Automatically Created Assets - why I turn them off by default
Automatically Created Assets sound like a time-saver. Google generates headlines and descriptions based on your landing page content, so you do not have to write everything from scratch. The problem is you also cannot approve anything before it goes live.
ACAs were introduced as part of Google's push toward full automation in ad creation. The idea is straightforward - Google reads your landing page, understands your offering, and generates relevant ad copy dynamically. In theory this sounds useful. In practice I have seen them produce copy that contradicts brand positioning, references outdated promotions, and in regulated industries, makes claims that would never pass a compliance review.
What ACAs actually do
When ACAs are enabled, Google supplements your manually written RSA assets with automatically generated ones. These do not replace your existing headlines and descriptions - they add to them. Google serves whichever combination it predicts will perform best, including combinations of your copy and its generated copy mixed together. You have no preview of what those combinations look like before they appear to users.
The asset performance report will show you what ran after the fact. But after the fact is too late if the generated copy was off-brand, factually incorrect, or inappropriate for your audience.
The brand safety problem
Brand safety is the most serious concern. AI-generated copy is based on pattern matching from your page content. It does not understand your brand tone, your legal constraints, your competitive positioning, or the nuances of your specific market. A financial services firm that must not make performance claims, a legal services business with strict advertising standards constraints, or any business with carefully crafted messaging will find ACAs particularly risky.
The issue is compounded by the fact that you cannot set guidelines or review copy before it serves. Google's system is designed to learn what works through serving, not through approval workflows. That model is fine for low-stakes copy variations. It is not fine for brands where a wrong headline creates a compliance problem.
When ACAs might be worth testing
I am not categorically opposed to them in every context. For campaigns with very limited ad copy - where you have genuinely struggled to generate enough asset variety - ACAs can surface angles you had not considered. The safest approach is to enable them temporarily, monitor the generated assets closely via the asset report, and evaluate whether what Google produces is acceptable. If it is not, turn them off. If the generated assets are genuinely useful, manually recreate the best ones in your RSA and then disable ACAs again.
How to turn them off
In your Google Ads account, go to Campaigns, select a campaign, then Ads and Assets, then Assets. You will see an option for Automatically Created Assets at the campaign level. Toggle this off. You need to do this per campaign - there is no account-level switch. For new campaigns, check this setting before launch. Google's default is increasingly to have ACAs enabled, so you need to actively opt out rather than actively opt in.
The broader principle
Every automation feature in Google Ads is worth evaluating on its own merits. Some add genuine value. Some transfer control to an algorithm in ways that create more problems than they solve. ACAs fall firmly in the second category for most professional advertisers. Default to off. Test deliberately if you want to explore them. Never just leave them running unchecked.
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