You might start seeing Google Ads’ automated recommendations in more places

Google is surfacing its recommendations beyond the Recommendations page in the Google Ads web interface.

Recommendations in the new Google Ads UI is a more robust, machine learning-powered replacement of the old Opportunities tab. It now appears Google will also make those automated recommendations visible when users are in other areas of the interface.

The test. Andrea Cruz, Digital Marketing Manager at at B2B digital agency KoMarketing, noticed a new keywords recommendation card appearing alongside the performance graph on the Search Keywords tab in an account on Monday.

Google Ads is really trying to make users see/apply their recommendations – they added a recommendations snippet to the keyword tab making the graph smaller #ppcchat @GinnyMarvin pic.twitter.com/b1OnoPzCfV

— Andrea Cruz (@andreacruz92) May 6, 2019

As Cruz notes in her tweet, the performance graph is significantly smaller when a recommendation shows. From the recommendations widget, users can click to either view the new keyword suggestions or click to apply all of the new keywords right from that card — sight unseen, which I would not recommend. You can also click the three dots icon and dismiss the recommendation just as you can on the Recommendations page.

We haven’t been able to replicate this test, but I would not be surprised if Google tests out surfacing these in more areas of the UI. The persistent recommendation to “Add responsive search ads” could start to appear on the Ads tab, for example.

Why we should care. Google and Microsoft have both been investing in showing users more machine-learning powered recommendations in their respective advertising UIs to make it easier for advertisers to take action in their accounts. These have come a long way from the basic “raise your budgets” and “increase your bids” recommendations of old, but advertisers still need to carefully consider any suggestions from the engines before applying them.

Showing recommendations directly on related pages makes a whole lot of sense. Yet, the fact that Google makes the “Apply all” button the most prominent call-to-action with a blue background in this card (I do not see that treatment on the main Recommendations page), is unfortunate. I can’t think of a scenario where it would be advisable to apply all new keyword recommendations — and bids — without reviewing them.