Google reference

Google Ads bid strategies for ecommerce

Which bid strategy to use, when to move between them, and how to tell whether Smart Bidding is working.

Checked against Google Ads Help on 19 October 2026. A Google badge links to the help page that says it. Onward guidance marks our own rules from running client accounts. They are how we work, not Google policy.

Google's rules and ours

Some numbers you'll hear about Smart Bidding are Google's. Others are working rules, ours included. Know which is which before you quote them.

Claim	Source
How many conversions you need. Google's only minimum is for Target ROAS: 15 conversions in 30 days on Search and Shopping Google, counted per Merchant Center ID for Shopping. Google Target CPA has none: you can start it with no conversion history. Google Google suggests judging results over at least 30 conversions (50 for Target ROAS). Google Our own rule is 30 or more conversions a month on the goal action before Target ROAS or Target CPA. Onward guidance	Google, and Onward guidance
"Portfolio bid strategies share learning across campaigns." Google's portfolio documentation doesn't say this. A portfolio optimises its campaigns, ad groups and keywords together for one target. Google Separately, Google says Smart Bidding can already use query-level data beyond your bid strategy when it builds its models. Google	myth
"A budget-limited campaign will beat its ROAS target." True until 17 August 2026. Since then, budget-limited Target ROAS and Target CPA campaigns bid towards the target you set. Google	Google
"Learning takes 7–14 days." Google measures learning in conversions and conversion cycles, not days: up to around 50 conversion events or 3 conversion cycles. Google Changing a target doesn't trigger Learning at all. Google	Google
Google's uplift figures. Moving from Target CPA to Target ROAS: a median 14% more conversion value at a similar ROAS. Google Smart Bidding Exploration: 18% more unique search query categories with conversions and 19% more conversions (March to April 2025 data). Google AI Max for Search: typically 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS. Google Phrase to broad match on Smart Bidding: about 25% more conversions on Target CPA and 12% more conversion value on Target ROAS. Google These are averages from Google's own data. They show direction, not what your account will do.	Google-published
"Maximise clicks drifts towards the cheapest clicks." Google says it sets bids to get as many clicks as possible within your budget. Google That this pulls in cheap, low-intent traffic is what we see in accounts, which is why we always set a max CPC limit.	Onward guidance

Choosing a strategy

Decision steps

These are Onward's rules. Work down the list and stop at the first one that fits. Onward guidance

Fewer than 30 conversions a month on the goal action?Google's minimum for Target ROAS is 15 in 30 days, and Target CPA has none. We wait for 30.

→

Maximise clicks with a max CPC limit, or Manual CPCGoogle suggests the same while you build conversion data Google

Brand campaign?Searches for your own name. Google says Target impression share can suit brand terms. Google

→

Target impression share90–95% absolute top, with a max CPC limit Onward guidance

Traffic is the goal, not conversions?

→

Maximise clicksAlways with a max CPC limit

Ecommerce with reliable conversion values and 30 or more conversions a month?

→

Target ROASStraight from clicks bidding. No Target CPA step needed

Lead generation, or no reliable values, with 30 or more conversions a month?

→

Target CPA

Video views or awareness?

→

CPV or CPMCPV for video views, CPM for impressions

Our default for ecommerce: Target ROAS, once a campaign has 30 or more conversions a month and clean conversion values. Never start a new campaign on Target ROAS without history. Onward guidance

The strategies

Strategy	What it does	Use it when	Avoid it when
Target ROAS	Bids for conversion value at the return on ad spend you set. Its average target is a traffic-weighted average of the targets it bid to. Google	Ecommerce with reliable values and 30 or more conversions a month Onward guidance	Values are missing or unreliable, or the target is far from what the campaign achieves
Target CPA	Bids for as many conversions as possible at your target average cost. Some conversions cost more, some less. Google	Lead generation, or ecommerce without reliable values, at 30 or more conversions a month Onward guidance	You can send reliable values. Use Target ROAS Onward guidance
Maximise conversion value	Tries to spend the full daily budget to get the most conversion value, with no target. Google	The budget is fixed and has to be spent. See mistake 2	Steady-state ecommerce. There's no efficiency floor
Maximise conversions	Tries to spend the full daily budget to get the most conversions. Google	You need volume and accept whatever each conversion costs Onward guidance	Ecommerce. Use a value strategy Onward guidance
Maximise clicks	Sets bids to get as many clicks as possible within your budget. Google	New campaigns under 30 conversions a month, or traffic goals. Always with a max CPC limit Onward guidance	The campaign has passed 30 conversions a month. Move to Smart Bidding Onward guidance
Manual CPC	You set the max CPC: the most you're willing to pay for a click. Google	New or small accounts, or when you need a fixed bid on specific keywords or products Onward guidance	Nobody will review and move the bids
Target impression share	Sets bids to show your ad in a chosen position (absolute top, top, or anywhere on the page) a set share of the time. Google	Brand terms. Google gives the example of a 100% target on brand searches Google	Performance campaigns. It doesn't bid for conversions
Enhanced CPC	No longer available on Search and Display since the week of 24 March 2025. Campaigns that weren't moved now effectively run on Manual CPC. Google

Names: from June 2026, Target ROAS and Target CPA show as standalone bid strategies rather than settings inside Maximise conversion value and Maximise conversions. Google Google says the bidding itself is unchanged. Google

What Smart Bidding looks at in every auction: device, location and location intent, day and time, remarketing lists, ad characteristics, interface language, browser, operating system and the search query. Shopping campaigns also use product attributes (such as price, brand and condition), how your prices compare with other advertisers, and seasonal trends. Google So your prices and product data affect your Target ROAS results.

Manual CPC or Maximise clicks with a max CPC limit

Both use a CPC figure. The difference is who sets the bid in each auction and what your figure means.

	Manual CPC	Maximise clicks with a max CPC limit
Who sets the bid	You. A fixed max CPC that stays where you set it. Google	Google, auction by auction, to get as many clicks as possible within your budget. Google
What your figure means	The most you'll pay for a click, unless bid adjustments raise it. Google	A limit on the bids it sets. Bid adjustments apply on top of the limit. Google
What it aims for	Nothing. Same bid whatever the query, device or person, apart from your adjustments.	Clicks, not conversions.
Devices	You set device adjustments yourself.	Uses your mobile bid adjustment alongside its own adjustments. Google
How it goes wrong	Bids go stale while CPCs and competitors move. Onward guidance	Drifts towards the cheapest clicks: long-tail queries, low-priced products, low intent. Onward guidance
Effort	High. Someone has to own the bids.	Low.

Use Manual CPC when

The account is new or small
You need a fixed bid on specific keywords or product groups
Someone will review and move the bids

Use Maximise clicks with a limit when

A new campaign needs clicks to build conversion data, or the goal is traffic
You set the max CPC limit, always
It's temporary. Move to Smart Bidding at 30 conversions a month

The Shopping priority trap. In Standard Shopping, when campaigns share a product, the highest-priority campaign bids, even if a lower-priority campaign has a higher bid. The next campaign down only bids once the higher one runs out of budget. Google So a Maximise clicks campaign at High or Medium priority that covers the whole feed takes every shared product until its budget runs out.

How we set priority: margin hero products at High, basket builders at Medium, learning products at Low. Catch-all or test campaigns stay at Low, and a Maximise clicks campaign only covers the products it's meant for. Onward guidance

What each strategy needs

Strategy	Google's minimum	Onward's threshold	Needs conversion values?
Target ROAS	15 conversions in 30 days on Search and Shopping, per Merchant Center ID for Shopping Google Google	30 or more a month on the goal action Onward guidance	Yes
Target CPA	None. You can start with no history Google	30 or more a month Onward guidance	No
Maximise conversion value	None stated for Search and Shopping, beyond conversion tracking with values Google	Fixed-budget cases only Onward guidance	Yes
Maximise conversions	None stated	None	No
Maximise clicks, Manual CPC	None	Use below 30 conversions a month Onward guidance	No

Before setting a ROAS target, Google suggests reporting values across all relevant campaigns for four weeks or three conversion cycles, whichever is longer. Google

Tracking that bidding relies on.

Consent mode: with a cookie banner, modelled conversions only start once you reach 700 ad clicks over 7 days, per country and domain grouping. Google Modelling is most accurate when cookieless pings fire Google, which is what advanced consent mode does. Google
Enhanced conversions can improve measurement accuracy and unlock more powerful bidding Google, and need up to 30 days to train. Google
VAT and shipping: send conversion values including VAT and shipping, and set targets on the same basis. If the value can't be changed at source, correct it by 1.2x before it reaches Google Ads. Onward guidance

Ecommerce structure

Performance Max and Standard Shopping

What Google reports for PMax: advertisers using it saw on average over 18% more conversions at a similar cost per action (published February 2023). Google Outside retail, Google reports an average of 27% more conversions or value at a similar CPA or ROAS. Google Neither figure compares PMax with Standard Shopping. PMax reaches YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one campaign. Google
How we run them: both. High-margin products go in Standard Shopping, where we control the target and the max CPC. Every PMax campaign gets a brand exclusion list, or it buys brand searches that would have converted anyway and reports them as return. Onward guidance
Same products in both? Neither has automatic priority. Where products and targeting overlap, Ad Rank decides which campaign serves. Google
Search and PMax: a Search keyword that exactly matches the query, or its spell-corrected form, is preferred over PMax. Google PMax search themes carry the same priority as phrase and broad match keywords. Google
PMax controls: brand exclusions apply to both Search and Shopping ads in PMax, with an option to let Shopping ads keep serving on those brand terms. Google You can add up to 10,000 negative keywords to a PMax campaign, applying to Search and Shopping inventory. Google Account-level negatives are capped at 1,000 and also apply to your other Search and Shopping campaigns. Google

Our standard structure

Search: Brand
Search: Non-brand (brand negative list attached)
Standard Shopping: one campaign per margin tier
Performance Max: brand exclusion list applied

Onward guidance Search and Standard Shopping campaigns can share portfolio bid strategies. Performance Max can't join a portfolio, so it keeps its own campaign target. Google Group campaigns whose targets are close. How many portfolios you run, and how big a gap justifies a separate target, is your call.

Margin and performance tiers

One Target ROAS across products with very different margins is almost always wrong. A 50% margin accessory and a 15% margin bulky item can't share a target profitably.

How we segment Onward guidance:

Write each product's margin tier into custom label 4 through a supplemental feed: margin_hero, basket_builder, learning or exclude.
Build one Standard Shopping campaign per tier, each with its own Target ROAS worked out from that tier's margin (use the ROAS Calculator) and its own max CPC limit.
Set priority by tier: margin hero High, basket builder Medium, learning Low.
Run each campaign on Manual CPC or Maximise clicks until it reaches 30 conversions a month, then move it to Target ROAS.
Separately, write a performance tier into custom label 3 (high_performer, core_performer, low_performer, zombie, learning) so products can be bid by their history. A zombie is a product with fewer than 5 impressions in 30 days.

The alternative: if you have clean margin data for every product, you can keep campaigns together and send profit as the conversion value instead (see POAS). Tiers are the lower-risk default when cost data is patchy. Onward guidance

Feed quality

Cost of goods sold: add it to the feed and send basket data with your purchase tag, and Google Ads reports gross profit. Google Google says the COGS you share is for reporting Google, so it doesn't change bidding on its own. To bid on profit, send profit as the conversion value (see POAS), or use profit goals, which Google describes as a beta for PMax and Standard Shopping. Google
AI-written titles: if titles are created with generative AI, Google asks you to submit them in the structured title attribute. Google
Our feed work Onward guidance: titles rewritten through a supplemental feed in the order brand, core noun, top spec, variant, size or colour. Then product highlights and product details added the same way. Label-only supplemental feed changes usually show within 4–24 hours, title and attribute changes within 24–48 hours. Check before acting, and investigate anything still missing after 48 hours.

Six common Smart Bidding mistakes

Six things to check in any account you take over or audit.

1Running campaigns limited by budget

A budget cap no longer flatters ROAS

Until August 2026, a budget-limited Target ROAS campaign could pick the best auctions and beat its target. Google confirms budget-constrained campaigns could overperform their targets. Google From 17 August 2026, budget-limited campaigns on Target ROAS or Target CPA bid towards the target you set, including when you change the budget. Google The rollout finished on 27 August 2026. Google

What it means: if your target is looser than what the campaign was achieving, results drift towards the target without you touching anything. Google won't adjust your targets or budgets for you. Google

Fix: set the target you actually want. Google's example: a Target CPA of £10 that's been achieving £5 will now drift towards £10, so lower the target to £5 to keep that performance. Google

Portfolios and shared budgets are included. Change targets at portfolio or shared budget level. In a constrained shared budget the effect is spread evenly across its campaigns. Google advises against adding data exclusions or new bid limits just because of this change. Google

Using the budget to control spend

A budget-limited campaign now bids towards its target Google, so cutting the budget mainly cuts volume. Ways to reduce spend:

Lever	Effect	Use when
Raise the ROAS target	Bids react straight away. Google Allow one to two conversion cycles before judging. Google	You want sustained lower spend at a higher return
Lower the max bid limit (portfolios only)	Immediate. Google doesn't recommend bid limits on Target ROAS. Google	Sparingly Onward guidance
Lower the daily budget	Immediate. Cuts volume and holds close to target. Google	A genuine cash limit

Never change the target and the budget on the same day, or you can't tell which change did what. Onward guidance

2Using Maximise conversion value instead of Target ROAS

Maximise conversion value has one constraint: the budget, which it tries to spend in full. Google On a quiet day it pays more per click to get there, and on a busy day the budget stops it buying all the profitable traffic. Target ROAS bids for value at your target return, so spend follows demand. Onward guidance

Where Google suggests Maximise conversion value: starting a Shopping or PMax campaign on a limited budget around peak season Google, or keeping conversion volume when you'd rather not set a target, accepting that ROAS will move as the budget changes. Google Otherwise, for ecommerce, use Target ROAS. Onward guidance

Check the budget before you switch. Without a target it tries to spend the whole daily budget. If the campaign spends much less than its budget today, Google warns spend could rise significantly. Google Set the budget to what you're willing to spend first.

3Only using campaign-level targets

Small campaigns on their own targets each have little data to work with. Combine campaigns with similar targets into a portfolio bid strategy: Google then optimises their campaigns, ad groups and keywords together for one target. Google The benefit is pooled conversion volume.

What portfolios don't do: you'll often hear that portfolios "share learning" between campaigns. Google's portfolio documentation doesn't say that. What Google does say is that Smart Bidding can already use query-level data beyond your bid strategy when it builds its models. Google That happens with or without a portfolio. A portfolio pools volume and sets one target. It doesn't switch on a separate learning mechanism.

What a portfolio gives you:

One target across all its campaigns Google
Pooled conversion volume, which is the main reason to use one
Max and min bid limits on Search and Shopping portfolios, used in Search Network auctions only Google
A clean pairing with a shared budget: Google calls shared budgets with portfolio bidding best practice Google

If a campaign already has 30 or more conversions a month on its own, a portfolio may not help. It optimises to one average across the portfolio, which can hide weak pockets. Onward guidance

Use a portfolio when

Several small campaigns share one target, or you want shared bid limits.

Avoid a portfolio when

Each campaign already has 30 or more conversions a month, or the campaigns have different economics (margins, intent).

4Leaving targets unchanged all year

A target set once and left alone drifts out of line with demand, margins and the August 2026 change. Move it for a reason:

Situation	Direction	Source
Planning peak season	Review budgets and ROAS targets 4–6 weeks before the peak	Google
Black Friday and Cyber Week (Shopping and PMax)	Lower the target below normal, a few days before the key day, in gradual steps. Google's example is 30% steps with one to two conversion cycles between. Set the budget at three times what you expect to spend	Google
After peak	Reassess targets for post-peak demand	Google
ROAS at least 20% above target over 14 days, with little day-to-day variation	Raise the target. The campaign is beating it and has room to tighten	Onward guidance

How often to change: Google says you can change targets as often and by as much as you like. Google We still judge only on 14 or more days of data, move targets in 15–20% steps at least 7 days apart, and after a structural change hold everything for 7 days (Target CPA or Target ROAS with 50 or more conversions a week) or 14 days otherwise. Onward guidance One change at a time is the only way to tell what worked.

5Ignoring conversion delay and average target ROAS

Comparing the last 30 days' actual ROAS with today's target gives the wrong answer. Two things fix it:

Conversion delay: recent days don't yet include conversions still to come. Conversion lag reporting shows forecast conversions in hover cards Google, and the bid strategy report shows how many conversions Google Ads predicts could still be reported. Google

Average target ROAS: the traffic-weighted average of the targets your strategy bid to over the date range. Google Raise the target last week and look at 30 days, and most of that period was bid at the old number.

Why recent days look bad: Google Ads reports conversions on the ad impression date, while other tools use the conversion date. Google Pick a window that leaves out the most recent conversion delay Google, covers at least two full conversion cycles, and ideally runs a month or 50 conversions. Google We make no decisions on data less than 14 days old. Onward guidance To match your shop or analytics by order date, add the Conversions (by conv. time) column. Google

The right comparison: ROAS adjusted for conversion delay against average target ROAS. If they match, Smart Bidding is doing what you asked. Onward guidance

6Changing too much

Changes are fine. Constant changes aren't. Watch for:

Target changes without a written reason Onward guidance
Several changes at once, or the target and budget on the same day Onward guidance
Frequent data exclusions for normal ups and downs. Google says not to use them often or for long periods Google

How we work: every change goes in a log with the date, what changed, why, and the result we expect, and gets reviewed at day 7 and day 14. Most weeks, the right move on a stable Smart Bidding campaign is no change. Onward guidance

Also avoid ad group targets. Google doesn't recommend individual ad group targets because they can restrict Smart Bidding. Google Use campaign or portfolio targets.

Other levers

Bid limits on portfolios

For Target ROAS, bid limits are only available on Search and Shopping portfolio strategies and only apply in Search Network auctions. Google Target CPA bid limits are portfolio-only too. Google
Google doesn't recommend bid limits on Target ROAS because they stop it bidding to the target. Google It does suggest a max CPC limit on a portfolio as a safety net when moving to automated bidding. Google
We always set a max CPC limit on Target ROAS portfolios for Search and Shopping. When Target ROAS beats its target, it bids up to spend the surplus, and the limit stops that eating your margin. Onward guidance
If the status shows the strategy is limited by bid limits, the limit is holding bids down. Raise it or remove it. Google

Budgets: what Google will spend

Rule	On a £100 average daily budget
Daily limit is 2x the average daily budget, for most campaigns Google	Up to £200 on a busy day
Monthly limit is 30.4x the average daily budget, for most campaigns Google	No more than £3,040 in a calendar month
Change the budget mid-month and the rest of the month can't exceed the new budget times the remaining calendar days Google	A late increase doesn't catch up earlier underspend
Change the budget more than once in a day and that day's limit uses the highest figure you set Google	Raise to £300, then drop to £100: that day can still spend up to £600

Run your own numbers, including a mid-month change, in the Budget Pacing Calculator.

For a flash sale, use a campaign total budget: a fixed budget over 3 to 90 days for Search, Shopping and PMax, which is a hard cap. You can't switch an existing campaign to one; it has to be a new campaign. Google

Shared budgets and Maximise strategies: if a Maximise clicks, Maximise conversions or Maximise conversion value campaign shares a budget with another bid strategy, the status can show Misconfigured. Keep every campaign in a shared budget on the same portfolio strategy. Google

New Search campaigns: we set the daily budget at 1.5–2x the steady-state figure for the first 7–14 days, then drop to steady state once data is coming in. Onward guidance

Seasonality adjustments

Tell Smart Bidding to expect a short change in conversion rate, such as during a sale. You enter the expected change in conversion rate, not a CPC change. Google

Best for events of one to seven days. They may not work as well for more than 14 days at a time. Google
Use one only if you expect a major change in conversion rate. Smart Bidding already handles normal seasonal events. Google A short sale, such as a 3-day flash sale where you expect conversion rate to rise a lot, is the kind of case Google describes. Google
Available for Search, Shopping, Demand Gen and Display campaigns on Target ROAS or Target CPA, and for Performance Max and App (beta) campaigns. Google
Bidding returns to normal when the event ends. No negative adjustment is needed afterwards. Google
You can set one from a manager account and apply it to several client accounts. Google
We check each client's promotions calendar before planning any bid change. Onward guidance

Data exclusions

Tell Smart Bidding to ignore a period of bad conversion data, such as a broken tag, a site outage or a failed upload. Google Work out the dates with the Data Exclusion Builder: it moves the start back for your conversion delay and runs Google's checks.

Exclusions work on click dates. Start the window earlier by your conversion delay. Google's example: an upload problem from 15 to 18 October with a five-day delay means excluding 10 to 18 October. Aim to cover at least 90% of the affected clicks. Google
Act quickly. Use it for problems you catch within a week, not for problems that have run for more than 14 days on Search and Display, or 60 days on Shopping. Google
Don't undo an exclusion once it's applied. Google
Don't backfill the missing conversions. Google advises against it because it can affect Search and Shopping bidding. Google
Planned maintenance? Set the exclusion in advance. These usually take effect within a day. Google
Don't use them often or for long periods. Google

Conversion value rules

Adjust the value Google records for a conversion by location, device or audience, and bidding optimises to the adjusted value in real time. Google Use a rule for value that isn't already reflected in your account, such as different margins or lifetime value. Google In a portfolio, a rule on one campaign can have a small effect on the others. Google

To bid more for new customers, use the customer acquisition lifecycle goal. Google Set the value from your own lifetime value maths (see LTV), not a default. Onward guidance

Smart Bidding Exploration

Lets Google bid on search queries it would otherwise miss, using flexible ROAS targets. Google's help page says it's only available for Search campaigns on Target ROAS. Google In May 2026 Google announced it for Performance Max and Shopping. Google Check your account before planning around it.
Google reports 18% more unique search query categories with conversions and 19% more conversions (March to April 2025 data). Google
Google advises testing it in a well-established campaign, not a new one, using a campaign experiment. Google

Value-based bidding

Google reports that advertisers who moved from Target CPA to Target ROAS saw a median 14% more conversion value at a similar ROAS. Google The next step is sending profit rather than revenue as the conversion value, covered in the ROAS Calculator.

The learning period

Google shows a Learning status after a new or reactivated bid strategy, a change to a bid strategy setting, or campaigns, ad groups or keywords being added or removed. Google In Shopping, an ad group target change can also trigger it. Google

How long: it depends on conversion volume and conversion cycle length, and can take up to around 50 conversion events or 3 conversion cycles. Google A conversion cycle is how long a click takes to become a conversion, so if most orders land within 2 days, learning is measured in days, not weeks. Smart Bidding keeps learning after the label goes. Google

Change	Learning status?	What to expect
Raise or lower a Target ROAS or Target CPA	No Google	Bids react straight away. Google Allow one to two conversion cycles before judging. Google
New or changed bid strategy	Yes Google	Up to around 50 conversions or 3 conversion cycles Google
Campaigns added to or removed from a portfolio	Yes Google	As above
Changing the conversion goal or the actions in it	Relearns, even if the conversion action stays the same Google	One to two conversion cycles in most cases. Includes switching an action between primary and secondary, and changes to value scale Google
Budget change	Not on Google's list Google	Google still says allow one to two conversion cycles after major bidding or budget changes Google

Checking a specific change, or comparing with Meta? Use the Learning Reset Checker.

Reading the bid strategy status

Status	What Google means Google	What we do Onward guidance
Learning	A recent new strategy, setting change or change to the campaigns in it	Wait one to two conversion cycles
Limited: inventory	Limited by available search volume	Broaden targeting or feed coverage
Limited: bid limits	A max or min bid limit is stopping the bid it wanted	Raise the max, lower the min, or remove them
Limited: budget	Limited by budget, so it may not be able to raise bids enough to meet your goals	Raise the budget, or accept the cap
Misconfigured (Maximise bid strategy with shared budget)	A Maximise strategy shares a budget with another bid strategy	Put every campaign in the shared budget on one portfolio
Misconfigured (conversion setting)	The right conversion actions aren't set up for the strategy	Fix tracking before touching bids

Tools that show what bidding is doing

Bid strategy report: status, top signals, target and budget simulators, average target CPA or ROAS, and conversion delay in one place. Google Start here before changing anything.
Target and budget simulators: estimate what a different target or budget would have done. The campaign bid simulator isn't available on shared budgets, and may not give estimates if the campaign reached or nearly reached its budget recently. Google
Performance Planner: forecasts based on the last 7–10 days, adjusted for seasonality and refreshed daily. Google

Moving between strategies

Move	When	How
Manual CPC or Maximise clicks to Target ROAS (ecommerce)	30 or more conversions a month on the goal action, with reliable values Onward guidance	Set the first target at or below your recent actual ROAS Google, measured over a window that leaves out the most recent conversion delay. Google
Manual CPC or Maximise clicks to Target CPA (lead generation)	30 or more conversions a month Onward guidance	Google recommends your average CPA from the last 30 days, adjusted for conversion delay. Google
Target CPA to Target ROAS	Conversion values are reliable	Report values for four weeks or three conversion cycles first, then set the target at or below historical ROAS. Google
Maximise conversion value to Target ROAS	Spend has settled after a reset or ramp-up	As above
New Performance Max campaign	Goal action at 30 or more conversions a month Onward guidance	Open the target 20% below the ROAS you expect at steady state. Onward guidance Google also suggests a low ROAS target to help a new campaign scale, then moving to your desired target. Google

Check the first target against breakeven. Work out your breakeven ROAS in the ROAS Calculator. If the campaign's actual ROAS is below breakeven, no target setting fixes that. Margin, feed or structure does. Onward guidance

For every move: a new bid strategy triggers Learning Google, which can take up to around 50 conversions or 3 conversion cycles. Google Judge it after that. Target changes don't trigger Learning Google, but we still move targets in 15–20% steps at least 7 days apart and change nothing else at the same time. Onward guidance

Recent changes

When	What changed	What to do
17 Aug 2026	Budget-limited target bidding. Target ROAS and Target CPA campaigns limited by budget now bid towards the target. Google Rollout completed 27 August 2026. Google	Re-set any target that was looser than actual performance. See mistake 1
Jun 2026	Strategy names. Target ROAS and Target CPA show as standalone strategies. Google	Nothing. Same bidding, new label
May 2026	Smart Bidding Exploration for PMax and Shopping announced. Google The help page still says Search with Target ROAS only. Google	Check your account before planning around it
2026	AI Max for Shopping (beta). Google	Test it in an experiment first
Available now	Campaign total budgets. A fixed budget over 3 to 90 days for Search, Shopping and PMax. Google	Use for promotions. New campaigns only. See Budgets
2025	PMax controls and reporting. Up to 10,000 negative keywords per PMax campaign, search themes raised from 25 to 50 per asset group, full search terms reporting, and channel performance reporting. Google	Review where PMax spends and what it searches on, regularly
May 2025	AI Max for Search. Search term matching, text customisation of headlines and descriptions, and Final URL expansion. Google Google	Review search terms regularly
Mar 2025	Enhanced CPC removed for Search and Display, from the week of 24 March 2025. Google	Don't plan a move through Enhanced CPC

Smart Bidding and bid adjustments: manual bid adjustments aren't supported on Smart Bidding. Google On Target ROAS the one exception is a -100% device adjustment. Google Manual CPC still applies your adjustments on top of your bids Google, and Maximise clicks applies them on top of its limit. Google

Sources

Every Google page this reference relies on, checked on 19 October 2026.

Google Ads Help

Google Merchant Center Help

Other Google pages

Anything marked Onward guidance is our own working practice from managing client accounts. If you'd like to go through it against your own account, get in touch.