Google Ads Recommendations, Auto-Apply and Optimization Score
Every Google Ads account has a Recommendations page and an optimization score, and many accounts also have recommendations that apply themselves. This guide explains what the score measures and how Google calculates it, the recommendation categories, how applying and dismissing work, which recommendations can be applied automatically, how to check and turn off auto-apply, and how to decide what to accept. Checked on 6 November 2026.
What recommendations are
Google's page About recommendations says the Recommendations page "checks your account's performance history, your campaign settings, and trends across Google to automatically generate recommendations that could improve your performance." Each one comes with an estimate of its effect, based on past data. Google is clear about the limit of those estimates: the page "doesn't predict whether your ads will do well".
A new account may see few or none. Google says "You might not find any recommendations if your ads recently started running", and that it "regularly discovers recommendations for you and also launches new recommendation types." Recommendations also appear while you build a new campaign: Google shows optimization score and recommendations during campaign construction for Performance Max and Search campaigns. If you are new to the platform, start with our guide to how Google Ads works.
What the optimization score measures
Google's About optimization score page defines it as "an estimate of how well your Google Ads account is set to perform." Scores run from 0 to 100%, "with 100% meaning that your account can perform at its full potential."
- Levels. The score is shown at campaign, account and manager account level.
- Campaign types. It "is shown for active Search, Display, Video Action, App, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Shopping campaigns only." Google is also bringing a Brand Optiscore to YouTube brand campaigns with awareness or consideration goals.
- Score uplift. Each recommendation shows how many points it adds, "a value from <0.1% to 100%".
- Not Quality Score. Google states that "Optimization score is not used by your Quality Score." Quality Score compares your ad quality with other advertisers; the optimization score looks at the account's set-up against Google's recommendations.
The key point for anyone reading the number: Google says "Your account can reach an optimization score of 100% by applying or dismissing all recommendations." A high score therefore shows that the open recommendations have been dealt with, one way or the other. It is not a measure of results such as conversions or cost per lead.
How Google calculates the score
According to Google, the score "is calculated in real-time, based on the statistics, settings, and the status of your account and campaigns, the relevant impact of available recommendations, and recent recommendations history." It changes when you apply or dismiss recommendations, and it can also change on its own when settings or "trends in the ads ecosystem" shift and a new set of recommendations appears.
The score is built around a goal. Google says it works out your campaign's goal "through your bid strategy". With a fully automated Smart Bidding strategy, the goal is the one you set. Otherwise Google derives it "from the recommended Smart Bidding strategy". The top of the page shows the focus (for example conversions, impression share or clicks) and a status icon: a green tick when Google understands your bid strategy, a yellow question mark when the focus comes from a recommendation, and a red minus when the score "has defaulted to a conversion focus". You can override the inferred goal by choosing Maximize conversions, Maximize conversion value, Target CPA, Target ROAS or Target impression share, and by setting which conversion actions count. Our guide to Google Ads budgets and bid strategies explains those strategies, and conversion tracking explains why the right conversions matter here.
Paused campaigns keep counting for a while. Google's Types of recommendations page says a paused campaign is still scored for 7 days at account or manager level, and for 7 to 90 days at campaign level.
Recommendation categories
On the Recommendations page (Campaigns menu, then Recommendations), Google's Check your optimization score help lists these sections:
- Bidding & Budgets, such as setting a target CPA or ROAS, switching bid strategy, adjusting targets, or raising and moving budgets.
- Ads & assets, such as adding sitelinks, callouts, images, lead form assets or more responsive search ads.
- Keywords & Targeting, such as adding keywords or broad match, removing redundant or non-serving keywords, and turning on optimized targeting or Display expansion.
- Repairs, which Google says "help you fix issues with your account", such as adding ads to ad groups that have none.
Some budget recommendations explain their trigger. For "Raise your budgets", Google gives the reason "you missed out on 5% or more of your potential traffic last week." There are also proposed changes, which Google describes as "optimizations recommended by your Google Ads account representative"; they appear on the same page for you to review before you apply them.
Applying and dismissing
To apply one, select View recommendation and then Apply; Apply all applies every recommendation of that type. To dismiss one, hover over its top-right corner and select the X, or use the three-dot menu and Dismiss all. Google says that if you apply all of a type with a 7% uplift, "your account's optimization score will go up by 7%".
Dismissing is a normal choice, not a failure. Google's own advice: "If a recommendation doesn't seem relevant to your ad campaign, you can dismiss the recommendation." Two details to know: "A dismissed recommendation can reappear after a certain period if it becomes relevant then", and uplifts can add up to more than 100 because applying some recommendations invalidates others.
Auto-apply recommendations
Google's page About applying recommendations automatically explains that when you turn on "Automatically apply recommendations", "the recommendations will apply regularly." You choose a bundle ("Maintain your ads" or "Grow your business") or pick recommendations one by one. Points from Google's page:
- Auto-apply works "on the account level" only.
- It "won't increase your budget"; Google notes that "Budget raising isn't included".
- Recommendations "are only applied when they're relevant", so some apply often and some never.
- Upcoming changes sit in a queue on the Recommendations page, where you can review and dismiss them before they run.
- Since 26 January 2026, the "Add responsive search ads" recommendation no longer creates new responsive search ads automatically and has been removed from the auto-apply settings.
The list of types that can be auto-applied includes, among others: improving responsive search ads (Google says "Your pinned asset preferences will be respected"), adding dynamic search ads, optimized ad rotation, bid strategy changes and target adjustments, adding keywords and broad match keywords, removing redundant, non-serving or conflicting negative keywords, expanding to Google search partners, targeting expansion, Display expansion and upgrading conversion tracking.
Some of these change how and where your ads show, not just tidy the account. Broad match and search partners can bring in searches you did not plan for, so read our guide to search terms and negative keywords before you let keywords be added for you. Google itself advises adding negative keywords comprehensively, and notes that with Dynamic Keyword Insertion, search terms not excluded "could appear in your ad text."
Checking and turning off auto-apply
Google's Manage auto-apply recommendations help gives the steps:
- See what is on. Admin, Account settings, then the Auto-apply dropdown lists every subscribed recommendation. The History tab under Recommendations, Auto-apply settings shows how many times each one was applied in the past week, when it was last applied and when it was turned on.
- See who turned it on. The History tab shows when; Change history, filtered to that date, shows the user ID.
- Get weekly emails. "To receive weekly summaries of auto-apply activity by email, turn on campaign maintenance notifications in preferences."
- Turn it off. In Auto-apply settings, uncheck the recommendation on the Manage tab and select Save, or select it on the History tab and choose Disable. Turned-off items show a red dot.
Individual changes made by auto-apply can also be viewed in Change history, which helps when you are working out why an ad, keyword or bid changed.
How to decide what to accept
Treat each recommendation as a suggestion to test against your own goal:
- Check the score's focus and status icon first. If it shows a red minus or a goal you do not have, set the right bid strategy and conversion actions before judging any recommendation.
- Accept Repairs quickly; they fix things that stop ads running.
- Look hard at anything that widens reach (broad match, search partners, Display expansion, optimized targeting) or raises spend. Apply it to one campaign, then watch the search terms and cost per conversion.
- Dismiss what does not fit. Google says the score reaches 100% by "applying or dismissing all recommendations".
- Review the auto-apply list every few months, and turn on the weekly email so changes do not go unnoticed.
One more context point: agencies in Google's Partners programme have a reason to watch the number. Google's page on becoming a Google Partner requires the registered manager account to have "a minimum optimization score of 70%", and adds that "you're in control, with the ability to apply or dismiss recommendations based on your assessment and your clients' goals." If someone managing your account wants to accept everything, ask how each change serves your goal.
Frequently asked questions
Does a higher optimization score mean better results?
Not directly. Google calls it an estimate of how well the account is set to perform, and the account reaches 100% by applying or dismissing all recommendations. Judge results by your conversions and cost per conversion.
Does dismissing a recommendation lower my score?
No. Dismissing removes the recommendation from the list and its points are counted, just as when you apply it. A dismissed recommendation can come back later if it becomes relevant again.
How do I turn off auto-apply recommendations?
Go to Campaigns, Recommendations, Auto-apply settings. Uncheck the recommendation on the Manage tab and select Save, or select it on the History tab and choose Disable.
Can auto-apply raise my budget?
No. Google says auto-applying recommendations won't increase your budget and that budget raising isn't included. Budget recommendations still appear on the Recommendations page for you to decide.
Is optimization score the same as Quality Score?
No. Google states that optimization score is not used by Quality Score. Quality Score compares your ad quality with other advertisers; optimization score reflects your account set-up against open recommendations.
Why did my score change when I did nothing?
Google calculates it in real time from your account's statistics, settings and status, and new recommendations appear as data and trends change, so the score can move without any edits.
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