I mostly do the exact OPPOSITE of what Google recommends.
Here are some of my (unpopular?) approaches:
1. I test LOWERING the budget in campaigns that run on smart bidding. Immediately, I see a reduced cost in incremental conversions, making the additional conversions profitable instead of losing money. (Note: the previously unprofitable uplift in conversions is being hidden by the averages we all look at.)
2. I turn off all auto-recommendations. Immediately, I see a huge reduction of wasted ad spend on clicks that don’t convert.
3. I split out ad groups for different keywords, and use exact match and phrase match. Immediately, I see an increase in ad quality, higher rankings, and more clicks at a lower cost per click for the exact search terms.
4. I test REDUCING the number of assets, and pinning my best headlines in Responsive Search Ads. Immediately, I see an increase in conversions AND conversion value per impression.
5. I run standard search and standard shopping campaigns next to Performance Max campaigns. Immediately, I see the overall account performance increase (revenue and ROAS up, cost per conversion down).
Always remember: Google’s recommendations are in Google’s best interest, not necessarily yours.
– Nils