What This Update Actually Is
HubSpot has added a dedicated Recommendations tab inside Marketing > Ads for every connected Google Ads account. This tab pulls in Google's native optimization suggestions: the same ones you'd normally hunt for inside the Google Ads interface.
Each recommendation shows you three things: a plain-language description of the suggested change, which campaign or ad group it applies to, and an estimated improvement to your optimization score if you apply it. You can act on one recommendation at a time or select several and handle them in bulk.
There's also a smaller addition to the Manage tab. Each Google campaign row now shows a count badge for available recommendations. Click the count and you jump straight to that campaign's suggestion list.
No new subscription tier is required. This ships to all Marketing Hub users with a connected Google Ads account.
Why HubSpot Shipped This
Here's the honest reason this update exists: most humans were ignoring Google's recommendations entirely. Not because they didn't care about performance. Because acting on those recommendations required a context switch that broke their flow.
The old pattern looked like this. You'd manage your campaigns in HubSpot. You'd get curious about optimization. You'd open Google Ads, find the Recommendations page, try to remember which campaigns you were just looking at, then come back to HubSpot to cross-reference results. By then the moment was gone.
HubSpot's position has always been that the tool should reduce friction, not add it. Keeping paid ad optimization data inside one workspace is consistent with that goal. It also fits the broader pattern of HubSpot pulling more ad intelligence into the platform so teams can connect spend to pipeline without stitching together reports from two or three dashboards.
How to Use It Step by Step
- Go to Marketing > Ads in your HubSpot portal. Make sure you have at least one Google Ads account connected.
- Click the Recommendations tab at the top of the Ads tool. The table loads all available recommendations across every connected Google Ads account.
- Use the Category and Campaigns selectors to filter down to the area you want to review. This is especially useful if you manage multiple accounts or have a long recommendation list.
- Review each recommendation's description and estimated score improvement. Click Apply to make the change directly from HubSpot, or Dismiss if the suggestion doesn't fit your strategy.
- To handle multiple recommendations at once, check the boxes next to the ones you want and use the bulk Apply or Dismiss action. This saves real time if you have a backlog of ignored suggestions.
- Switch to the Manage tab anytime and look for the recommendation count badge on each campaign row. Click the count to go straight to that campaign's suggestions without loading the full Recommendations tab.
What It Touches in Your HubSpot Strategy
This update lives inside Marketing Hub, but its impact runs deeper than one tab. If your team uses HubSpot to tie paid ad performance back to contacts and deals, acting on Google's recommendations faster will tighten the loop between spend and attributed revenue.
Paid ad strategy rarely lives in isolation. Think about how your team reviews performance today. If you're already pulling ad data into dashboards alongside contact activity, having cleaner campaign optimization means the numbers on those dashboards reflect deliberate choices, not stale settings.
Key Takeaway
Applying Google's recommendations more consistently means your ad quality scores improve, your cost-per-click tends to drop, and the leads landing in your HubSpot CRM come from better-targeted campaigns. Every downstream report that touches ad-attributed contacts benefits from that upstream improvement.
It's also worth thinking about reporting habits. HubSpot's dashboard tools have gotten significantly more flexible recently. If you're using the updated 12-column dashboard grid to build more precise paid-performance views, this update gives you better underlying data to display there.
For teams running both paid and organic strategies together, this update also connects to how humans build their B2B customer journeys in 2026. Paid channels are often the first touchpoint. When those touchpoints are better optimized, every later stage of the funnel works harder.
Key Takeaway
Don't dismiss recommendations blindly just because they're auto-generated. Read the description. Google's suggestions aren't always right for your strategy, but many are. The Dismiss option exists for a reason. Use it intentionally, not as a way to clear the list.
One more strategic note: this feature depends on a properly connected Google Ads account. If your connection is stale or misconfigured, you won't see recommendations. A quick audit of your Ads integration settings is worth doing before you expect this tab to populate.
Who Should Care Most
This update matters most to the humans who are already running Google Ads through HubSpot and haven't been acting on recommendations because the switching cost felt too high. That's a bigger group than most teams admit.
- Marketing managers at small-to-mid-size companies who wear multiple hats: they manage campaigns, review results, and report to leadership. Fewer context switches means more time on strategy.
- Demand gen and paid media specialists who manage several Google Ads accounts from one HubSpot portal: the bulk apply and dismiss actions are especially useful here.
- RevOps leads who want cleaner attribution data: better-optimized campaigns produce higher-quality leads, which means ad-attributed contact data is more reliable in CRM reports.
- Agency practitioners managing client portals: having Google's recommendations visible in HubSpot makes client review conversations faster. You can walk through suggested changes inside one tool during a screen share.
If your team doesn't run Google Ads at all, or uses a separate paid media platform outside HubSpot, this update won't change your workflow today. It's specific to connected Google Ads accounts.
George's Take
I've seen dozens of portals where the Google Ads integration is connected but the optimization score is sitting at 40% or lower because nobody ever went into Google Ads to act on recommendations. It's not laziness. It's friction. When the tool asks you to leave the tool to improve the tool, most humans just don't do it. That's human. What I love about this update is that it respects that reality instead of fighting it. The recommendations are now where your attention already is. That one shift, putting the right information in the right place at the right moment, is exactly the kind of thing that separates a portal that's merely connected from one that actually drives results.
“A connected Google Ads account with a 40% optimization score isn't a paid media problem. It's a friction problem. This update removes the friction.”
If you want to make sure your HubSpot Ads setup is actually working for you, not just connected, and that your campaigns are feeding clean data back into your CRM and reports, let's talk through your portal in a strategy call. Sidekick's team has reviewed hundreds of HubSpot portals and we know exactly where paid ad strategy tends to break down. We'd love to help your team flourish with this one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a paid HubSpot tier to see Google Ads recommendations in HubSpot?
No. Google Ads recommendations in HubSpot are available for all Marketing Hub users, including Starter. You do need a connected Google Ads account. If your account isn't connected or the connection is outdated, the Recommendations tab won't populate. Check your Ads integration settings first.
Where exactly do I find Google Ads recommendations in HubSpot?
Go to Marketing > Ads in your HubSpot portal, then click the Recommendations tab. You'll see all available recommendations across your connected Google Ads accounts. You can also find per-campaign recommendation counts in the Manage tab next to each campaign row.
Can I apply Google Ads recommendations in bulk from HubSpot?
Yes. In the Recommendations tab, select multiple recommendations using the checkboxes and use the bulk Apply or Dismiss action. This is useful if you have a backlog of suggestions or manage several campaigns at once and want to act on a category of recommendations together.
What information does each Google Ads recommendation show inside HubSpot?
Each recommendation shows a plain-language description of the suggested change, which campaign or ad group it applies to, and an estimated improvement to your Google Ads optimization score if you apply it. You can apply or dismiss each recommendation directly from HubSpot without switching platforms.
Should I apply every Google Ads recommendation HubSpot shows me?
Not automatically. Google's recommendations are algorithmically generated and don't always align with your specific strategy. Read each description before acting. Use Dismiss intentionally for suggestions that don't fit your goals. Applying relevant ones consistently will improve your optimization score and can lower your cost-per-click over time.
Does this update affect Facebook or LinkedIn Ads recommendations in HubSpot?
No. This update is specific to Google Ads. HubSpot's Ads tool supports Facebook and LinkedIn integrations, but this Recommendations tab and the campaign row count badge only appear for connected Google Ads accounts as of this release. Watch for future updates that may extend this to other ad platforms.
