Google Ads Recommendations Worth Doing

Google Ads utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to recommend tactics across seven categories:

• Ads & Assets
• AI Essentials
• Automated Campaigns
• Bids & Budgets
• Keywords & Targeting
• Measurement
• Repairs

I view Google’s recommendations cautiously. Implemented correctly, some can improve performance. Others may not align with an advertiser’s goals or even hurt the results.

Moreover, beware of Google Ads optimization score. It’s an estimate of how an account will perform. Implementing Google’s recommendations will increase the score but not, in my experience, the actual performance. It’s a vanity metric, in other words.

In this post, I’ll suggest recommendations worth examining.

Ads & Assets

Ads & Assets addresses ad copy and assets (formerly extensions). Many of the recommendations suggest implementing missing items such as call assets and lead form ads. But lead form ads do not make sense for advertisers seeking visitors and on-site form completions. Dismiss the recommendation if that’s your scenario.

Yet recommending missing assets is helpful for ads with legitimate shortcomings, such as Search ads with fewer than 15 headlines and four descriptions or demand generation ads with missing text or images.

AI Essentials

These recommendations are the core tactics Google wants all advertisers to implement. Many of the recommendations overlap in other categories. For example, “adding images” also appears in Ads & Assets.

The critical recommendations in AI Essentials are:

• Adding broad match keywords
• Updating bid strategies
• Using consent mode

I’ve addressed the importance of broad match keywords because it uses most audience signals and thus helps scale conversions. Likewise, smart bidding is mandatory for me as it’s more effective than manual. And consent mode is critical to respect users’ privacy and recover lost conversions from searchers with tracking disabled.

Google considers Performance Max a priority and includes it in AI Essentials, even if the campaign type isn’t a fit for all advertisers.

Google includes Performance Max recommendations in AI Essentials. Click image to enlarge.

Automated Campaigns

Google’s primary recommendation for automated campaigns is to create a Performance Max campaign, stating, “According to Google Data… advertisers who use Performance Max achieve, on average, over 18% more conversions at a similar cost per action.”

Other Automated Campaign recommendations include updating both Dynamic Search Ads and Display campaigns to Performance Max.

Bids & Budgets

Bids & Budgets recommendations are helpful when analyzed correctly. The first addresses budget-constrained campaigns wherein Google recommends weekly changes to improve conversions.

I find those recommendations useful even for higher spends. Be sure to match the recommendations with specific campaigns, as it’s not always obvious, and ensure each aligns with your goals. For example, increasing budgets for top-of-funnel Display campaigns may not apply.

Google could also recommend in Bids & Budgets a different bid strategy, such as moving from a tCPA to a tROAS.

Google’s recommendations for optimizing budgets are useful even for higher spends. Click image to enlarge.

Keywords & Targeting

In this category, Google recommends adding broad match keywords and suggests new keyword ideas and removing non-serving terms (for example, those with low search volume). The idea is to provide new keyword opportunities while cleaning up non-performers.

Keywords & Targeting also includes recommendations for (i) audience targeting, (ii) Customer Match automating, and (iii) optimized targeting in Display campaigns. The latter gives Google more leeway for showing Display ads, which I tend to dismiss owing to poor performance.

Measurement

I implement Google’s Measurement recommendations because they impact user privacy and help recover lost conversions. I also implement enhanced conversions. Users who disable tracking prevent visibility if they convert.

By updating conversion tracking, advertisers can collect first-party data, hash it, and then send it back to Google to close the conversion gap. Hence enhanced conversions allow more accurate performance reports.

Repairs

The Repairs category alerts advertisers of disapproved and missing items. Example alerts include rejected sitelinks or missing ad group keywords. Advertisers can run scripts for these notifications. Most Repairs recommendations are straightforward and worth implementing.

Check out Google’s post “Types of recommendations” for a complete list for each category.