Throughout the years, Google has demonstrably striven to automate its advertising platform to the greatest extent possible. Several reasons explain this trend, ranging from heightened competition from other platforms to the less apparent benefit of boosting advertiser expenditure without their knowledge.
However, there’s more to it than that. Numerous automated features introduced by Google during this time have actually enhanced the overall advertiser experience.
In my view, Google’s pursuit of automated ad features presents a wealth of potential benefits, but it’s crucial to be discerning in your selections.
This post will guide you through the features I deem worthwhile, those to approach cautiously, and those to avoid entirely.
Automated Bidding
Once upon a time, Google Ads bidding was entirely manual, with everyone eager to share the “best” strategies for winning auctions, achieving high Quality Scores, and “hacking” the system for personal gain.
When to Use It
Having used various Google Ads automated bidding strategies over the years, I’ve found them to be quite effective, depending on the objective. I usually categorize goals as lead generation, direct sales, visibility, or website traffic:
- Lead Generation: For campaigns aimed at lead generation, a conversion-focused bid strategy is typically the most effective. However, there are a few exceptions, mainly involving very specific keywords within highly competitive verticals (more on this later).
- Direct Sales: If your business’s conversion action is directly tied to a monetary value or has a quantifiable dollar value associated with it, I recommend starting with Max Conversion Value. Let the campaign run for a while, then consider switching to Target ROAS based on keyword intent and ad group structure. This allows for campaign fine-tuning to a point where Google Ads consistently generates profitable marketing outcomes for your business.
- Visibility/Brand Recognition: If your primary goal is prominent placement on search results pages or consistently ranking at the top for specific terms, Target Impression Share is likely your best bet. Max Clicks or Manual CPC could be viable alternatives in some instances.
- Website Traffic/SEO Support: For those focused on driving website traffic or aiming to appear in search results for terms not currently ranking organically, Maximize Clicks or Target Impression Share would be most suitable, depending on the specific terms and level of competition.
Before employing Google’s automated bidding strategies, carefully consider your overall strategy and remember that a learning period is necessary for data collection, particularly when switching between strategies.
When Not to Use It
While manual bidding in Google Ads is still possible, I advise reserving it for specific situations. For instance, I had a client targeting the highly competitive keyword “SOC 2.” They aimed not only to drive conversions for this keyword but also to maintain consistent brand visibility in related search results. This scenario, with its combined goals, led us to opt for Manual CPC bidding, eventually transitioning to Target Impression Share for similar terms within the account. Notably, conversion volume remained steady despite not directly optimizing for conversions.
We also offer valuable bid management tips for a world increasingly reliant on automated bidding here.
Automated Ad Creation
Smart creative, an aspect of Google Ads, endeavors to automate the ad creation process itself. While I recommend utilizing these features to some extent, complete reliance on them is not advisable.
When to Use It
Responsive Search Ads: RSAs allow for the construction of text search ads with multiple headlines and descriptions. Google then mixes and matches these elements within the auction to identify the “best” combination for your desired outcome.
RSAs are a powerful tool, but I suggest investing the effort to craft compelling, relevant headlines yourself and allowing the automation (in conjunction with your bidding strategy) to handle the rest. I advise against letting Google generate headlines for you, an option available within the “Recommendations” tab.
Want to know the secrets behind great headlines? Download our free guide 
Responsive Display Ads: Creating effective display ads can be challenging for many advertisers, often due to a lack of design skills or resources. Google generates responsive display ads using assets you provide, automatically adjusting them to fit available placements on the Google Display Network. These ads often resemble Facebook ads more than traditional static display ads. Similar to RSAs, I recommend using high-quality, audience-relevant base assets.
When Not to Use It
In addition to avoiding Google’s headline and description recommendations, here are other instances where automation should be used cautiously. Smart Campaigns: Essentially the evolution of AdWords Express, Smart campaigns aim to automate and simplify the process, allowing novice users to launch campaigns without grappling with complex components. I’ll elaborate on this when discussing Performance Max, but my main takeaway is to steer clear of Smart campaigns or any option that essentially fully automates targeting. Learning to create manual campaigns yourself or hiring a professional is far preferable to relying on overly broad targeting.
Successful marketing often hinges on meticulous attention to detail, and maintaining control over these details is crucial, rather than relinquishing them to an automated system that simultaneously depletes your budget.
Smart Display: I specifically highlight Smart Display ads because, unlike search ads, they lack a guaranteed element of intent. Google claims, “On average, advertisers who use Smart Display campaigns have seen 20% more conversions at the same cost per action (CPA) when compared to their other display campaigns.”
However, this statement is misleading because experienced digital marketers understand that CPA is meaningless if driven by unqualified, low-quality leads, a persistent issue with the Display Network. Maintaining strict control over your targeting on the GDN is essential.
Performance Max: Opinions on PMax are mixed. While some laud its effectiveness, my own experience and that of others I know have found it to be less than ideal. This campaign type essentially merges the features of responsive ads and Smart campaigns into a single entity. You provide your marketing objectives, budget, assets, and audience information, and Google generates ads distributed across all its properties.
My observations suggest that Performance Max necessitates robust offline tracking, high volume, and a substantial budget to be effective. These requirements exclude most novice to intermediate advertisers. You can find more cautions and workarounds for PMax here.
The Bottom Line
In my assessment, the optimal approach to Google Ads (and most platforms at this stage) involves automation guided by human oversight. We haven’t reached a point where a “set it and forget it” approach is genuinely viable, at least not with the efficiency achievable through human intervention. Moreover, it’s crucial to remember that paid platforms, as the name implies, require financial investment to operate. So, the very entity promoting automation is also the one billing you. Therefore, I recommend a balanced approach: setting up campaigns traditionally while leveraging features like automated bidding and responsive ad creative. Ultimately, it’s the advertiser’s responsibility to determine which features are beneficial and which are not - approach opportunities with a healthy dose of skepticism.