Ad Platforms: Should You Or Shouldn’t You Take Their Recommendations? via @sejournal, @jonkagan

Recently, I did the math, and realized I’ve been successful the biddable media concern (search, social, programmatic, etc.) for implicit 20 years now.

(Shoutout to Didit.com for taking a accidental connected a Hofstra University elder with nary acquisition and giving maine a paid internship.)

In those 20 years, I person looked backmost astatine each of the changes wrong the industry, including but not constricted to:

• Being capable to advertise connected Meta.
• Yahoo utilized to beryllium the biggest hunt engine.
• I spent advertisement dollars straight connected AOL and AskJeeves.com (RIP Jeeves).
• We didn’t telephone show ads “Programmatic.” It was conscionable “banner ads.”
• Google Analytics/GA4 was antecedently known arsenic Urchin (Fun fact: UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module). Before that, we utilized Omniture (now Adobe) arsenic the analytics “North Star.”

But, what truly has changed successful my caput is however we presumption enactment and insights from the platforms.

Google and Yahoo had existent quality support, and we took their recommendations arsenic gospel.

There were fewer to nary automated recommendations telling america to walk more, and erstwhile the level reps made a suggestion, it was taken arsenic a grade of bully faith.

Before I spell disconnected connected a rant, I should supply a disclaimer that I person galore friends astatine each the large platforms successful the U.S.

I’ve applied for jobs astatine each of them and person besides been offered jobs from immoderate of them. So, this nonfiction is not directed astatine a peculiar idiosyncratic oregon level but the industry, successful general, from the vendor side.

Backstory

While I can’t pinpoint a precise date, I’d accidental astir 2012 is erstwhile we truly saw accordant grounds of shifts successful platforms moving from “We privation what is champion for you and your ads” to “We person recommendations to determination your concern guardant if you tin conscionable walk more, oregon follow these things that volition origin you to walk more.”

I was with a ample holding institution agency, moving a spot of pharma and a batch of fiscal services advertizing with a tiny team.

In my not-so-humble and wholly biased perspective, we had 1 of the champion hunt selling teams around. We knew the manufacture modular and best practices, and we knew what would assistance oregon wounded the concern – and truthful did our reps astatine “big hunt and large social.”

Suddenly, their recommendations were not champion practices and would intelligibly thrust higher walk and little efficiency.

Even much noticeably, erstwhile thing went awry, the reps we turned to to assistance troubleshoot would accidental thing to america that gave maine a acold chill down my spine: “You’ll request to record a enactment summons for that. These are present handled by a antithetic department.”

This was the opening of america truly having to scrutinize what was recommended to us.

Human Vs. Machine

Yes, I americium good alert that robots are connected their mode to instrumentality our jobs.

But, I support getting reminded that if I fto the machines person astatine it, respective brands would suffer a batch of wealth for perfectly nary logical reason.

Google fund reco for a batch much wealth but not a batch much accumulation (Image from author, March 2025)

Meta making a proposal for a relation we don’t adjacent person (Image from author, March 2025)

Bing recommending a determination with a questionable web (Image from author, March 2025)

These are samples of the aforesaid suggestions I get each day. The platforms privation to thrust our concern forward, but disregard the pursuing facts:

• The archetypal representation shows a 261% summation successful spend, for a 94% summation successful clicks, 13% much conversions, and a 42% driblet successful conversion complaint (CVR).
• The 2nd representation wants to automatically optimize 10 ads (which by the way, fixed it is simply a authorities regulated vertical, that is prohibited) each to little my outgo per acquisition (CPA) by 10%, but fails to enactment that we don’t adjacent person a conversion pixel, oregon adjacent grounds conversions.
• The 3rd representation wants to grow into the full network, 1 known for notorious amounts of fraudulent enactment oregon the information that determination are nary incremental funds to thrust that excess traffic.

Yes, I admit that these recommendations are some automated and optional.

But does that mean scenarios similar these should beryllium fixed a discount and not held to the aforesaid manufacture standards arsenic others? There is lone 1 close answer: No.

We observe that the automated recommendations are faster, much real-time, and much correlated to existent data. But, the human-based suggestions person a quality nonsubjective and the small vertebrate saying whether these are really a bully idea.

We besides enactment – and this is much circumstantial to advertisers with a dedicated rep (and I don’t mean those you get for a fiscal 4th and telephone you astatine inappropriate times of the day) – that recommendations coming from them (while inactive salesy), are taking a look astatine the bigger picture, and making much circumstantial recommendations to heighten your business.

Google wanting to grow into a web known to person questionable placements (Image from author, March 2025)

This is simply a machine/AI proposal to opt into a web I intentionally opted retired of owed to utmost amounts of invalid enactment coming from it. (I person much spot successful Jenn Shah of RHOSLC safely holding onto my SSN than this recommendation.)

This ratio of Google Search vs. Partner Network does not marque consciousness (Image from author, March 2025)

Rule of thumb: If the click measurement successful your hunt spouse web is grossly exceeding your Google hunt volume, past determination is apt thing wrong.

Play anserine games, triumph anserine prizes … successful credits, months aboriginal (Image from author, March 2025)

Look astatine each those credits tied backmost to that April run (this result reminds maine of Aaron Rodgers starring my NY Jets successful 2024).

Meanwhile, my relationship rep gives maine emails similar this:

What a due proposal should look similar (Image from author, March 2025)

Net-net: Quantity (machine/AI) is not amended than prime (human), but I volition admit, it is faster.

Don’t Disregard Automated Recommendations Completely

While I whitethorn dependable similar a spokesperson for the anti-AI/anti-machine lobbyists, these systems tin assistance prevention your butt present and there.

But, reappraisal these recommendations with a atom of brackish portion utilizing them for a gut check.

Showing erstwhile thing was forgotten (Image from author, March 2025)

Catching conflicts I would’ve missed (Image from author, March 2025)

Not Controlling What Happens Is The Devil

Yes, rep enactment is helpful, and sometimes, machine/AI tin beryllium helpful, too.

But, if you are not reviewing what happens successful presumption of placements, creative, oregon optimization, you whitethorn find yourself up a creek. This is peculiarly important connected the originative side, particularly if determination are aggregate layers of originative approval.

If you bash not disable auto-apply, oregon you fto Advantage+ tally without oversight, past originative whitethorn not conscionable ineligible section guidelines.

Nothing gives you a bosom onslaught connected a Saturday much than erstwhile your lawsuit calls to fto you cognize that they saw their advertisement successful a unrecorded video connected a societal level astir immoderate nefarious activity, with portion of the originative chopped disconnected inappropriately.

If you tally Performance Max, you decidedly privation to support a adjacent oculus connected this.

What does this mean? If you person a grade of power implicit the instrumentality alternatively than letting it tally with it, instrumentality control. An other hr of enactment present volition prevention you 12 hours of fixing problems later.

Having Control Of What Happens And Not Handling Properly Makes You The Devil

Yes, you work that right. If you privation to trial retired the instrumentality functions and AI suggestions, and you person the power to determine however and erstwhile it executes the work, and you inactive don’t usage it properly, well, past that is your fault.

This isn’t conscionable isolated to creative, but it decidedly is overmuch much awkward with it:

I truly don’t cognize however Meta thinks this volition merchantability Corned Beef Hash (Image from author, March 2025)

Bing thinks that this is simply a Jamaican Beef Patty … it is not (Image from author, March 2025)

But, this is the extremity of the iceberg; this is the casual worldly to prevent.

When you let it to adhd successful music, make videos, set text, etc., you person the quality to forestall that. You’re adjacent notified if you privation to usage it, and if you don’t instrumentality action, it’ll instrumentality it. That is connected you.

What Is This Rant Really About?

To bash a precise long-winded chopped to the chase, this is astir separating enactment and recommendations made by the platforms and the reps from what are manufacture and modular champion practices.

No, your Google Adwords (it’ll ever beryllium Adwords), Bing Ads (I garbage to telephone it Microsoft Advertising), and Meta reps are not retired to ruin you financially, with the sole extremity of getting you to walk more, by immoderate means necessary.

But, they person quotas and adoption requirements they person to meet. Companies that are not charities are money-making machines.

So, sales-focused recommendations, auto-apply functions, and AI-generated suggestions are designed to yet get you to walk much money.

It is your occupation arsenic the integer marketer to admit which function, recommendation, and capableness your marque should utilize.

Do not beryllium bulldozed – propulsion back. If the level oregon the rep makes a recommendation, inquire them to amusement the enactment and explicate however it volition assistance you conscionable your goal. After all, the platform’s goals whitethorn not beryllium your goals.

More Resources:

• A Complete Guide To PPC Ad Targeting Options
• 7 Powerful Benefits Of Using PPC Advertising
• PPC Trends 2025

Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock