Changes to how Smart Bidding strategies are organized for Search campaigns

Update: Starting in July 2022, standard Search “Target CPA” bid strategies will be renamed “Maximize conversions”, and Search “Target ROAS” bid strategies will be renamed “Maximize conversion value”. With each bidding strategy, you'll keep the ability to set an optional Target CPA or Target ROAS respectively, and there will be no impact to bidding behavior with this change.

Smart Bidding helps you reach your conversion and conversion value goals by using Google AI to set bids with real-time signals. Google is changing how bid strategies are organized for Search campaigns to focus on 2 main performance goals:

• Conversions
• Conversion value

You’ll still be able to use Target CPA and Target ROAS as bid strategies. They'll simply be bundled with the Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value bid strategies, respectively. This means that:

• Maximize conversions will have an optional target CPA
• Maximize conversion value will have an optional target ROAS

You’ll start seeing these optional fields in the next few months as you create new bid strategies. There will be no impact to bidding behavior due to this update. Using the optional target CPA and target ROAS fields will optimize your performance the same way Target CPA and Target ROAS bid strategies do today.

Performance goal	Current Bid Strategy	Updated Bid Strategy
Maximize conversions within a set budget	Maximize conversions	Maximize conversions Optional target CPA
Maximize conversions to a target CPA	Target CPA
Maximize conversion value within a set budget	Maximize conversion value	Maximize conversion value Optional target ROAS
Maximize conversion value to a target ROAS	Target ROAS

Note: You don’t need to take any action on any of these changes and there will be no impact to bidding behavior. These changes only impact Search campaigns and won’t impact other campaign types that support Smart Bidding.

Timeline

For any new Search campaigns that you’ve created over the last few months, you’ll already see the optional target fields for the new Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value bid strategies.

However, any Search campaign which has been using Target CPA or Target ROAS over the last year, may still be named as “Target CPA” or “Target ROAS”. Starting in July, as part of this change, your existing Target CPA and Target ROAS strategies will be switched to these new fields automatically. Campaigns using a portfolio strategy will not be impacted by this change, and are expected to switch in 2023.

With an optional target, Smart Bidding is designed to optimize these goals the same way it would enhance Target CPA and Target ROAS. Maximize conversions with a set target CPA will behave like Target CPA strategy does today, and similarly, Maximize conversion value with a set target ROAS will behave like a Target ROAS strategy does today.

How it works

When you select Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value bid strategies, you can choose to add an optional target CPA and target ROAS instead of creating standalone strategies for Search campaigns.

• Maximize conversions using a target CPA:
  • Google Ads sets bids to help you get as many conversions as possible at the target cost-per-action (CPA) you set.
  • Some conversions may cost more or less than your target.
  • This strategy will work as the Target CPA bid strategy does today.

• Maximize conversion value using a target ROAS:
  • Google Ads sets bids to help you get as much conversion value as possible to achieve an average return on ad spend (ROAS) at the target you set.
  • Some conversions may have a higher or lower return than your target.
  • Within the Maximize conversion value strategy, this target ROAS is the average conversion value you’d like to get for each dollar you spend on ads.
  • Enter a value as a percentage using this formula: Conversion value ÷ ad spend x 100% = target ROAS percentage.

Example: If your goal is to get an average of $5 in sales for each $1 you spend on ads, your target ROAS would be 500%.

• This strategy will work as the Target ROAS bid strategy does today.

Note: When the optional targets aren’t set, Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value will still behave in the same way that they do today.

Instructions

Note: The instructions below are part of the new design for the Google Ads user experience. To use the previous design, click the "Appearance" icon, and select Use previous design. If you're using the previous version of Google Ads, review the Quick reference map or use the Search bar in the top navigation panel of Google Ads to find the page you’re searching for.

Set up your Maximize conversions using a target CPA or your Maximize conversion value using a target ROAS bid strategies

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop-down menu, then click Campaigns.
3. Click the campaign you’d like to edit.
4. Click Settings and scroll down to the “Bidding” settings. You can select to focus on:
   • Conversions: You can select to set a target cost per action on your Maximize conversions campaign.
   • Conversion value: You can select to set a target return on ad spend Maximize conversion value campaign.
   • Target cost per action or target return on ad spend: Enter the new amount you’d like to use.
5. Click Save.

View your Maximize conversions using a target CPA or your Maximize conversion value using a target ROAS in the bid strategy report

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop-down menu, then click Campaigns. You’ll be able to see one row for each campaign.
3. Within the “Bid strategy type” column, you’ll be able to see your “Maximize conversions” or “Maximize conversions value” bid strategy types. Click on the link to see your bid strategy report.

Find your Maximize conversions strategies that have a target CPA or target ROAS set

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop-down menu, then click Campaigns. You’ll be able to see one row for each campaign.
3. In the upper right corner of the table, click the columns icon , then select Modify columns.
4. Under the “Attributes” section, select Target CPA or Target ROAS.
5. Click Apply to view it in the statistics table. If the Maximize conversions strategy contains a Target CPA or a Target ROAS within the Target CPA or Target ROAS column, it means a target is set for the strategy.

Note: The bid strategy type will appear under the “Bid strategy type” column as Maximize conversion or Maximize conversion value.

Impacts to Google Ads Editor and Google Ads API

Learn more about how this change impacts the Google Ads API

Related links

• About Smart Bidding
• About Target CPA bidding
• About Target ROAS bidding