Google Ads has increasingly introduced automation features – from automated bidding strategies to auto-applied recommendations and fully automated campaign types (like Smart Campaigns and Performance Max). As a busy business owner, it’s tempting to let Google handle the heavy lifting. But how much should you trust Google’s automation versus doing things manually? The answer is a balance – use automation where it makes sense, but don’t use it blindly, especially if you have a small budget.

Automated bidding vs manual bidding: Google offers Smart Bidding strategies (like Maximise Conversions, Target CPA, Target ROAS, etc.) that use AI to set bids for you. These can be fantastic once you have enough conversion data. However, for a brand-new campaign or low-volume account, it’s often wise to start with Manual CPC bidding. With manual bidding, you set your max CPC and can see how the traffic responds, which gives you insight. Using Maximise Conversions with no prior data can lead to extremely high CPCs at first because the algorithm is testing various audiences and keywords. If your budget is tight, you might not tolerate that learning period well. So, our common approach: start manual, get some conversions in, then consider switching to an automated bidding strategy that aligns with your goal (e.g., Target CPA once you know what a good CPA is for you).

Auto-applied recommendations: Google Ads will frequently show recommendations in your account (e.g. “add these keywords” or “raise your budgets” or “try Smart Bidding”) along with an “optimisation score.” There’s even an option to auto-apply some of these suggestions. Be cautious here. For small accounts, it’s better to review recommendations manually rather than auto-applying everything. Some suggestions might help, but others could hurt performance or spend (for example, suggesting broad match keywords or higher budgets that aren’t appropriate). If you understand exactly why it would help, implement it; if not, you can ignore it. In short, don’t abdicate all control – use Google’s suggestions as ideas, not mandates.

Smart Campaigns: Google’s Smart Campaigns (formerly AdWords Express) are a fully automated campaign type aimed at ease of use. They handle keywords, bidding, and ads automatically – you just provide business info and a budget. While convenient, Smart Campaigns have limited control and transparency. An Australian agency observed that Smart Campaigns “simplify advertising if you’re not sophisticated,” but the downside is reduced visibility and performance – a knowledgeable advertiser can almost always outperform a pure Smart Campaign by manually optimising things. Essentially, Smart Campaigns might be okay for an absolute beginner to test the waters, but as a core marketing strategy they often leave results on the table.

So where is automation useful? Google’s automation shines when it has plenty of data to make decisions in your favour. For example:

If you’ve accumulated a lot of conversions, using Target CPA or Target ROAS bidding can be very effective to hit your profitability goals, adjusting bids in real-time in a way manual bidding never could.
If you have a large e-commerce inventory, using Smart Shopping or Performance Max (which are heavily automated) can manage the complexity across thousands of products and optimise who sees what. They also access channels like Gmail or YouTube that you might not manually use.
Features like responsive search ads (where you provide headlines/descriptions and Google’s machine learning mixes and matches them) are generally beneficial automation – they help find the best performing ad combinations and usually improve results over static ads.

In summary, dip your toes into automation thoughtfully. Don’t hand Google the keys to your entire account on day one. Start with controlled manual settings, and as you identify areas where the AI can do better or save you time, enable it. Monitor the outcomes – if an automated strategy isn’t meeting your goals, you can always revert to manual or try a different approach. Many small businesses use a hybrid: manual control on structure and negatives, automated bidding for efficiency once things are stable. This way, you get the best of both worlds: the expertise and strategic nuance that only your agency possesses about your business, combined with Google’s vast data-crunching power to refine bids and show the right ad to the right user at the right time.

What is Performance Max, and is it good for small businesses?

Performance Max (often abbreviated as PMax) is one of Google’s newest campaign types that uses automation and AI to serve ads across all Google channels (Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, etc.) from a single campaign. Google pitches it as a way to “get the best of Google’s inventory in one go” without needing to manage separate campaigns. It’s goal-driven, you supply creative assets, audience signals, and conversion goals, and Google’s machine learning takes over.

For a small business, the idea of one campaign that finds customers everywhere sounds great – but does it live up to the hype? The experience so far is mixed, and whether PMax is suitable depends on your situation:

Pros of Performance Max: If you have a well-defined conversion to optimise for (like online sales) and you’ve maxed out what traditional Search campaigns can do, PMax can find additional customers in other channels. It’s especially noted to work well for e-commerce. Many retailers use PMax as an evolution of Smart Shopping campaigns – it can show product ads on YouTube, Gmail, etc., expanding reach. PMax leverages Google’s AI to figure out who might convert, even outside of search. It can also be useful for businesses that need to generate demand beyond just intent (for example, a new product that people aren’t searching for yet – PMax can show visual ads to relevant audiences). Google has shared success stories of PMax delivering low cost per conversion when there’s ample data – essentially, it can drive a lot of volume if you let it learn.
Cons of Performance Max (for small budgets): Our google ads experts caution that PMax is not ideal for small advertisers or limited budgets in most cases. The reason is that PMax by nature will allocate budget to a variety of channels, including Display and YouTube, where your ads might be shown to people who aren’t actively searching. If you only have a few hundred dollars, you typically want those dollars focused on high-intent searches (the people ready to buy now). PMax, however, might spend a chunk of that on awareness and top-of-funnel activity via display ads – which can be wasteful if you need immediate ROI. Moreover, PMax offers very little transparency; you don’t get detailed breakdowns of performance by channel or keyword. It’s a black box – you have to trust the algorithm. This lack of control can be uncomfortable if you’re watching every dollar.
When PMax makes sense: If you’re an e-commerce SMB with a product feed and you’ve had success with Google Shopping ads, PMax could be a next step to broaden reach – many have found it performs well there, especially since it replaced Smart Shopping. It also can work if you already have a lot of conversion data in your account (so Google’s models have a base to start from). Additionally, if your goal is more about brand awareness or you offer something people may not search for, PMax can find interested users via display and video. Another scenario: if you have some budget flexibility and want to experiment – you could allocate a portion to PMax to see if it finds new customers beyond what your search campaigns get.
When to avoid or hold off: If you haven’t maxed out search yet – meaning there are still plenty of relevant search impressions you could go after – it’s usually better to invest there first. Search campaigns allow you to appear for queries you know have intent. Only once you saturate that (e.g., your search impression share is high and you’re getting most of the available searches) does it make sense to spend on broader channels via PMax. Also, if your budget is so tight that every dollar must yield immediate leads or sales, stick to more controlled campaign types initially. You can always test PMax later when you have some “experimental” budget.

In short, Performance Max is a powerful tool, but it’s not a magic bullet. For Australian small businesses new to Google Ads, it’s usually wise to learn the ropes with standard campaigns first. PMax is something you might graduate to once you have more data and budget to let the AI explore. If you do try PMax, monitor results closely – check your overall cost per conversion and lead quality. Sometimes, PMax can surprise you with great results; other times, you may see a spike in conversions that don’t actually translate to real sales (e.g., if it’s optimising to micro-conversions or hitting a lot of branded search you were already getting). Always align it with your goals: use it as a supplement to, not a replacement for, well-structured search campaigns, unless you have a compelling reason to go all-in.

How can I improve my Google Ads strategy over time without relying on automation?

Launching your Google Ads campaign is just the beginning. To truly get great results, more leads or sales at a lower cost, you’ll need to continually optimise and improve your campaigns. Think of it as an ongoing process of tuning. Here are some of the most impactful ways to boost performance:

1. Optimise your Quality Score factors: Quality Score is Google’s rating of the relevance and quality of your keywords, ads, and landing pages. A higher Quality Score can lead to higher ad positions and lower cost per click. To improve it: make sure your ads are highly relevant to your keywords (include the keyword in your ad headline and copy) and that your landing page content matches the ad’s promise. For example, if your keyword is “emergency plumber Perth,” your ad should talk about 24/7 emergency plumbing, and the landing page it goes to should clearly be about emergency plumbing services in Perth. Also ensure your landing page loads fast and is easy to navigate – user experience matters. Improving Quality Score is essentially about delivering what users are searching for. Australian advertisers who consistently refine ad copy and landing pages to mirror their keywords often see not just better ad rankings but also more conversions, because they’re giving users exactly what they searched for.

2. A/B test your ads and offers: Don’t settle on one ad – always be testing at least 2-3 ad variations. Try different headlines, calls to action, or value propositions. Maybe one ad emphasises “Affordable Rates,” another emphasises “Certified Technicians” – data will tell you which message resonates more (via higher click-through rates and conversion rates). Similarly, test different offers on your landing page if possible (e.g., “Free quote” vs “10% off first order”) to see what drives more action. Over time, continuously pausing the weaker ads and introducing new contenders will lift your overall campaign performance as only the best ads run. Google’s responsive search ads can help by automatically mixing text, but you can guide the process by providing varied headlines to test different angles.

3. Use extensions and new features: Ad Extensions (now simply called assets) like sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call extensions, location extensions, etc., make your ad larger and more informative – at no extra cost. They can increase your click-through rate significantly because your ad is more useful. For instance, a sitelink could promote “Pricing” or “Our Portfolio” right under your ad, giving users quick access to what they care about. Higher CTR can improve Quality Score and send more traffic your way. Always take advantage of relevant extensions. Additionally, stay updated on Google Ads features – for example, lead form extensions allow users to submit their contact info directly from the ad. If lead volume is a challenge, using a lead form extension could boost conversions (some users may fill it out because it’s fast, whereas they might not click through to your site). Embracing these features can give you an edge and improve performance.

4. Analyse your data and adjust targeting: Dive into your campaign data regularly. Which keywords have the best conversion rate? You might increase their budget or bids. Which have poor ROI? Consider pausing or fixing them (maybe by adding negatives to those). Look at the locations report – are certain cities performing better? You can allocate more to those or use location bid adjustments. Check the devices report – perhaps mobile conversion rate is low; maybe your site isn’t mobile-friendly enough, or those users prefer calling. Then you can either improve the mobile experience or shift focus to desktop if that’s more profitable. Essentially, let the numbers inform your strategy. Performance improves when you do more of what works and cut back on what doesn’t.

5. Improve your conversion process: Sometimes the biggest gains in campaign performance come not from the ad settings, but from your website and sales process. For example, if 100 people click your ad and only 1 converts, see if you can make the landing page more compelling so that 2 or 3 out of 100 convert. That alone triples your results with the same ad spend. Simplify your forms, make your call-to-action clear and prominent, add trust signals (testimonials, badges) – these can all lift your conversion rate. Also, ensure you follow up with leads quickly – if you call a lead within 5 minutes versus 24 hours, the difference in closing the sale is huge. A study noted that about 25% of online leads are lost before ever being contacted by sales (due to slow follow-up). Don’t let that be you – prompt follow-up will make your Google Ads spend far more profitable.

By iterating on these aspects, your campaigns will get more efficient and effective over time. Think of running your Google Ads like driving a high-performance car: you need to tune the engine, check the mirrors, and adjust to road conditions continuously. The advantage small businesses have is agility – you can implement changes quickly. Set aside a little time each week or month to review and tweak your campaigns. Over a few months, those small improvements compound into a dramatically higher performing campaign – meaning more leads or sales for the same budget. If you invest that effort, Google Ads can truly become a core, reliable driver of growth for your business, continually hitting new performance highs.

Ready to transform your Google Ads campaigns? Contact Distl today for a free consultation and discover how our ongoing optimisation strategies can drive real results for your business.

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