Automation doesn't fail on its own; it executes exactly what it's trained to do.

Every advertiser knows there is a gap between reported performance and real business outcomes, but most don't realize how quietly that gap compounds. When Google's automation is fed incomplete, misaligned, or overly broad signals, it doesn't slow down or wait for clarification; it optimizes confidently toward the wrong outcome, faster than most account reviews will catch.

In this session, our experts will walk through a real account where a 417% spike in conversions turned out to be exactly the wrong kind of success, and uses it to unpack the four ways automation drift actually enters an account: signal drift, query drift, inventory drift, and creative drift. For each one, we'll cover what it looks like in practice, how platform metrics stay green while business results deteriorate, and what to do about it.

You'll leave with a diagnostic framework for identifying drift early, a clearer understanding of where human oversight actually needs to live in an automated account, and specific input-layer controls that reduce drift before it starts rather than cleaning it up after the fact.