rtisers should reconsider Google Ads recommendations

A new recommendation has been made for Google Ads advertisers for 2023:

All Google Ads recommendations should be turned off and paused.

Why?

Google Ads changed fundamentally the definition of a recommendation users had previously applied on Jan. 4. Google only gives advertisers two weeks to prepare for the change.

The moral of this article, before we start, is not that all recommendations are bad. Nor should you ignore them all. This article aims to do less work while improving account performance.

What has changed in Google Ads recommendations?

Nicole Farley covered a remarkable change to a rather tame Google Ads suggestion: “Remove redundant keywords.”

Advertisers had agreed to the recommendation. This allowed Google to remove keywords that have the same matching type and show for the same queries in an advertising group to reduce redundancy. While there are many reasons to not implement this recommendation, some advertisers will still use it because of the benefit of one keyword appearing in all match types for most terms.

Advertisers who have applied the new change will see it change their recommendation definition to Cross Match Types. This means that they can no longer remove phrase/exact match types and instead use a broad match keyword within an ad group.

If you followed the previous recommendation, these rules will be applied to your account by January 19, unless you opt out.

Google claimed that this recommendation change “does not negatively impact your performance”, but did not provide any data or facts to support that claim.

Take a moment to think about it.

Google Ads recommended this to clean up redundant terms within a single match type. However, the recommendation was fundamentally changed.

Another frustrating move.

They should at a minimum remove all accounts from this setting. People can re-opt in if desired (they won’t).

— Shaun Elley (@selley2134)

January 4, 2023

This would not be an issue if users had to opt-in again, as Shawn Elley mentioned. No problem if this cross-match type cleanup was completely new.

Unfortunately, this is not true.

Why is this a problem

What’s the next step?

Advertisers can’t trust one recommendation from Google, if the recommendations you accept today could be completely different tomorrow.

Advertisers and the entire Google Ads platform are in dangerous territory.

It is impossible to take any recommendation at face value.

Nevertheless, there are some suggestions that can be useful.

I will now advise everyone to follow any recommendations and make your own decisions.

This is not a good thing. This precedent is alarming.

Gil Gildner (@gilgildner).

January 4, 2023

Although the definition of Google Ads recommendations is fluid now, your commitment, attention to detail, and work are not.

Google shouldn’t be able to take your dollars and efforts into its own hands.

Aren’t Google Ads Recommendations useful?

As an agency owner, it is my pleasure to act as if I were a fiduciary working for the clients. The client’s best interests are always #1, #1a, and #1b. The Optimization Score and the recommendations system have a long history. I believe they operate differently.

Advertisers were shocked when Google introduced recommendations. You could see the entire list of possible recommendations. “Raise your budgets” was one option. “Lower your budgets” was not.

Similar expansion-esque suggestions like “Expand your reach through Google search partners” and “Use optimized targeting” exist, but there is no ying to the yang. These inflationary, spend-first recommendations are difficult to accept under a fiduciary lens.

Although most of the recommendations are obvious, many advertisers found the system more annoying than helpful.

It got worse.

Google attempted to force partners to comply with a strict optimization score percentage in order to maintain their badge. The irritation of recommendation dismissal became a threat to agency ethics and client outcomes.

This ill-advised idea was put down, and we have been back to rejecting all recommendations and applying only those that are bulletproof.

Until now.

I don’t trust any recommendations. This isn’t an isolated event. There is a history.

What should you do when someone suggests something?

It’s a new Year and there should be a “new approach” to Google Ads Recommendations.

You can take a moment to review your settings and decide whether you want to opt out of any suspicious recommendations.

All information can be viewed by clicking on the Manage tab within the web interface.

You must also be vigilant in your efforts to ensure that any recommendations you have received are working as you expected.

Important note: You still have to execute any work recommended by others! It may be a good idea to turn them off, as it can save you headaches later.

It is possible to reevaluate any auto-applied recommendation. However, if you were to rely on that recommendation, make sure to do it manually.

The bottom line: Advertisers should be cautious when applying recommendations from Google Ads. It is possible that it will change in the future.

Search Engine land – The post Why advertisers need to reassess Google Ads recommendations was first published on Search Engine.