skill-028-rsa-pinning-strategy-audit

Skill 028: RSA Pinning Strategy Audit

Purpose

Pinning headlines or descriptions to specific positions restricts ad combinations Google can test. Strategic pinning (brand name to H1) is acceptable, but over-pinning (3+ pins) significantly reduces optimization ability and lowers Ad Strength.

Data Requirements

Data Source: Standard

Standard Data:

• data/account/campaigns/*/*/ads.md - RSA headlines/descriptions with pinned positions

Reference GAQL:

SELECT
  campaign.name,
  ad_group.name,
  ad_group_ad.ad.id,
  ad_group_ad.ad.responsive_search_ad.headlines,
  ad_group_ad.ad.responsive_search_ad.descriptions,
  ad_group_ad.ad_strength,
  ad_group_ad.status
FROM ad_group_ad
WHERE ad_group_ad.ad.type = 'RESPONSIVE_SEARCH_AD'
  AND ad_group_ad.status != 'REMOVED'

Note: Headlines array includes pinned_field property (HEADLINE_1, HEADLINE_2, HEADLINE_3) or null.

Analysis Steps

1. Count pinned assets per RSA: Total pinned headlines and descriptions
2. Evaluate pinning impact: Calculate possible combinations reduction (>50% reduction is problematic)
3. Assess pinning strategy: Brand H1 only (acceptable), H1+CTA (acceptable), 3+ headline pins (problematic), all positions pinned (defeats RSA purpose)
4. Correlate with performance: Compare pinned vs unpinned RSA performance
5. Flag conflicting pins: Multiple assets pinned to same position

Thresholds

Condition	Severity
5+ total pins	Critical
All H positions pinned (H1+H2+H3)	Critical
3-4 total pins	Warning
Combination reduction >90%	Critical
1-2 pins	Info

Output

Short (default):

## RSA Pinning Audit
**Account:** [Name] | **RSAs:** [X] | **Over-pinned:** [Y]

### Critical ([Count])
- **[Campaign] / [Ad Group]**: [X] pins (H1:[a], H2:[b], H3:[c], D1:[d], D2:[e]) -> Remove [pins]

### Warnings ([Count])
- **[Campaign] / [Ad Group]**: [X] pins -> Consider removing [specific pins]

### Summary
| Pinning Level | RSAs | Avg Ad Strength |
|---------------|------|-----------------|
| None (0 pins) | X | [rating] |
| Light (1-2) | X | [rating] |
| Heavy (3+) | X | [rating] |

### Recommendations
1. [Priority action]

Detailed adds:

• Combination impact analysis per RSA
• Specific pin removal recommendations
• Acceptable pinning strategy examples