Why You Should Avoid Google Ads Rep Recommendations & Protect Your Budget

by | Mar 19, 2025 | Blog | 0 comments

If you’re running a Google Ads campaign—whether for yourself or your agency—you’ve likely received calls from Google Ads representatives offering suggestions to improve your account. While these reps claim to be helping you, the reality is that many of their recommendations are designed to benefit Google’s bottom line, not yours.

The Hidden Agenda Behind Google Ads Rep Recommendations

Many advertisers unknowingly fall into the trap of following Google’s automated suggestions, only to see their costs skyrocket and conversions drop. The changes they recommend often result in higher ad spend, lower quality leads, and ultimately, a belief that Google Ads “just don’t work.”
 
As an agency managing multiple campaigns, we make it a point to warn our clients about these rep calls. We tell them:
 
  • 🚫 Do not accept changes without consulting us first.
  • 🚫 Do not make adjustments in the campaign without understanding their impact.

Case Study: The Costly Mistake of Following Google’s Suggestions

Let’s look at a real campaign where a client took a Google Ads rep’s advice. This holiday season campaign initially had an average cost per click (CPC) of $21.22 and was running efficiently.
 
Google Ad Rep Recommendations Drive up Costs
However, after following a rep’s suggested changes, here’s what happened:
 
  • The daily spend jumped from $127 to $593 overnight.
  • CPC spiked from $21 to $59.
  • One click even cost $89.
  • In one day alone, the client had two clicks averaging $100 per click.
This is exactly what happens when Google Ads reps take control of your campaign settings.

Common Google Ads Rep “Suggestions” That Cost You More

If you’re wondering which settings are causing this, here’s a breakdown of some of the worst recommendations Google reps commonly push:

1. ❌ Adding Broad Match Keywords

Broad match keywords automatically expand your reach, but they often lead to irrelevant traffic and wasted ad spend. If you don’t know how to refine them with negative keywords, your budget can vanish on useless clicks.
 
✅ Instead: Use phrase match or exact match keywords and manually refine your targeting.

2. ❌ Turning On Maximize Conversions Too Early

Maximize conversions bidding sounds great in theory, but it relies on Google’s algorithm to optimize bids for conversions. The problem? New campaigns don’t have enough conversion data for Google to optimize efficiently.
 
✅ Instead: Start with manual bidding and transition to Maximize Conversions only after hitting at least 20–30 conversions per month.

3. ❌ Setting a High Target Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

For example, Google might suggest setting a CPA of $80 per lead, even when similar campaigns have shown leads are possible at much lower costs. Because Google doesn’t have enough data early on, their default CPA recommendations tend to be inflated.
 
✅ Instead: Gradually optimize bids manually before allowing Google to take control.

How to Prevent Google From Making Automated Changes

If you want to protect your ad budget, you need to disable automatic recommendations inside Google Ads. Here’s how:

1. Turn Off Auto-Apply Recommendations

  1. Log into Google Ads and go to your Campaigns.
  2. Click on Recommendations in the left menu.
  3. Select Auto Apply and deselect all options.

How to Turn Off Automatically Generated Assets - Recommendations in Google Ads Settings

2. Disable Auto-Apply in Account Settings

  1. Go to Settings → Account Settings.
  2. Locate Auto Apply Settings and turn it off.
Google frequently re-enables these settings, so it’s crucial to check back periodically to ensure they remain off.

Locate Auto Apply in Google Ads account Settings and turn it off

Have You Been Affected by Google Rep Recommendations?

If you’ve experienced similar issues—where a Google rep’s advice resulted in wasted ad spend—let us know in the comments. Sharing your experiences can help other advertisers avoid the same mistakes.

Learn How to Run Google Ads Like a Pro

If you want to take full control of your Google Ads campaigns and avoid these costly pitfalls, check out my course Ads Agency Unlocked. This training covers how to set up, grow, and scale your Google Ads agency—without relying on bad advice from Google reps.

ENROLL TODAY

Prefer to Let the Experts Handle It?

If you’d rather focus on running your business and leave the ads to the professionals, Mancini Digital can help. We specialize in Google Ads for home service businesses, ensuring you get more calls, appointments, and revenue without the hassle of managing campaigns yourself.
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