In a move that's catching digital marketers off guard, Google Ads is quietly experimenting with auto-setting New Customer Values in its New Customer Acquisition (NCA) campaigns. This unannounced tweak assigns monetary values to new customers without asking advertisers first, leading to scrambled reports and heated debates online. Performance marketer Bilal Yasin first flagged the issue, highlighting how it disrupts trusted ad strategies. As businesses chase precise ROI in a competitive landscape, this test raises big questions about control and clarity in Google's powerhouse platform.
Google's New Customer Values: Advertisers Voice Strong Concerns Over Hidden Changes
The experiment popped up without fanfare—no email alerts, no changelog entries—leaving users like Yasin scratching their heads. In a viral LinkedIn post, he shared his shock: “Without any heads-up, a new customer value has suddenly been applied to a customer. It was set to 200 DKK… One thing is that Google has assigned a value, but another is that I can’t remove it again!” This automatic assignment, pegged at arbitrary figures, is rolling out selectively to test its impact on campaign tweaks.
Advertisers depend on manually tuning New Customer Values to guide how ads hunt for fresh users, balancing cost against long-term gains. But Google's hands-off approach is throwing wrenches into the works. Key gripes include:
- Unknown True Worth: Google lacks insight into a customer's real lifetime value, making these auto-values guesswork at best.
- Skewed Revenue Reports: Pumped-up figures from these settings inflate performance stats, misleading budget decisions.
- Lingering Data Gaps: Plenty of conversions still tag as “unknown,” muddying the waters even more for accurate tracking.
Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin stepped in to address the buzz, confirming it's all part of a targeted trial. “This guidance is part of an experiment aimed at helping advertisers use settings that will improve results—specifically, to increase new customer ratios,” she explained. Marvin noted that low or missing New Customer Values often stall optimisations, so the goal is to nudge toward better outcomes. Still, she stressed it's optional and reversible for now.
Looking ahead, Google promises broader upgrades. In the next couple of quarters, expect new customer reporting across all purchase conversion campaigns, aiming to sharpen insights on acquisition wins.
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At its core, this test spotlights a clash: Google's push for smarter automation versus advertisers' demand for transparency. While it could streamline New Customer Values for smaller teams, the lack of notice risks eroding trust. Marketers watching Google Ads updates should audit their NCA setups pronto—because in the fast-paced world of paid search, surprises like these can cost more than they save. As SEO pros optimise for “Google Ads New Customer Values” trends, one thing's clear: consent matters in the ad game.
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