To Auto-apply or Not to Auto-apply Google Ads Recommendations?

The decision to you auto-apply or not auto-apply google ads recommendations is the question business owners have been asking themselves lately.

Google has been urging small business owners running Google Ads campaigns to set their recommendations as auto-apply. You can read more about this here.

They say it's a time saver, but does it save time in the long run?

Does applying these recommendations help with the success of your campaign?

And most importantly, do Google Ads reps know the nuances of your business or customer behaviour?

This blog post will explore all of these questions and more!

What are Google Ads auto-apply recommendations, and why should you care?

Google Ads provides many recommendations intended to help businesses improve their campaigns. There are two ways these recommendations can be applied: manually or automatically.

The recommendations you can apply automatically are called auto-apply and sit within the recommendation area on the Google Ads platform. As the name suggests, you set these recommendations to apply automatically to your account in the background without needing to do anything else.

You can find the recommendations tab in the light grey navigation bar down the left-hand side.

They are categorised into two areas:

Maintain your ads

The recommendations here aim to keep your campaigns and accounts up to date with best practices.

Grow your business

Recommendations here are aimed at optimising your targets and improving your ads to help get better results.

Types of Google ads auto-apply recommendations include:

• Ads & Extensions
• Keywords & Targeting
• Measurement
• Bidding

Google says that these recommendations come from their algorithm, which analyses your account data and campaign performance.

But does it really save time?

And are Google's recommendations consistently accurate?

How do Google Ads reps know the best way to manage your account, and what if their recommendations don't work for you specifically?

Over the years, I have worked on numerous Google Ads accounts within the same industry or super niche. And from my experience, it takes time to understand a business regarding advertising; no two companies are alike – even if they are in the same industry!  

Take some time to consider if a Google Rep, within the 2 minutes you spend explaining your business, can pick up all the nuances of how your business operates. And, more importantly, how your potential customers might behave online.

In my experience, Google Reps can provide some excellent and potentially expensive recommendations.  

For example, by accepting the suggestion of applying automatic recommendations to your ad copy from your Google Rep – you are handing over the reins to a machine to write your ad copy for you and not even passing it by you first?

What if it chooses out-of-date text from your website – or removes a critical message that worked well previously and just needed a minor tweak?

What if you are using a specific tone of voice? Should you leave it to chance, will this be incorporated within the automatic ad copy?   

The pros and cons of automatically applying Google Ads recommendations

There are pros and cons to automatically applying Google Ads recommendations.

On the one hand, doing so can help improve your campaign's performance by implementing changes that may be beneficial. On the other hand, there is a risk that you could accidentally implement a change that ends up harming your campaign's performance.

When deciding whether or not to automatically apply Google Ads recommendations, you will need to weigh the potential risks and benefits to make the best decision for your campaign.

Benefits of automatically applying Google Ads recommendations:

1. Can help improve your campaign's performance
2. Save time by not having to implement changes manually
3. You may be able to take advantage of changes that you would not have thought of on your own

Risks of automatically applying Google Ads recommendations:

1. You may accidentally implement a change that harms your campaign's performance.
2. Changes could end up being less effective than what you would have implemented manually.
3. You may miss out on the opportunity to learn from mistakes if something goes wrong.

Final thoughts

Whether or not to automatically apply Google Ads recommendations is a judgment you will need to make based on your situation.

There are pros and cons to doing so, and you will need to weigh the potential risks and benefits before making a decision. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what is best for your campaign.

Would you like hassle-free Google Ads management?

Google Ads can be a challenge to manage, but with the help of an experienced professional, you can get the most out of your campaigns and see improved results. I have over ten years of experience in the Google Ads platform and can help you achieve your marketing goals. Why not contact me to see how I can help you.