Faster Ads with Google’s AI Tools Bring Control Concerns

Google has introduced AI agents capable of automatically adjusting advertising campaigns. This new development aims to streamline campaign management by allowing AI to make real-time changes.

However, during Marketing Live, some advertisers expressed worries about losing control over their campaigns. There are concerns about how to monitor and track the adjustments made by AI, which could affect transparency.

Despite these concerns, Google highlighted that AI-enhanced product images have increased return on ad spend by 20%. This suggests that while automation raises questions, it may also deliver significant performance benefits.

Google has unveiled new AI tools designed to automatically manage advertising campaigns. These innovations aim to simplify campaign creation and oversee tasks across several platforms without constant human input.

During Google Marketing Live, the company introduced three AI agents capable of handling these functions. While the technology promises efficiency, it also sparked concerns among advertisers.

Attendees questioned how much control and oversight they would retain over their campaigns. The announcement brought attention to ongoing debates within the industry.

There is a clear tension between the push for increased automation from platforms and marketers’ desire to maintain control and transparency over their advertising accounts.

What Google Introduced

Google has introduced three new AI-powered tools aimed at helping marketers manage their campaigns more efficiently. The first, called Google Ads Agentic Expert, can make changes to campaigns automatically without needing prior approval. It is capable of creating multiple ad groups with matching creative assets, adding keywords, implementing creative suggestions, fixing policy issues, submitting appeals, generating reports, and answering campaign-related questions.

The second tool, Google Analytics Data Expert, simplifies data analysis by automatically finding insights and trends. It presents performance patterns through easy-to-understand visuals, helping marketers who may not have deep expertise in Analytics to explore their data more effectively.

The third is the Marketing Advisor Chrome Extension, set to launch later this year. This browser extension helps manage tasks across several platforms by automating tagging and tag installation, analysing seasonal trends, and diagnosing problems across different websites. Marketing Advisor integrates with various Google products such as Google Ads and Analytics, as well as external websites and content management systems.

Google has also released a promotional video showcasing how these tools can support advertisers in streamlining their marketing efforts.

Where Advertisers Push Back

During a recent press session led by Melissa Hsieh Nikolic, Director of Product Management for YouTube Ads, and Pallavi Naresh, Director of Product Management for Google Ads, executives responded to concerns raised by industry professionals.

One of the key issues discussed was around control and tracking changes made by AI in Google Ads. Advertisers asked how AI-driven modifications would be recorded in the platform’s change history. However, the executives were unable to provide a definitive answer. Naresh commented, “That’s a great question. I don’t know if it’ll show up with your username or like you and the agent’s username.” This uncertainty has caused concern among agencies and brands who rely on detailed records of campaign changes for client reporting and internal approvals.

During the session, one attendee voiced unease about the move towards automation, saying, “We’ve seen the ‘googlification’ of the Google help desk. Getting to a human is hard. This seems like it’s going down the path of replacing that.” In response, Google representatives assured attendees that human support would continue to be available, stating, “That’s not the intention. You will still be able to access support in the ways you can today.”

Another area of concern involved transparency and content labelling for AI-generated creative tools. Google showcased new features such as image-to-video creation and “outpainting” technology, which allows video content to be expanded for different screen sizes. However, their approach to identifying AI-generated content differs from other platforms. Hsieh Nikolic explained, “All of our images are watermarked with metadata and SynthID so generated content can be identified. At this time, we’re not labelling ads with any sort of identification.” This contrasts with other platforms that use visible AI content labels to inform viewers.

Performance Claims & Industry Context

Google has revealed performance results for its AI-enhanced advertising tools. Products featuring AI-generated images experienced an impressive 20% rise in return on ad spend compared to regular listings.

Additionally, Google reported a 2,500% increase in advertiser use of AI for creating visuals over the past year. However, this rapid growth raises the control concerns previously mentioned.

The company also announced that it is actively developing a generative creative API, which could affect third-party tools and agency workflows.

This development comes at a time when marketers face significant pressure, with Google noting that many spend 10 hours or more each week producing visual content. These new AI tools aim to ease that workload directly.

What This Means for Digital Marketing

Google’s introduction of the three-agent system marks its most significant step towards automated advertising management so far. This approach goes beyond simply assisting with creative tasks and moves towards taking full control of campaigns.

Traditionally, digital marketing has relied heavily on precise control over budgets and targeting. The move towards AI-driven decision-making represents a fundamental change in how advertisers and platforms collaborate.

The resistance from advertisers has been stronger than Google may have anticipated, particularly regarding issues of accountability and transparency—both crucial for agencies and brands when managing client relationships.

The Marketing Advisor Chrome extension stands out as especially ambitious. It expands Google’s influence beyond its own platforms, reaching into overall marketing workflow management, which has the potential to transform how digital marketing teams operate across the industry.

What Marketers Should Do

Set Up AI Change Protocols
As these new features become available, advertisers should establish clear guidelines for how AI-driven campaign changes are managed. It’s important to ensure that approval processes can accommodate automated adjustments and that thorough documentation is kept for all AI modifications.

Demand Clear Tracking
The issue of how AI-made changes appear in change histories remains unresolved, which is a significant concern for agencies and brands requiring detailed campaign records. Marketers should request specific information about how changes will be tracked before adopting agentic features, create backup documentation systems for AI updates, and clarify how these automated changes will be reflected in client reports.

Prepare for API Changes
With Google working on a generative creative API, marketing teams need to consider the potential impact on their current tools and workflows. This includes how existing third-party integrations, agency automation processes, and custom reporting systems might be affected by these developments.

Closing Thoughts

Google’s introduction of a three-agent system demonstrates the company’s strong belief in AI-driven advertising management. This move follows the success experienced by over 500,000 advertisers already using conversational AI features.

Despite this, concerns raised by industry professionals point to genuine challenges, particularly around control, transparency, and technical preparedness. As these tools become more widely adopted, it is essential that these issues are properly addressed.