diff --git a/gapic/utils/options.py b/gapic/utils/options.py
index d7bbe2473d..d6c692c8fe 100644
--- a/gapic/utils/options.py
+++ b/gapic/utils/options.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class Options:
     warehouse_package_name: str = ''
     retry: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
     sample_configs: Tuple[str, ...] = dataclasses.field(default=())
-    autogen_snippets: bool = False
+    autogen_snippets: bool = True
     templates: Tuple[str, ...] = dataclasses.field(default=('DEFAULT',))
     lazy_import: bool = False
     old_naming: bool = False
@@ -132,6 +132,17 @@ def tweak_path(p):
         # Build the options instance.
         sample_paths = opts.pop('samples', [])
 
+        # autogen-snippets is True by default, so make sure users can disable
+        # by passing `autogen-snippets=false`
+        autogen_snippets = opts.pop(
+            "autogen-snippets", ["True"])[0] in ("True", "true", "T", "t", "TRUE")
+
+        # NOTE: Snippets are not currently correct for the alternative (Ads) templates
+        # so always disable snippetgen in that case
+        # https://github.com/googleapis/gapic-generator-python/issues/1052
+        if opts.get("old-naming"):
+            autogen_snippets = False
+
         answer = Options(
             name=opts.pop('name', ['']).pop(),
             namespace=tuple(opts.pop('namespace', [])),
@@ -143,7 +154,7 @@ def tweak_path(p):
                 for s in sample_paths
                 for cfg_path in samplegen_utils.generate_all_sample_fpaths(s)
             ),
-            autogen_snippets=bool(opts.pop("autogen-snippets", False)),
+            autogen_snippets=autogen_snippets,
             templates=tuple(path.expanduser(i) for i in templates),
             lazy_import=bool(opts.pop('lazy-import', False)),
             old_naming=bool(opts.pop('old-naming', False)),
diff --git a/tests/unit/generator/test_generator.py b/tests/unit/generator/test_generator.py
index d068250e97..26873b1d33 100644
--- a/tests/unit/generator/test_generator.py
+++ b/tests/unit/generator/test_generator.py
@@ -242,7 +242,10 @@ def test_get_response_enumerates_proto():
 
 
 def test_get_response_divides_subpackages():
-    g = make_generator()
+    # NOTE: autogen-snippets is intentionally disabled for this test
+    # The API schema below is incomplete and will result in errors when the
+    # snippetgen logic tries to parse it.
+    g = make_generator("autogen-snippets=false")
     api_schema = api.API.build(
         [
             descriptor_pb2.FileDescriptorProto(
@@ -277,7 +280,7 @@ def test_get_response_divides_subpackages():
             """.strip()
             )
             cgr = g.get_response(api_schema=api_schema,
-                                 opts=Options.build(""))
+                                 opts=Options.build("autogen-snippets=false"))
             assert len(cgr.file) == 6
             assert {i.name for i in cgr.file} == {
                 "foo/types/top.py",
@@ -683,7 +686,12 @@ def test_dont_generate_in_code_samples(mock_gmtime, mock_generate_sample, fs):
         ),
     )
 
-    generator = make_generator(f"samples={config_fpath}")
+    # NOTE: autogen-snippets is intentionally disabled for this test
+    # The API schema below is incomplete and will result in errors when the
+    # snippetgen logic attempts to parse it.
+    generator = make_generator(
+        f"samples={config_fpath},autogen-snippets=False")
+    print(generator)
     generator._env.loader = jinja2.DictLoader({"sample.py.j2": ""})
     api_schema = make_api(
         make_proto(
@@ -743,7 +751,7 @@ def test_dont_generate_in_code_samples(mock_gmtime, mock_generate_sample, fs):
     expected.supported_features |= CodeGeneratorResponse.Feature.FEATURE_PROTO3_OPTIONAL
 
     actual = generator.get_response(
-        api_schema=api_schema, opts=Options.build("")
+        api_schema=api_schema, opts=Options.build("autogen-snippets=False")
     )
     assert actual == expected