It’s 2025, and automation is everywhere in Google Ads. Smart Bidding adjusts your bids in real-time, evaluates thousands of signals, and — according to Google — should deliver better results with less manual work.
So why are so many advertisers still burning through budget, struggling with performance, and asking why their “automated” campaigns aren’t converting?
Because Smart Bidding isn’t truly “set it and forget it.” It’s a powerful tool, but like any tool, it needs a skilled operator.
In this post, we’ll explore why Smart Bidding still requires human oversight, what advertisers are getting wrong, and how to guide automation instead of blindly trusting it.
🤖 What Is Smart Bidding?
Smart Bidding is Google’s umbrella term for automated bidding strategies that use machine learning to optimize for conversions or conversion value in every auction.
The most common Smart Bidding strategies:
- Maximize Conversions
- Maximize Conversion Value
- Target CPA (Cost per Acquisition)
- Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
Google analyzes real-time signals like device, location, browser, time of day, and more to adjust your bid on each impression — all in milliseconds.
Sounds great, right? It is… but only if you set it up with the right inputs.
🚫 What Smart Bidding Can’t Do (Unless You Tell It)
Smart Bidding isn’t a marketing strategy. It doesn’t:
- Know which keywords truly matter to your business
- Understand if your landing page is broken or misaligned
- Detect bad lead quality (e.g., spam form fills, unqualified calls)
- Know your margins, staffing availability, or fulfillment bottlenecks
- Think critically about long-term goals vs. short-term results
Most importantly, it doesn’t know what success means for your business — unless you show it.
🧠 The Role of the Human in a Smart Bidding World
You still need to:
- Define what a good conversion actually is
- Set up accurate tracking (including offline conversions)
- Feed the system clean data
- Evaluate performance by business outcomes, not just metrics
- Make strategic decisions that automation can’t
Let’s break down a few core areas where human strategy still reigns.
🔍 1. You Still Control the Data Inputs
Smart Bidding is only as smart as the data it’s given. If your conversion tracking is incomplete, duplicated, or counting the wrong actions — the algorithm optimizes for the wrong outcomes.
Examples of poor data that throw Smart Bidding off:
- Counting page views as conversions
- Using form submissions without filtering for quality
- Skipping offline conversions like phone calls, appointments, or closed deals
🔧 In my Google Ads Masterclass, I show how to connect CRMs, pass GCLIDs, and use custom conversion actions so Smart Bidding has better signals to work from.
🗺️ 2. You Still Set the Structure and Guardrails
The algorithm won’t tell you if:
- Your campaign is too broad
- You’re using poor match types
- Your ad groups are bloated with unrelated keywords
- Your geo-targeting includes irrelevant areas
You still need to structure your account:
- By funnel stage
- By service or product category
- By geographical intent
- By conversion quality
Bad structure = bad signals = bad automation results.
💡 3. You’re Still Responsible for the Strategy
Smart Bidding doesn’t:
- Decide which products to promote
- Create compelling value propositions
- Prioritize budget based on business goals
- Adjust to seasonal shifts or internal changes
Let’s say you’ve got a 10% off promotion that ends this Friday. Smart Bidding doesn’t know that unless you build it into your ad copy, landing page, or conversion value strategy.
It’s up to you to align your ads with what your customers actually care about — and what matters to your business right now.
📉 What Happens When You “Set and Forget” Smart Bidding
Without human oversight, Smart Bidding can easily:
- Optimize toward low-quality conversions
- Over-prioritize cheap clicks
- Miss opportunity-rich segments
- Drift into inefficient performance
One of the most common issues: the algorithm gets “lazy”. If it finds a low-CPC keyword that converts just okay, it may push budget there — even if it’s not your highest-quality lead source.
Without review and manual feedback, your account slowly loses strategic alignment.
🧰 How to Guide Smart Bidding With a Human Touch
✅ 1. Use Smart Bidding Only When You Have Enough Data
Start with Maximize Clicks or manual bidding while you collect conversion data. Only switch once you have:
- At least 30–50 conversions per month (for Target CPA)
- Accurate, clean tracking in place
✅ 2. Audit Your Conversion Actions
Make sure:
- You’re not double-counting
- You’re filtering for lead quality
- You’re assigning value (if using Target ROAS)
✅ 3. Break Out Campaigns by Intent
Don’t lump awareness and bottom-of-funnel campaigns together. Segment so you can tailor bidding goals to each funnel stage.
✅ 4. Feed Offline Conversions Into Google Ads
If you close deals off-platform, import that data. The system performs much better when it can see:
- Which leads booked appointments
- Who showed up
- Who actually became a customer
✅ 5. Set Conservative Targets, Then Adjust
Start with flexible goals — don’t strangle the algorithm with aggressive Target CPA or ROAS from day one. Gradually tighten as performance stabilizes.
📊 My Masterclass includes walkthroughs of real Smart Bidding setups that balance automation and control, including how to recover from Smart Bidding misfires.
🚀 Final Thought: Automation Is a Co-Pilot — Not the Pilot
Smart Bidding is powerful — but it’s not infallible. The best results come when you steer, and the algorithm accelerates.
You still need to:
- Watch the numbers
- Define success
- Give the system context
- Make adjustments when business conditions change
Automation doesn’t replace strategy — it scales it.
💡 Want to learn how to blend Smart Bidding with smart strategy? Inside my Google Ads Masterclass, you’ll get the playbook for building high-converting campaigns that use automation the right way.
