Dive Brief: 

• Dispop, a self-serve display platform allowing advertisers to crowd-source designers, ran a test to see how ads created by designers compared with Google Ready Image's auto-generated ads. 
• Both ad campaigns ran a 300x250 ad unit that generated 250k impressions. 
• The designer-created ad far outperformed its auto-generated counterpart by producing nearly twice the click-through rate and 80% more conversions. 

Dive Insight: 

It is surprising just how much the design of the ad made a difference in click-through rate and conversions. This was just one small study, but it could open the door to larger studies on the topic. The study also shows SMBs that it might be worth investing in display ads created by designers rather than those auto-generated by Google.