Former Google insider reveals outdated advertising strategies

A former Google Ads employee has shared insights into three advertising strategies that were once standard recommendations but now represent poor campaign management choices. The revelations highlight how significantly Google's advertising platform has changed, particularly in how advertisers should approach search partners, responsive search ads, and display advertising.

The disclosure came on October 28, 2025, when Jyll Saskin Gales, a Google Ads coach who previously worked at Google selling advertising products, posted about practices she "pitched to clients at Google that I now would NEVER do." According to the post, these strategies were "how I was trained" during her time at the company, but her perspective changed after transitioning from selling Google Ads to actually using the platform for campaign management.

Search Partner Network generates low-quality traffic

The first practice Gales identified was activating Search partners for what was marketed as incremental traffic. "Increase your reach with people searching for your keywords with the tick of a box!" represented the original pitch. The search partner setting allows ads to appear on third-party search engines and websites beyond Google's own search properties.

Her current assessment rejects this approach entirely. "No. Just no. Sadly, this inventory is all trash - as we can now see from the new content reporting," she stated. Google enabled full placement reporting for Search Partner Network on August 20, 2025, providing advertisers with site-level transparency for the first time. The implementation addressed decades of requests from the marketing community for visibility into where their ads actually appeared.

The placement reporting reveals which specific websites served ads across the Search Partner Network. Gales explained that when campaigns use Smart Bidding with properly implemented conversion tracking, "your search campaign spend on partners will go to zero, or near zero." This observation suggests Google's automated systems recognize poor performance from these placements and naturally reduce budget allocation to near-zero levels.

Digital marketing professionals have documented their experiences with Search Partner Network quality. Anthony Higman, a digital marketing specialist, characterized the August 2025 transparency announcement as "WILLLLDDDDDD!!!!!! Google Ads Is Going To Show FULL Placement Reporting On The Search Partner Network?" He noted advertisers had been "Requesting For Decades" this level of visibility. Marketing professional Melissa Mackey acknowledged the historic nature of the update, stating "We've been asking for this for 20 years!"

Responsive search ads require fewer assets

The second outdated practice involved maximizing asset count in responsive search ads. Google's original recommendation encouraged advertisers to "Give the system as much variety as possible!" by using all 15 available headlines and 4 descriptions. Responsive search ads utilize artificial intelligence to dynamically generate advertisements by testing different combinations of advertiser-provided headlines and descriptions.

Gales now advises against this maximum-asset approach. "Too many assets means your ad will take too long to learn and optimize - or never learn at all," she explained. Her current recommendation limits advertisers to 8-10 headlines and 3 descriptions for most advertising scenarios.

Google's AI-powered responsive search ad system requires substantial data volume to move beyond its initial learning phase. According to technical documentation, individual assets need more than 500 impressions, while complete ads must accumulate over 2,000 impressions in the "Google Search: Top" segment across a 30-day period. With 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, the system must test numerous combinations, potentially extending the learning period significantly.

Analysis of over 1 million ads revealed that shorter, more concise headlines generally performed better than attempts to maximize character limits. Research found that sentence case often leads to better performance than title case, particularly for responsive search ads. This trend may be attributed to sentence case more closely resembling organic search results, which users typically perceive as higher quality.

The recommendation generated discussion among marketing professionals. Sarah Stemen, MBA, a Google Ads coach, responded "I ALWAYS encourage all 15…let's debate." She explained her approach: "4 pinned at #1 that address the primary message, 3-4 urgency headlines (not pinned)." Noah Theobald, a marketing strategist, acknowledged never considering the reduced headline approach, stating "I defaulted to all 15 because 'more options, more experiments, more data' but never considered that more options also means less data for each option."

Julie Friedman Bacchini, a lead generation specialist, thanked Gales for the insights about headline count, noting "I was always on the fence about the number of headlines in RSAs."

Display Network advertising delivers bot traffic

The third practice Gales identified was adding Performance Display to marketing campaigns. The original sales pitch promoted the opportunity to "Reach your target audience across millions of websites and apps with stunning creative." Performance Display referenced what marketers typically call the Google Display Network, which spans over 3 million websites and applications.

Her current assessment dismisses Display Network advertising bluntly: "if by 'target audience' you mean bots, then yes, that's exactly what you'll get from advertising on the GDN. This, too, is trash." She recommends advertisers "Stick to Google-owned properties instead with Demand Gen."

Demand Gen campaigns concentrate on YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and the Google Display Network. The key distinction lies in Google's ownership of these placements versus third-party publisher sites in the broader Display Network. Google Display Network placements support multiple creative formats, accommodating both video and static image content.

Jerry Donegan, head of paid media at TDMP, responded: "Can't sing Demand Gen's praises enough! Sadly, I think it gets boxed in with Display by people who haven't researched it because the creative options are similar." Gales agreed with the distinction, stating "I agree, I hate Display and I love Demand Gen!"

Internal Google data from January through February 2024 showed advertisers who utilized both video and image assets in Demand Gen campaigns experienced 20% more conversions at the same cost per action compared to those using video assets exclusively. During Google's first quarter 2025 earnings, the company revealed businesses using Demand Gen saw an average 26% year-over-year increase in conversions per dollar spent for goals like purchases and leads.

Channel placement controls arrived for Demand Gen campaigns starting March 2025, giving advertisers granular selection across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Display Network. This technical capability enables precise campaign targeting with independent channel activation or deactivation at the ad group level.

Platform automation reshapes campaign management

The three practices Gales identified reflect broader changes in Google Ads over the past decade. Google Ads marked its 25th anniversary on October 23, 2025, highlighting a transformation from manual optimization to automated systems that now serve over one million active advertisers globally.

Smart Bidding entered the platform in 2016, using machine learning algorithms to determine optimal bids based on conversion likelihood at auction time. The system incorporated location, device, time of day, audience segment, and additional real-time signals. Goal-oriented Smart Bidding strategies now enable marketers to guide automated systems toward specific business objectives, including Target ROAS, Target CPA, or Maximize Conversion Value.

Responsive Search Ads debuted in 2018, eventually becoming the sole Search text ad format. Google ended call ads in February 2026, shifting advertisers to the responsive search ad format with call assets. Each change pushed advertisers toward asset-based advertising formats where advertisements are dynamically assembled from pools containing headlines, descriptions, and images.

The platform evolved significantly throughout 2024 and 2025. Google introduced sticky sponsored results labels on October 13, 2025, grouping text ads under a single "Sponsored results" header instead of individual sponsored designations for each advertisement. The company also introduced a "Hide sponsored results" control allowing users to collapse text advertisements with one click.

Industry professionals acknowledge experience gap

Multiple marketing professionals responded to Gales' post by sharing their own experiences with outdated practices. Suzann Knudsen, a senior digital strategist, recalled how auto-apply recommendations seemed beneficial when first introduced in 2021 but "quickly proved to be the root of all evil (or at least weird account behavior that didn't make sense)." She added that on the rare occasions her team meets with Google representatives "this is all they have to share!"

Brie E Anderson, who provides analytics solutions for agencies and businesses, praised Gales for acknowledging past mistakes: "This is one of the many things I love about you. Being able to look back at your former self and basically say 'fuck, that was NOT it' is something that most people can't (and won't) do."

Dianna Huff, a marketing consultant to small industrial manufacturers, expressed appreciation for the transparency. Christie Yoder, a strategic integrated campaign manager, responded positively to the revelations. Manuel Arrufat, who helps maximize profit in Google Ads, acknowledged the value of the shared information.

Brandon O'Connor, who helps lead generation companies scale with paid media, characterized the Display bot traffic issue succinctly: "Those display bots... ouch."

The discussion also surfaced other outdated practices. Julie Friedman Bacchini advised "Pro tip for location targeting - actively exclude anywhere you are not trying to target!" She explained this wasn't obvious initially "because it seems like just choosing what you want to target is enough (it is not)." She has been implementing this approach for at least 15 years.

Ryan Mayerle recalled "SKAGs" (Single Keyword Ad Groups), which "Looked impressive to have so many ad groups/ campaigns, but managing negatives got messy fast, and Google has changed match types, making them much less effective now."

Why this matters for marketing professionals

The marketing community faces ongoing challenges adapting to Google's platform changes. What Google representatives recommend often reflects company training and incentives rather than advertiser best interests. Search Partner Network activation generates revenue for Google and its partners but may deliver minimal value to advertisers based on conversion data visible through Smart Bidding algorithms.

The maximum asset recommendation for responsive search ads aligns with Google's interest in testing more combinations but conflicts with the platform's learning requirements. Advertisers providing fewer, higher-quality assets may achieve faster optimization and better performance than those maximizing asset count.

Display Network promotion benefits Google's extensive publisher network but may expose advertisers to bot traffic and low-quality placements. Demand Gen campaigns on Google-owned properties provide more controlled environments with better audience targeting capabilities.

The revelations underscore the importance of independent testing and performance analysis rather than blindly following platform recommendations. Marketers who actually manage campaigns develop different perspectives than those who sell advertising products. The gap between sales training and operational reality represents a persistent challenge in the digital advertising industry.

Google representatives typically lack access to actual campaign performance data from multiple advertisers. Their recommendations often stem from general best practices or platform defaults rather than empirical evidence from diverse advertiser accounts. Marketing professionals managing multiple client accounts can observe patterns across different industries, budgets, and objectives that platform representatives never see.

The discussion generated 101 reactions and 44 comments on LinkedIn, indicating significant interest from the marketing community. The engagement reflects how Google's platform changes affect daily campaign management decisions for thousands of advertisers globally.

Timeline

• 2016: Smart Bidding launched with machine learning algorithms for bid optimization
• 2018: Responsive Search Ads debuted on Google Ads platform
• August 20, 2025: Google enabled full placement reporting for Search Partner Network
• October 13, 2025: Google introduced sticky sponsored results label and hide ads control
• October 23, 2025: Google Ads marked 25th anniversary with focus on AI automation
• October 28, 2025: Jyll Saskin Gales posted about outdated Google Ads practices on LinkedIn
• February 2026: Google ends call ads in favor of responsive search ads with call assets

Summary

Who: Jyll Saskin Gales, a Google Ads coach and former Google employee who previously sold advertising products to clients, shared insights with the digital marketing community on LinkedIn. Multiple marketing professionals including Sarah Stemen, Jerry Donegan, Melissa Mackey, Anthony Higman, and Julie Friedman Bacchini participated in the discussion.

What: Three advertising practices once recommended by Google but now considered ineffective: activating Search Partner Network for incremental traffic, using all 15 headlines and 4 descriptions in responsive search ads, and adding Performance Display (Google Display Network) to marketing campaigns. The discussion revealed that Search Partner Network generates low-quality traffic identified through new placement reporting, excessive assets in responsive search ads extend learning periods and prevent optimization, and Display Network advertising delivers primarily bot traffic rather than genuine target audiences.

When: The disclosure occurred on October 28, 2025, through a LinkedIn post. The practices were standard recommendations during Gales' tenure at Google but have become outdated as the platform evolved through automated bidding, machine learning optimization, and transparency features implemented between 2016 and 2025.

Where: The discussion took place on LinkedIn and reflects practices affecting Google Ads campaigns globally. The Search Partner Network placement reporting became available August 20, 2025, providing site-level transparency across Google's third-party search syndication network spanning millions of websites and applications worldwide.

Why: Platform automation through Smart Bidding reveals Search Partner Network performance issues by automatically reducing budget allocation to near-zero for these placements. Responsive search ads require substantial data volume (over 500 impressions per asset, over 2,000 impressions per complete ad) to optimize, making excessive asset counts counterproductive. Display Network advertising exposes campaigns to bot traffic on third-party publisher sites, while Demand Gen campaigns on Google-owned properties like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail deliver better audience quality and conversion performance. The gap between what Google representatives recommend during sales pitches and what actually works in campaign management reflects different perspectives and incentives between platform vendors and advertising practitioners.