Recommendation Second Opinion
Google is showing you a recommendation. Should you apply it? An honest verdict on 25 of the most common ones — apply, apply with care, or usually skip — plus who each change actually benefits.
How to use
Find the recommendation
Search or scroll for the one Google is showing you in the Recommendations tab.
Read the verdict
Apply, apply with care, or usually skip — with one line on why, and who the change actually benefits.
Decide for yourself
Some of these are genuinely good. The point is that you choose, rather than clicking "apply all" and hoping.
These are opinions, not rules. Google’s recommendations are not a trick — several of them are genuinely good, and we say so. But Google and you do not always want the same thing, and the interface never mentions that. The verdicts here are ours, based on running small accounts; your business may be the exception. Reviewed quarterly, as Google changes what it suggests.
What we check
- 25 of Google’s own account recommendations, each judged Apply, Apply with care or Usually skip, with a one-line reason and who the change mainly benefits.
- Six are near-automatic applies — fixing disapproved ads, fixing conversion tracking, adding Google’s own suggested negatives, free extensions, call extensions, removing zero-impression keywords.
- Nine need judgement — smart bidding switches, Performance Max upgrades, brand-name bidding, expanded/optimised targeting, dynamic search ads, remarketing, seasonality adjustments, data-driven attribution, tightening targets — each with the condition that makes it worth doing.
- Nine are usually worth skipping — auto-apply recommendations, “you are losing impressions” budget prompts, broad match by default, Maximise clicks, Display expansion, Search Partners, bidding for top-of-page position, chasing a 100% Optimisation Score, and applying everything at once.
- Searchable and filterable, so you can look up the exact recommendation Google is showing you right now.
Related tools
- Google Ads Account Grader — Score the account overall, not just one recommendation
- Google Ads Waste Estimator — Several “usually skip” recommendations here are common waste sources
- Suspension First-Aid — If a recommendation was ignored and led to a policy issue, start here
Last updated: 19 August 2026 · Built by the CWA Europe PPC team.
Frequently asked questions
Are Google's recommendations a scam?
No, and we will not pretend they are. Several are genuinely good — fixing disapproved ads, adding the negatives Google suggests, fixing conversion tracking. The issue is subtler: Google and you do not always want the same thing, and the interface never mentions when your interests diverge. That is the gap this tool fills.
Why does my Optimisation Score matter so little?
Because it largely measures how many of Google's own suggestions you have accepted. It is a compliance score, not a profitability score — and you can raise it simply by DISMISSING a recommendation, which tells you what it really tracks. A 60% account can comfortably outperform a 100% one.
What about auto-apply?
Leave it off. It grants Google standing permission to change your targeting and bidding without asking you. Even the good changes should be your decision, and reviewing them manually takes about ten minutes a week.
How often is this updated?
Quarterly. Google changes what it recommends, and a stale verdict is worse than none.