Fit Long Values in a Rich Media Ad
Keep long sheet values inside their box: lock box sizes, choose how text and images fit, flag rows that don't fit for review, and check the longest values before you run a set.
In a rich media set, each row's values replace the ad's own copy and images. A row's text is often longer than the copy the ad was designed around — a long product name, a price with a prefix, a legal line. This page shows how to keep those values inside their box, and how to find the rows that won't fit before you run the set.
Availability: personalized creative sets are rolling out to teams gradually. If you do not see Personalize with data on the rich media ad's page, your team does not have it yet. Contact support to ask for access.
Why long values break a layout
Most ads are built so that a box grows with its text. A headline that is twice as long wraps onto more lines, its box gets taller, and the button below it moves down — or off the ad. An image of a different shape can stretch its box the same way.
The fix is to give each element that changes per row a fixed box and tell it how to fit its content into that box. The box stays the same size; the content adapts.
Lock the box size
A box is locked at the size it has in the editor's preview.
- Binding an element to a column locks its box for you (see What binding sets).
- To lock one yourself, select it in the Assets tab, then choose Lock box size under Fit. Do this again after you resize or move an element.
An ad made for several sizes is locked as a share of the ad's size, so the box scales with every size the ad is shown at. An ad made for one size is locked in pixels.
Fit options
Select an element in the Assets tab and use Fit in its properties.
| Element | Option | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Shrink to fit | The text gets smaller until it fits the box, down to Smallest size. Most lines caps how many lines it may wrap onto. |
| Text | Cut with an ellipsis | The text keeps its size and ends with "…" where the box runs out. |
| Button | Shrink to fit | The label gets smaller, on one line, down to Smallest size. |
| Image | Fill the box (crop) | The image covers the whole box; what doesn't fit is cropped. |
| Image | Fit inside the box | The whole image shows, with space around it if its shape differs. |
| Any | Off | Nothing is fitted. The box can grow with its content. |
For images, the Focal point picks which part stays in view when the image is cropped or placed — the center, a corner, or an edge.
The badge next to Fit shows how the element came out in the preview at its current size: Fits, Shrunk to fit, Cut short, or Doesn't fit: flagged.
If it doesn't fit
Shrinking stops at the smallest size. If it doesn't fit decides what happens to text that is still too long:
- Cut off with … — the text is cut off with an ellipsis. Good for headlines and descriptions, where a shortened line is acceptable.
- Flag for review — any row whose value is too long for the box goes to Needs review on the set page, so you can fix or accept it before it ships. Use it for copy that must appear in full: prices, offers, discounts, promo codes, and legal lines. If a row that was not flagged still doesn't fit when the ad runs, its text is cut with an ellipsis as a last resort, so the cut is visible rather than silent, and the preview shows Doesn't fit: flagged.
Under the option, the inspector shows about how many characters fit the box at its smallest size — for example Fits about 40 characters at the smallest size. It is measured with the element's real font, box, and line limit at every size the ad is made for, and the smallest count is kept. It is measured again whenever you change any of them, or the ad's sizes, or choose Lock box size. If it says Not measured yet, choose Lock box size.
How flagged rows show up
When the set runs, each row's value for a Flag for review element is compared with that character count. A longer value marks the row's bundle Needs review, with the reason "price" may be too long for its box, so it was flagged instead of cut off.
Settle it as any ad that needs review — Accept it, Fix a value, or Exclude it. See Review ads that need a look. Ads that need review are charged like ready ones, and are left out of exports unless you include them.
The comparison counts characters, so it is an estimate: wide letters take more room than narrow ones. It is measured with wide letters, so it errs on the side of flagging.
What binding sets
When you bind a text, button, or image to a column and it has no fit yet, binding sets one up:
| Element | Fit | Smallest size | If it doesn't fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text and buttons | Shrink to fit | 60% of its size, never below 9 px | Flag for review for prices, offers, discounts, promos, and legal copy; Cut off with … for everything else |
| Images | Fill the box (crop), from the center | — | — |
| Logos | Fit inside the box, from the center | — | — |
Its box is locked, and its character count is measured. Price, offer, and legal copy is recognised from the element's name and variable, and from the column's name and values — for example sale_price, promo_code, Disclaimer, or a column of values like $19.99. Change any of it in the element's Fit properties.
When you bind a column yourself and the ad has no other unsaved changes, the ad is saved with these settings. After Auto-map or an AI suggestion, or once a set has been made from the ad, they wait for you to choose Save.
Check before you run
Personalize with data checks the whole sheet, not only the rows you have stepped through.
Length warnings
Above the preview, a warning lists each bound text or button whose column holds values longer than it fits — for example Headline: 3 rows may not fit (longest 58 characters, fits about 40). They are cut off with an ellipsis. For a Flag for review element it says the rows go to Needs review instead. It needs the element's character count, so lock its box first.
Longest values
Choose Longest values on the stage to preview the longest value of each column in the sheet — together, in one made-up row. The stage lists any bound element that is still cut short, or that doesn't fit and will go to Needs review, at the size you are viewing. Switch sizes to check each one.
Multi-size ads
A rich media ad is one responsive document shown at every size, so the same box is smaller in a 320×50 banner than in a 300×600 one. Text that fits the large size can be cut off, or flagged, in the small one.
- Check Longest values at each size, especially the smallest.
- The character count covers every size the ad is made for: it is the count of the size that holds the least.
Tips
- Write short copy for the sheet. A headline under 30 characters fits most sizes.
- Check Longest values and the length warnings before you choose Review set.
- Give price, offer, and legal elements Flag for review, so they are never shipped cut short.
- Leave room: a smaller Smallest size or a larger box fits more text, but keep text readable.
- Fix the sheet when one row is far longer than the rest. It is often a data error.