Should I use automated extensions or manual ones?

Automated vs. manual: what you’re really choosing in Google Ads today

“Extensions” are now “assets,” and automation shows up in more than one place

In current Google Ads terminology, what most advertisers still call “extensions” (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, calls, locations, images, and more) are “assets.” Assets make your ad larger and more useful, and the system decides which assets (and which combination) to show for a given auction based on predicted performance and eligibility such as Ad Rank.

Automation can affect assets in at least three distinct ways, and mixing them up is where most “should I use automated or manual?” debates go sideways:

First, you have manual assets you explicitly write and attach at the account, campaign, ad group, or asset-group level. These are your strongest lever for brand voice, compliance, offer accuracy, and landing-page control.

Second, you have account-level automated assets (for example dynamic sitelinks, dynamic callouts, dynamic structured snippets, and other formats) that can be created automatically when the system predicts they’ll help. These can show alongside or sometimes instead of your manual versions, and they can be turned off in account-level automated asset settings.

Third, you have campaign-level text automation for Search ads copy. What used to be “automatically created assets” for responsive search ads has been moving into AI Max as “text customization,” which can generate additional headlines and descriptions based on your domain, landing pages, existing ads, and keywords. This is separate from account-level automated assets like dynamic sitelinks/callouts.

The core trade-off: control vs. coverage (and it’s not an all-or-nothing decision)

Manual assets win on precision: you pick the exact sitelink text, the exact “callout” claims you’re willing to stand behind, the exact structured snippet values you want associated with your brand, and the exact landing pages you want to push traffic to. Automation wins on coverage and freshness: it can fill gaps when you haven’t built enough assets, adapt to more queries than you’d ever manually write for, and scale across campaigns with less operational effort.

The best-performing accounts I’ve managed over the last 15+ years almost never choose purely one side. They build a strong manual foundation, then add automation in controlled layers so Google can optimize around your strategy rather than invent one for you.

My rule of thumb: start manual, then layer automation strategically

Step 1: Build the manual foundation you want reflected everywhere

If you do only one thing, do this: create the manual assets that represent the business accurately and profitably. Google explicitly recommends using all manual assets that fit your business, even when account-level automated assets are enabled.

Why this matters: automation is designed to improve performance, not to protect your nuance. If your business has strict brand language, regulated claims, pricing complexity, limited geographic availability, or internal approval requirements, manual assets are your “guardrails.” They ensure the most visible parts of the ad experience don’t drift.

It’s also worth remembering that adding assets doesn’t guarantee they’ll serve; the system will choose what to show when it predicts performance improvements and when eligibility thresholds are met. So having more high-quality manual assets increases your odds of showing the right message for the right query.

Step 2: Enable account-level automated assets when your site and offers are “automation-safe”

Account-level automated assets are created and shown when predicted to improve performance, can be shared across campaigns, and are intended to save time while boosting relevance. They’re compatible with manual assets, and some formats may show alongside or instead of the manual versions.

In practice, I like account-level automated assets most when (a) your website content is clean and current, (b) your navigation and key pages are stable, and (c) your offers don’t change so quickly that an automated sitelink could point users to something outdated or misleading. Local businesses with clear service pages, ecommerce brands with well-structured categories, and lead-gen sites with strong topical landing pages often benefit quickly.

Be aware of the cost mechanics: there’s no fee to “add” assets, but interactions are charged like normal clicks (with a noted exception for seller ratings clicks), and there’s a cap so you’re not charged for more than two clicks per impression across the ad and its assets.

Step 3: Use “suggested assets” when you want human approval before anything new serves

If you’re not comfortable with full automation, but you do want help generating new creative, suggested assets sit in the middle: you can review and either add or dismiss them, and dismissed items won’t be suggested again for the same campaign. Suggested assets aren’t always available, and suggestions aren’t guaranteed.

This is a strong workflow for teams with brand review cycles. You still get velocity from AI-assisted drafting, but you retain the final say on what becomes an advertiser-owned asset in reporting and management.

Step 4: Decide whether to enable “text customization” (formerly automatically created assets) for Search campaigns

For Search, the big “automated vs manual” decision many advertisers mean is: “Should Google be allowed to generate additional RSA headlines and descriptions?” Today that capability is “text customization,” which is a campaign-level setting available through AI Max. It generates additional headlines and descriptions that can be mixed with the assets you provide, using signals like your domain, landing page, existing ads, and ad group keywords; in some cases it can use generative AI for eligible advertisers.

I generally recommend enabling text customization when you already have solid RSA coverage (strong, compliant, differentiating copy written by you) and you’re looking for incremental gains from more variations and tighter query-to-copy relevance. It’s less appropriate when every word must be pre-approved, when your landing pages contain content you wouldn’t want echoed back in ads, or when your site content isn’t consistently accurate.

Also note two practical limitations: text customization uses the ad-level final URL for generation, and if you rely heavily on keyword-level final URLs, generation can be limited. Similarly, thin landing pages tend to produce fewer useful generated assets.

How to choose (and how to keep control once you do)

A fast decision checklist I use with clients

 
• If your top priority is strict messaging control (regulated claims, legal disclaimers, pricing constraints, franchise/location nuance): prioritize manual assets, then consider suggested assets for review workflows before you allow any full automation.
 
• If your top priority is speed and scale (lots of categories, frequent query variety, limited team bandwidth): build a solid manual baseline, then enable account-level automated assets and consider Search text customization to expand variation.
 
• If your website content is not consistently “ad-safe” (outdated promos, ambiguous claims, weak navigation): delay automation until the site is cleaned up, because automated systems pull from the reality of your pages and structure.

Monitoring: the part most advertisers skip (and where the real ROI lives)

Automation should never be “set and forget.” The healthiest pattern is: enable automation, then actively evaluate what it’s producing, and prune aggressively. In the asset reporting experience, automated assets are labeled as automatically created, and you can see impression volume and performance to decide what stays and what goes.

For text customization specifically, you can view generated headline/description assets in asset reporting and also use combination reporting to understand what actually served together. If something is off-brand or inaccurate, you can remove individual generated text assets rather than shutting down the entire feature immediately.

How to turn automation off (without guessing where the setting lives)

For account-level automated assets, you can turn them off from the Assets area by opening the account-level automated assets view and using the advanced settings to disable specific automated asset types.

For Search text customization, the opt-in/out now lives under AI Max settings at the campaign level. If you disable text customization, the assets generated by it stop serving and are reported as removed; and if Final URL expansion is enabled, disabling text customization can also turn Final URL expansion off for that campaign.

The expert answer in one line (with the nuance that actually matters)

Use manual assets as your non-negotiable baseline, then add automation (account-level automated assets and, where appropriate, Search text customization) as an optimization layer—keeping control through suggested assets when you need approvals, and through reporting and removals when automation produces anything you wouldn’t proudly sign your brand name to.

In Google Ads, the best choice usually isn’t “automated extensions vs. manual ones” but how far you want to move along an automation spectrum: start with a complete set of high-quality manual assets as your brand-safe baseline (especially if you have regulated language, strict approvals, complex pricing, or limited availability), then layer on automated assets once your site content and navigation are “automation-safe” and you’re comfortable trading some message control for broader coverage and freshness; if you need speed but still want final sign-off, suggested assets can be a good middle ground, and more aggressive options like Search text customization are best saved for after you’ve already built strong, compliant RSAs and can commit to ongoing monitoring and pruning. If you want help keeping that balance without turning it into a weekly time sink, Blobr connects to your Google Ads and runs specialized AI agents that surface clear, reviewable actions—like improving underperforming headlines with the Headlines Enhancer or tightening keyword-to-landing-page alignment with the Keyword Landing Optimizer—so you can scale what’s working while keeping control over what actually goes live.