Google Ads changed my campaign by itself: what changed and who did it

What this means

You open your account and something's different. A target moved. That's the cost per sale, or the sales per $1 of ads, that you asked Google to aim for. There are broad match keywords you never added. Broad match is the widest keyword setting, and Google says it can include searches that don't contain the direct meaning of your keywords. A keyword you remember is paused. PerfoAds found entries like these in your change history that were made by auto-apply or by Google's own tools.

There are a few ways this happens:

• Auto-apply recommendations. If a recommendation type is switched on in Auto-apply settings, Google says the recommendations will apply regularly. That can add keywords, set or adjust your targets, or turn on wider reach such as search partners (other sites that use Google search) and Display expansion (ads on sites and apps). Google also says auto-apply won't increase your budget, so a higher budget usually came from a person, a rule or a tool. To switch types off, see turning off auto-apply.
• Automatic pausing of idle keywords. Google pauses positive keywords (the keywords you bid on) that were created more than 13 months ago and had zero impressions (times your ad was shown) over the past 13 months. They show as Paused, with "Keyword paused due to low activity" underneath. If you unpause one and it still gets no impressions over the next 3 months, it's paused again.
• System entries. Google says changes from its own systems may show under names like "ads-dartsearch-budget" or "Google Ads system".
• The AI Max upgrade. AI Max is a set of Search campaign settings where Google does more of the work. Google says that starting in September 2026, campaigns using text customization, formerly known as automatically created assets, will automatically be upgraded to AI Max. Text customization lets Google generate extra headlines and descriptions for your ads. New Search campaigns have AI Max turned on by default, with text customization on, and Final URL expansion can send traffic to other pages on your site it finds relevant. If a campaign used text customization before September 2026, open its settings and check the AI Max section.
• A Google rep, or someone using your login. Google says changes made by Google representatives during consultations aren't always listed in Change history. If an email in the User column belongs to nobody you know, follow Google's steps for a compromised account and write down the timeline of the changes.

Why it matters

PerfoAds shows this as a note rather than a cost, because some of these changes are harmless and others aren't. It has no single dollar figure.

The money risk comes from 2 places:

• Changes that raise spend or widen reach. A new broad match keyword, a lower return target or search partners switched on can all spend more on traffic you didn't choose.
• Wrong conclusions. If you don't know Google changed something, you'll credit or blame the wrong thing. You might undo a good edit of your own because a change you never saw dragged results down. A tracking edit can move your results too, so check that your main conversion is a purchase (how to check).

To size a specific change, find its date in Change history. Then compare that campaign's spend, sales and return for the 2 weeks before and the 2 weeks after. Leave out the last few days, since Google says some of the people who clicked your ad haven't converted yet.

Here's an example. Auto-apply lowered a campaign's return target. In the 2 weeks before, the campaign spent $1,400 and brought $5,600 in sales. That's a return on ad spend (ROAS) of 400%, or $4 back for each $1. In the 2 weeks after, it spent $2,100 and brought $6,300, which is 300%. Sales went up, so it looks good. At a 40% margin, the before period left $840 ($5,600 x 0.40 minus $1,400). The after period left $420 ($6,300 x 0.40 minus $2,100). So the change cost $420 in 2 weeks. At a 40% margin you break even at 250% (work out yours). If the after period had brought 0 sales, you'd have lost the full $2,100.

How to check your account in 2 minutes

1. In the Campaigns menu, click Change history. It holds the past 2 years of edits.
2. Pick a window to review, such as the past month.
3. Look at the User column. Changes made in the Google Ads website show the person's email address. Changes made through the API (the way other software connects to Google Ads) can show "Google Ads API" or the tool's name. Changes from Google's own systems show names like "Google Ads system".
4. Google lets you filter by the type of change, such as budget edits or keyword changes, to find the ones that matter for spend.
5. Open Recommendations, select Auto-apply settings, and check the History tab. It gives a summary of recent applied recommendations.

When it is not a problem

• Idle keywords got paused. A keyword with zero impressions for 13 months wasn't doing anything. Pausing it doesn't change your spend. If PerfoAds lists a keyword pause, look for "Keyword paused due to low activity" under that keyword before you react. Unpause one only if you expect it to get impressions soon.
• It was a person or your own setup. PerfoAds only counts 2 sources: auto-applied recommendations and Google's internal tools. It leaves out recommendations someone on your team applied, automated rules, scripts and other tools you run, since those were your choices. Change history logs those too, so if a change you're worried about isn't in this finding, check its User column.
• You approved the type. If you chose to auto-apply a type and you're happy with the results, the change did what you asked. Keep an eye on it weekly.
• The change was maintenance. Google says system entries are typically for maintenance or auto-generated targets and usually don't change active campaigns. Look at what actually changed before you react.

This finding only covers budget, bid, keyword and on/off changes that came from Google. Other edits, like ad text tweaks, aren't part of it. If the change history PerfoAds reads is capped, the list is only a sample, so check the full list in Change history.

How to fix it

1. List the changes. In Change history, write down each change Google made, the date, and the campaign.
2. Find the source. For each one, check the Auto-apply History tab. If the matching type is there, auto-apply did it.
3. Turn off the types you don't want. In Auto-apply settings, untick the recommendation types and select Save. Or select one on the History tab and choose Disable.
4. Put things back. Google lets you undo most types of changes made in the last 30 days. Find the row in Change history and select Undo in the User / Date & Time column. If one row holds several changes, Undo reverts all of them together. For older changes, set budgets, targets and bid strategies (the way Google sets your bids) back by hand, and remove keywords you didn't want. Change targets and strategies one at a time so you can see the effect.
5. Leave low-activity pauses alone unless you have a reason to expect those keywords to start getting impressions.
6. Get a weekly summary. If you keep any auto-apply type on, Google can email you a weekly summary. To get it, switch on campaign maintenance notifications under your email settings.
7. Make it a habit. Spend 5 minutes in Change history every Monday. It puts every edit, from people, tools and Google, in one list.

Check it with a query

This pulls the changes from the last 14 days that PerfoAds counts as Google's own: auto-applied recommendations and Google's internal tools. It also lists ad and asset edits, which the PerfoAds finding leaves out. You need Google Ads API access to run it (how Google Ads queries work). The API only covers the past 30 days, and the query needs a LIMIT of 10,000 or less. Without API access, use Change history and the User column as above.

SELECT
  change_event.change_date_time,
  change_event.client_type,
  change_event.user_email,
  change_event.change_resource_type,
  change_event.changed_fields,
  change_event.campaign
FROM change_event
WHERE change_event.change_date_time DURING LAST_14_DAYS
  AND change_event.client_type IN ('GOOGLE_ADS_RECOMMENDATIONS_SUBSCRIPTION', 'INTERNAL_TOOL')
ORDER BY change_event.change_date_time DESC
LIMIT 1000

GOOGLE_ADS_RECOMMENDATIONS_SUBSCRIPTION means changes made by subscribing to Google Ads recommendations, which is auto-apply. INTERNAL_TOOL means changes made through internal tools. Rows marked GOOGLE_ADS_RECOMMENDATIONS are recommendations someone applied, so PerfoAds leaves them out.