Why Googles Recommendations In AdWords Could Cost You

Google AdWords gives you a chance to reach targeted audiences with your marketing messages. AdWords advertisements display in response to relevant Google searches and also appear on the worldwide Google Display Network.

Despite the popularity of Google AdWords, some businesses have had some concerns while using the service. For starters, many market segments have become extremely competitive, causing the cost of clicks to skyrocket.

Meanwhile, amateurs may find that the AdWords interface is complicated and confusing. As a result, many companies spend a lot of money on AdWords while learning by experience how to create ads and target them using the AdWords interface.

Google Recommendations, a tool designed to simplify the AdWords experience can help users quickly design and publish ads. Although this can save time, it can also cause you to spend a lot of money on AdWords while receiving very little in terms of ROI.

The Basics 

Google’s Recommendations in AdWords are designed to help you increase the performance of your ads while reducing the associated learning curve. The Recommendations tool can help you discover how to use unfamiliar AdWords features and suggest changes to your campaigns.

Recommendations can suggest appropriate bid amounts and also uncover new keyword ideas. By choosing to accept Recommendations, you can dramatically reduce the time and effort required to design and execute AdWords strategies.

As soon as you start running an ad, the Google Recommendations engine starts analyzing its performance. After a while, it will make recommendations for getting better results for the money you have to spend.

As part of the Recommendations service, Google provides you with important information that serves a vital role:

– Performance estimates based on the data generated by your campaign.
– Suggested improvements based on automated analyses of your data.
– Ways to update stale campaigns using fresh keywords and updated bids.
– Advice for creating new ads.

Of course, with so much to offer, using Google’s Recommendations seems to make sense. Unfortunately, the decision to use this feature involves a more complicated level of decision making.

The Negatives 

Unfortunately, practically nothing in life is perfect, including AdWords Recommendations. Right off the bat, you can naturally wonder whether the recommendations Google gives you are worthy of your attention.

If you accept the suggestions that Google gives you in your AdWords account, you might benefit from them, but you might not. If you don’t, you won’t get a refund to compensate for following bad advice.

AdWords Recommendations also can lead you astray. Since many of the suggestions that you receive involve “related” keywords, you can quickly lose your focus, if you’re not careful.

Even if you choose to not implement your Recommendations, you still could go astray. If you fail to remove them within two weeks of their appearance on your dashboard, Google will automatically implement them.

Simply put, if you fail to actively engage with your AdWords account, you could discover that Google modifies your ad campaigns and adjusts your bids without your specific approval. As a result, Recommendations can cost you a lot in terms of money.

Think about it this way: If Google’s Recommendations cost you an additional $40 per week, your ad spend for the year will surpass $2,000! That amount may not affect a large corporation, but a small business can experience hardship if that extra $2,000 doesn’t create more sales.

Your Response 

Ultimately, you need to decide what you will do with Google’s Recommendations service. To do this, you must first routinely log into your AdWords account. If you don’t Google may make changes to your ads that will dilute their focus and increase your costs.

So, periodically check your AdWords account and review the Recommendations that you see. In response, chose the ones that make sense and dismiss those that don’t. This will keep you in control of your advertising campaigns.

To prevent surprises, you can choose to “opt out” of Recommendations. Although, after doing this, you will still see suggestions, they will not automatically apply to your account. However, even while opted-out, you can choose to implement the suggestions that you like.

Finally, monitor your campaigns and update them based on your knowledge and goals. You might not have all the data that Google has, but you do have the ability to tweak your campaigns to adjust to changes. The online world is constantly evolving, so you should always be updating your ads.

Remember, even if you choose to allow Google to automatically implement Recommendations for your account, you can choose to opt out at any time. This means that you can try this feature to see how well it will work for you.

No Recommendations?

Sometimes, you might not see any Recommendations for your AdWords campaigns. According to Google, this can happen if you have not yet submitted your billing information. So, to correct this problem, simply add a payment method to your account.

If you have yet to create a Google AdWords campaign, you also will not see any Recommendations. This is because the feature uses real-time and historical data. Without data, the system can’t make any suggestions.

Poorly crafted ads can also prevent you from receiving Recommendations. If your ad rarely displays, then the system will not have enough data. When this happens, you need to learn more about creating successful AdWord ads or get help from a third party digital marketing service.

To maximize your chance of using Recommendations, give your ad units enough time to generate data. Furthermore, if you already have perfectly designed and executed your AdWords campaign, Google will have no actions to recommend.

In summary, Google’s Recommendations in AdWords can simplify your AdWords experience, especially if you are new to the platform. The recommendations you receive can help you optimize bids, fix problems, change keywords and take other steps to help your ads perform better.

Despite the impressive capabilities of Recommendations, you need to keep a watchful eye on your account. After all, if you’re sending a narrowly focused message to a precisely defined audience, this tool can end up causing you to expand the reach of your ads and spend more money in the process.

Don’t let a bad experience with trying to do adwords yourself deter you from what an awesome tool it is. Let an agency take care of your marketing so you can focus on what you do best.