit. JavaScript strings use UTF-16; visual glyphs can span several code points; and X's public weighted-character rules treat many CJK characters and emoji differently from Latin text.

Three examples make the difference clear:

"Hello world" is 11 weighted characters.
"中文" has 2 visible glyphs but a weighted length of 4.
"https://example.com" typically has a fixed recognized URL weight of 23, not its literal text length.
Using str.length on the whole message misses all of this. Twitter's open-source twitter-text parser is a better reference for standard posts:

js import twitterText from 'twitter-text'; console.log(twitterText.parseTweet('中文 https://example.com').weightedLength);

It is still a reference parser, not a live validation of every current X account or premium long-post feature. I built a small browser-only counter to compare visible length, URL count, emoji count and X's weighted length, with a plain post preview. Try it if you need to check a draft: https://postchars.com/twitter-character-counter/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=postchars_launch&utm_content=twitter_x_character_counter

Full background and examples: https://postchars.com/guides/twitter-urls-emoji-counting/

What edge cases have you seen with emoji sequences or internationalized URLs?

Editorial notes: Explain the concept first, link once or twice only. Do not pretend to be an official X source. Review DEV policy; optionally set canonical_url to the on-site guide when content is substantially duplicated.

DEV Community: hack game

A practical way to validate Google Ads RSA headlines before publishing

Why a Twitter/X character counter can't just use JavaScript .length