They encourage advertisers to hand over tactical decision making to software. Some of them work as intended, like increasing delivery for higher-performing ads or split testing between different targeting approaches. But others serve the ad platforms far more than the advertiser.

We’ve experimented with all of these features, running A/B tests to see if they actually yield better results compared to old-fashioned human decision making. The tools that “design” your ads for you—just input your text and a pile of graphics, and let the platform decide what works best—frequently output confusing units that miss the mark. (Use with caution!) Tools that attempt to automate targeting or expand it to reach more people lead, most often, to lower CTRs and conversion rates.

Sure, they offer these tools to make their platforms more approachable. But they also reduce cost effectiveness, increase revenue for the platform, and unnecessarily extend optimization phases. Compared with intelligent, insightful human direction of both creative and targeting, these automation features are, in a word, wasteful. At least for now. We’ll keep a watchful eye on them for you and continue to make sure your ad dollars are responsibly spent.