Google Ads has a feature called auto-apply recommendations that allows the platform to make changes to your campaigns automatically, without your review or approval. It's enabled by default on many accounts, often without the advertiser being aware. The changes it can make include adding new keywords, removing negative keywords, changing bids, adjusting budgets, and switching to different bidding strategies.
Most of these changes benefit Google's revenue. Some are actively harmful to a well-structured campaign. Turning this feature off is one of the first things I do when I take over any account.
When I audited a North Wales retail account last year, auto-apply had been quietly active for around six months. It had added 47 broad match keywords and removed 12 negative keywords. The account's wasted spend had climbed steadily over that period and nobody had connected the two things. Unpicking it took longer than building a clean account from scratch would have.
The thing most guides on this topic miss: auto-apply recommendations aren't a neutral feature that sometimes goes wrong. They're structured to increase spend, which is what Google's recommendations are calibrated to do. Convenience for the advertiser is not what they're designed around.
What auto-apply recommendations actually does
The recommendations section in Google Ads (found via the spanner icon > Recommendations) shows a list of suggested changes the platform thinks would improve your account. Each recommendation comes with an "Optimisation score" impact: accepting it will increase your score by a certain amount.
The Optimisation score is a metric Google uses to suggest how well your account is configured relative to Google's recommendations. It is not a metric that correlates reliably with campaign profitability. A score of 100% simply means you've accepted all of Google's suggestions, not that your campaigns are performing well.
Auto-apply takes this a step further by implementing those recommendations automatically on a schedule. You don't see a notification. You don't approve the change. The account changes underneath you.
The recommendations that cause the most damage
Broad match keyword additions are the most common harmful recommendation. If you've deliberately built your account on phrase and exact match to control where your ads show, auto-applying broad match recommendations directly undermines that structure. Broad match keywords will trigger your ads for searches that have nothing to do with your business, wasting budget immediately.
Removing negative keywords is another one Google will recommend if it believes they're blocking relevant traffic. This is almost always wrong. Negative keywords exist because you've identified searches that don't convert. Auto-removing them reinstates wasted spend.
Target ROAS and Target CPA bid strategy switches are particularly dangerous for new campaigns or campaigns without sufficient conversion data. A recommendation to switch to Smart Bidding is often premature at this stage. Applying it on an immature campaign forces the algorithm to chase a target it doesn't have enough data to achieve, resulting in underspending or volatile performance.
Budget increases are framed as "capture missed opportunities" but auto-applying them increases your spend without any human assessment of whether the campaign deserves more budget.
How to turn off auto-apply recommendations
Go to your Google Ads account, click the spanner icon (Tools & settings) in the top navigation, and select "Recommendations" from the menu. In the Recommendations page, look for the "Auto-apply" button or tab, as its exact position varies slightly by account view.
You'll see a list of recommendation categories with toggles. The approach I take: turn off every auto-apply category. Review recommendations manually, apply them deliberately, and only when you understand the specific impact on your account.
If you're managing multiple accounts through a manager (MCC) account, check auto-apply settings at both the MCC and individual account level, as settings can be inherited from the parent account.
Which recommendations are worth considering manually
Not all recommendations are harmful. Some are worth reviewing on their merits. Adding responsive search ad assets, trying ad schedule adjustments based on performance data, and fixing disapproved ads are all reasonable suggestions that benefit from human review before applying.
The key difference is human review. Reading a recommendation, checking the underlying data, and deciding whether it fits your account's specific situation is very different from letting Google apply changes automatically based on its own objectives.
What the Optimisation score actually measures
One thing worth understanding: Google's Optimisation score is heavily weighted toward recommendations that increase spend. Adding broad match keywords raises your score. Accepting budget increase recommendations raises your score. An account with a deliberately tight structure, using exact match keywords, aggressive negative lists, and precise location targeting, will typically have a lower Optimisation score than an account that accepts every recommendation, even if it's generating far better returns.
Don't use the Optimisation score as a performance indicator. Use your actual conversion data. When I take over accounts from North Wales businesses who've been running things themselves, auto-apply has usually been quietly making changes for months, and unravelling what it's done is typically the first job.
Google Ads management in North Wales: if you'd like a free audit to check whether auto-apply has been running in your account and what it may have changed, get in touch.
