How to turn off Google Ads automated promotions for Search and Performance Max

I can see the appeal of Google Ads automated promotions. If a valid offer is sitting on the website and nobody has added a promotion asset, surfacing it could make the ad more useful without another manual task. But Google finding an offer is not the same as the business wanting that offer pushed across eligible campaigns. A discount might be accurate and still be the wrong commercial message for a particular location or product range.

My first check would be the offers Google could actually find. Are expiry dates clear? Are location restrictions and minimum spend conditions obvious? Are old deals still accessible on the site? That asset review matters more to me initially than a lift in CTR. More clicks and a better CVR could look encouraging while discounting leaves less margin on each order. In a budget limited account, I would also want to know whether promoted offers are attracting useful demand or taking spend away from sales we would rather win.

For lead generation, a lower cost per lead would not settle it either. I would follow the offer traffic through analytics tools or advanced CRM reporting and compare qualified CPL and eventual CPA once conversion lag has settled. Cheap leads are only useful if the offer attracts people the business can actually serve. For ecommerce, stronger conversion volume would change my mind if the orders still contribute enough margin after the promotion.

Before the reported start date, I would check eligibility and decide deliberately whether to leave this enabled. If the website has clean, consistent offers, there is a reasonable case for testing it while keeping other major changes steady. If promotions vary heavily by location or need approval, I would switch it off and manage promotion assets manually. The supplied evidence is a reported Google email, not a performance study, so there is no basis yet to promise lower CPA.