Bidding Strategies

Last updated: 6 August 2026

1. Executive Summary

Google Ads bidding in 2026 is dominated by Smart Bidding — machine-learning auction-time optimisation that adjusts bids on every impression using signals unavailable to any manual bidder. The five principles below define best practice as of August 2026.

• Match the strategy to the goal, not the other way around. Maximise Conversions and Target CPA serve lead-volume goals; Maximise Conversion Value and Target ROAS serve revenue-efficiency goals. Choosing a strategy that conflicts with the campaign objective wastes the model’s learning capacity.^[1][13]
• Set targets from recent actual performance, not from wish figures. Both Target CPA and Target ROAS targets should be anchored to what the campaign has actually delivered in the preceding 30 days, then tightened incrementally. Starting with an aspirational target that is far below current CPA or far above current ROAS is the single most common cause of volume collapse.^[2][5]
• Respect conversion volume thresholds before moving to target-based strategies. The widely cited operational threshold is 30 conversions in 30 days before switching to automated target bidding, with 50+ conversions per month recommended for Target CPA and Target ROAS to perform reliably.^{[2][13][19][53]}
• Protect the learning period. After any meaningful change to bid strategy, target, or budget, avoid further edits for at least one full conversion cycle — typically 7 to 14 days minimum, and often longer when conversion lag is significant. Repeated edits trap campaigns in a perpetual learning loop.^[1][10]
• Stay ahead of platform changes. Google made three material bidding changes in mid-2026: a UI rename of Target CPA and Target ROAS (behaviour unchanged), a new backend update effective 17 August 2026 that tightens target adherence for budget-limited campaigns, and the rollout of Smart Bidding Exploration and Promotion mode. Each of these requires account-level review before August 17.^[1][2][4]

2. Benchmarks and Numbers at a Glance

Metric	Typical range or threshold	Applies when	Source
Average CPA, all industries (Google Search)	USD $48.96 – $53.52 per acquisition	Cross-industry average; individual verticals vary widely. Study data, 2026.	[57][58]
Average CPA, B2B SaaS	USD $116.00 per acquisition	B2B SaaS Google Search campaigns; highest CPA vertical in 2026 benchmarks. Study data.	[59]
Average CPA, Professional Services	USD $62.10 per acquisition	Professional services Search campaigns. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average CPA, Home Services	USD $32.50 per acquisition	Home services Search campaigns. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average CPA, eCommerce	USD $28.30 per acquisition	eCommerce Search campaigns; lowest CPA among major verticals. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average ROAS, eCommerce	400% (4:1)	eCommerce campaigns; highest ROAS benchmark across tracked verticals. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average ROAS, B2B SaaS	180% (1.8:1)	B2B SaaS campaigns; lowest ROAS benchmark across tracked verticals. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average CPC, Legal Services	USD $8.94 per click	Legal services Search campaigns; highest CPC vertical in 2026 benchmarks. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average CPC, Insurance	USD $7.82 per click	Insurance Search campaigns. Study data, 2026.	[59]
Average CPC, eCommerce	USD $1.16 per click	eCommerce Search campaigns; among lowest CPC verticals. Study data, 2026.	[58]
Minimum conversions for Target CPA / Target ROAS	50+ conversions per month	Recommended minimum before switching to Target CPA or Target ROAS for reliable learning. Study data, 2026.	[53]
Minimum conversions for Performance Max	30+ conversions per month	Recommended minimum before using Performance Max with a target. Study data, 2026.	[53]
Commonly cited Smart Bidding readiness threshold	30 conversions in 30 days	Widely repeated practitioner rule of thumb for when automated bidding begins to stabilise; not an official Google minimum. Multiple practitioner sources, 2026.	[2][5][13][19]
Learning period after bid strategy or target change	7–14 days minimum; up to 1–2 full conversion cycles	Vendor claim (Google guidance). After any meaningful change to strategy, target, or budget; longer when conversion lag exceeds 7 days.	[1][10][17]
Recommended target adjustment increment	10–15% per adjustment step	Practitioner consensus for incremental tCPA/tROAS changes; avoids triggering a full learning reset. Practitioner guidance, 2026.	[5][15]
Budget-limited campaign bidding update	Effective 17 August 2026	Vendor claim (Google). Applies to all campaigns marked “Limited by budget” using target-based bid strategies; tightens adherence to stated target.	[1][2][4]

Note: CPA and CPC benchmarks above are denominated in USD as published. Australian advertisers should apply an AUD conversion and account for local market conditions; Australian CPCs in competitive verticals such as legal and insurance typically sit materially above US averages on a USD-equivalent basis.

3. The Smart Bidding Strategies Explained

Smart Bidding is Google’s umbrella term for auction-time bid strategies that use machine learning to optimise for conversions or conversion value on every impression. Unlike rule-based manual bidding, Smart Bidding evaluates dozens of contextual signals — device, location, time of day, audience, query intent, browser, and more — simultaneously, adjusting the effective bid in real time.^[13]

As of August 2026, the four primary Smart Bidding strategies available in Google Search and Shopping campaigns are:

• Maximise Conversions — spends the entire budget to generate the highest possible number of conversions, without a cost-per-conversion constraint.
• Target CPA — targets a specified average cost per conversion across the campaign or portfolio, trading some volume flexibility to maintain cost efficiency.
• Maximise Conversion Value — spends the entire budget to generate the highest total conversion value, without a return constraint.
• Target ROAS — targets a specified average return on ad spend (conversion value ÷ cost), trading some volume flexibility to maintain revenue efficiency.

Two legacy strategies remain available but are not recommended as primary optimisation tools for conversion-focused campaigns:

• Maximise Clicks — useful for traffic and awareness goals where conversions are not yet tracked reliably.
• Manual CPC — retains full human control over keyword-level bids; appropriate in very low-volume accounts or as a starting point before sufficient conversion data exists.^[4][16]

Enhanced CPC remains available as a hybrid option that layers some automated adjustment over Manual CPC bids. In 2026, it is best treated as a transitional setting rather than a long-term strategy for conversion-optimised accounts.^[13]

Strategy	Primary goal	Requires conversion values?	Has a cost or return constraint?	Best starting condition
Maximise Conversions	Maximum conversion volume	No	No	Newer campaign, <30 conversions/month, or volume-first objective
Target CPA	Conversions at a controlled average cost	No	Yes — average CPA target	50+ conversions/month, known acceptable cost per lead
Maximise Conversion Value	Maximum total conversion value	Yes	No	Conversion values set up; value-first objective
Target ROAS	Revenue efficiency	Yes	Yes — average ROAS target	50+ conversions/month with value data, clear return target
Maximise Clicks	Traffic volume	No	Optional — max CPC cap	Brand awareness, pre-conversion data collection
Manual CPC	Full bid control	No	User-set per keyword	Very low volume, testing, or pre-automation data gathering

4. Target CPA vs Target ROAS

Target CPA and Target ROAS are the two constrained Smart Bidding strategies. Both tell Google’s auction-time model to optimise toward a specific efficiency metric rather than simply maximising volume. Choosing between them comes down to whether your business measures success in cost per conversion or in revenue return.^[1][13]

Target CPA

Target CPA instructs the bidding system to set bids so that the average cost per conversion across the campaign or portfolio equals the target you specify. Google will sometimes exceed the target on individual conversions and sometimes come in below it; the target is an average, not a cap. This strategy is best suited to lead generation, SaaS trials, app installs, and any campaign where all conversions are treated as roughly equal in value.^[1]

Key operational rules for Target CPA in 2026:

• Set the initial target at or slightly above your campaign’s actual average CPA over the prior 30 days — not at your aspirational cost per lead.^[5][15]
• Tighten the target incrementally, in steps of no more than 10–15%, and wait at least one full conversion cycle (minimum 7 days, ideally 14) before the next adjustment.^[5][15]
• If the campaign is budget-limited, a tighter tCPA may further restrict volume. Resolve budget constraints before tightening targets.^[1]

Target ROAS

Target ROAS instructs the bidding system to set bids so that the average return on ad spend (conversion value ÷ cost × 100) equals the target percentage you specify. This strategy requires accurate conversion value data — either from ecommerce transaction values, offline conversion imports, or assigned lead values. It is best suited to ecommerce, subscription businesses with known LTV, and lead gen accounts where different lead types carry materially different values.^[1][13]

Key operational rules for Target ROAS in 2026:

• Anchor the initial tROAS target to your campaign’s actual ROAS over the prior 30 days. The industry benchmark for ecommerce is 400% and for B2B SaaS is 180%;^[59] these are useful context but your starting target must reflect your own account’s recent actuals.
• Setting tROAS materially above current actual ROAS will starve delivery — the model cannot find enough high-value auctions to satisfy the constraint.^[1][13]
• If store or offline values are imported, verify the calibration is correct; undervalued offline conversions cause the model to underbid on high-value customers.^[12]

Dimension	Target CPA	Target ROAS
Optimisation signal	Conversion count	Conversion value
Requires conversion values?	No	Yes — must be accurate
Best for	Lead gen, equal-value conversions	eCommerce, varied-value leads, revenue optimisation
Main risk of over-tightening	Volume collapses, fewer leads	Delivery suppressed, spend drops sharply
Recommended minimum conversions/month	50+	50+
Target adjustment increment	10–15% per step	10–15% per step

5. Maximise Conversions vs Maximise Conversion Value

Maximise Conversions and Maximise Conversion Value are the two unconstrained Smart Bidding strategies. Unlike Target CPA and Target ROAS, they do not hold the campaign to a specific efficiency target — they spend the available budget to achieve as much of their respective optimisation metric as possible. This makes them more appropriate for campaigns that are still building data, or for campaigns where volume growth is the priority over cost control.^[1][13]

Maximise Conversions

Maximise Conversions is the recommended starting strategy for most new campaigns and for any campaign that does not yet have 30 reliable conversions in 30 days. Because there is no efficiency constraint, the model is free to explore a wider range of auction opportunities and accumulate the conversion signal that Target CPA will later need. The risk is CPA drift: without a constraint, the algorithm will spend the full daily budget regardless of what the resulting cost per conversion looks like.^[1][13]

A Target CPA can be optionally added to Maximise Conversions — this is mechanically equivalent to the old “Maximise Conversions with a Target CPA” label that Google renamed “Target CPA” in June 2026.^[4] Once you add a target, the strategy behaves as a constrained strategy.

Maximise Conversion Value

Maximise Conversion Value behaves the same way as Maximise Conversions but optimises for total value rather than total count. It requires that conversion values are assigned to conversion actions — either dynamically (ecommerce transaction values) or statically (assigned lead values). Without value data, this strategy defaults to treating all conversions as equal and provides no advantage over Maximise Conversions.^[1]

Similarly, a Target ROAS can optionally be added, which converts the strategy to a constrained Target ROAS mode.

Dimension	Maximise Conversions	Maximise Conversion Value
Optimises toward	Highest number of conversions within budget	Highest total conversion value within budget
Requires conversion values?	No	Yes — meaningful differentiation requires varying values
CPA/ROAS constraint?	Optional (adding tCPA converts to Target CPA)	Optional (adding tROAS converts to Target ROAS)
Best for	New campaigns, lead volume, pre-threshold data collection	Ecommerce, accounts with varied lead values, value-first objective
Main risk	CPA drift if budget is generous and no target is set	Optimising toward high-value but low-margin conversions if values are miscalibrated

6. Setting Realistic Targets

The most reliable way to set a Target CPA or Target ROAS is to start from what the campaign has actually delivered over the most recent 30 days, then adjust incrementally from that baseline. Google’s own guidance is explicit: use recent real performance as the anchor, not a business goal that is far removed from current results.^[2][5][15]

Step-by-step process for Target CPA

• Pull the campaign’s actual cost and conversion count for the prior 30 days.
• Calculate the actual average CPA (cost ÷ conversions).
• Set the initial tCPA at that actual figure, or within 10% above it if you want a slight efficiency improvement.
• After 14 days (or one conversion cycle if longer), review actual CPA. If it is stable and volume is healthy, lower the target by 10–15%.
• Repeat in 14-day increments until the target reaches the business’s acceptable cost per conversion ceiling.

Step-by-step process for Target ROAS

• Pull the campaign’s actual conversion value and cost for the prior 30 days.
• Calculate the actual ROAS (conversion value ÷ cost × 100).
• Set the initial tROAS within 10% of the actual figure. Check this against the relevant industry benchmark for context — ecommerce average is 400%, B2B SaaS is 180%.^[59]
• After 14 days, review actual ROAS and delivery volume. If ROAS is holding and spend has not dropped, increase the target by 10–15 percentage points.
• Repeat until the target reaches the business’s required return threshold.

Note on conflicting guidance: Some practitioner sources recommend adjustment increments as large as 20–25%, while Google’s official guidance and the majority of 2026 practitioner consensus favours 10–15%.^[5][15] The most conservative — and therefore recommended — approach is 10–15% per step with a minimum 14-day hold between adjustments.

7. Conversion Volume and Data Requirements

Smart Bidding is only as effective as the conversion signal it receives. Insufficient conversion volume is the most common structural reason automated bidding underperforms, and it is the threshold most often ignored when accounts switch prematurely to target-based strategies.^[2][13][19]

Volume thresholds

The widely cited minimum for smart bidding to begin stabilising is 30 conversions in 30 days. For Target CPA and Target ROAS specifically, the recommended threshold is 50+ conversions per month.^[53] Performance Max campaigns are generally cited at the same 30+ conversions/month floor.^[53] These thresholds are not hard Google minimums — the system will allow you to run Target CPA with fewer conversions — but below these levels, the model has insufficient data to make reliable auction-time decisions and performance becomes erratic.^[4][5][11]

Conversion tracking quality

Volume thresholds are meaningless if the conversions being counted are the wrong actions. Smart Bidding optimises toward whatever conversion actions are marked “include in conversions” — if these actions do not represent genuine business outcomes, the model will optimise for the wrong thing. Before switching to any Smart Bidding strategy, verify:

• Conversion tracking is implemented via Google tag or GA4 import, not via a legacy URL-based method that may double-count.
• Only meaningful business outcomes are included in the “Conversions” column (not page views, time on site, or soft micro-conversions).
• If offline conversions exist (e.g. phone sales, CRM-attributed deals), they are imported with accurate values and appropriate attribution.
• Conversion windows are set to reflect the realistic sales cycle length.^[5][17][18]

What to do below threshold

If a campaign is generating fewer than 30 conversions per month, the recommended path is:^[8][9][13]

• Use Maximise Conversions (unconstrained) or Maximise Clicks to accumulate data.
• Consider whether a higher-funnel micro-conversion (e.g. a qualified lead form view, a phone call of 60+ seconds) can serve as a proxy conversion to accelerate signal accumulation — but only if the proxy is strongly correlated with the ultimate business outcome.
• Consolidate campaigns where possible so conversion signal is not fragmented across many low-volume campaigns.
• Move to Target CPA or Target ROAS only once the 30-conversion threshold is consistently met, and preferably once 50+ conversions/month are stable.

8. Portfolio Bid Strategies

A portfolio bid strategy is a shared, account-level bid strategy that applies the same Target CPA or Target ROAS target across multiple campaigns simultaneously. Rather than each campaign learning in isolation, the model pools auction data across all campaigns in the portfolio, accelerating learning and enabling more efficient optimisation when individual campaigns are below the conversion volume threshold on their own.^[6][7]

When to use a portfolio strategy

• Multiple campaigns share the same business goal, target customer, and acceptable cost per conversion or return target.
• Individual campaigns each generate fewer than 30 conversions per month but the combined portfolio clears the threshold.
• Budget is fragmented across similar campaigns (e.g. separate brand, generic, and competitor campaigns in the same vertical) and you want a unified efficiency target across all three.

When not to use a portfolio strategy

• Campaigns have materially different economics — for example, a brand campaign with a CPA of $25 should not share a portfolio with a generic campaign with a CPA of $120. The model will average across them in ways that distort both.
• Campaigns serve fundamentally different conversion types or customer segments.
• You need campaign-level reporting on individual bid strategy performance.^[7]

Portfolio strategies are managed under Tools > Bid Strategies in the Google Ads interface. Performance reports for the portfolio are available at the portfolio level and should be reviewed on a 30-day rolling basis to detect campaigns that are pulling the portfolio average in an unintended direction.^[6][7]

9. Seasonality Adjustments and Data Exclusions

Smart Bidding models are calibrated on historical conversion rate patterns. When a predictable short-term deviation from historical patterns is expected — a promotional event, a seasonal peak, a stock clearance — the model may not react quickly enough on its own, either over- or under-bidding relative to the actual conversion rate. Google provides two tools to manage this: seasonality adjustments and data exclusions.^[1][15]

Seasonality adjustments

A seasonality adjustment signals to the bidding model that conversion rates are expected to change by a specific percentage during a defined date range. It is not a target change — it is a multiplicative modifier on the model’s conversion rate prediction. Google recommends using seasonality adjustments for events shorter than 7 days with a clearly expected conversion rate change.^[1]

Practical rules for seasonality adjustments in 2026:

• Apply the adjustment before the event begins, not reactively during it.
• Set the expected conversion rate change as a percentage (e.g. +40% for a major sale) based on prior years’ data or analogous events.
• Remove or let the adjustment expire after the event; do not leave an active adjustment running beyond the promotional window.
• Google’s new Promotion mode (announced at Google Marketing Live 2026) provides a structured interface for layering seasonal bidding intent into campaigns — monitor for full rollout and test via the interface when available.^[8][9]

Data exclusions

A data exclusion removes a date range from the model’s historical learning. It is appropriate when a technical event — tracking outage, tagging error, site downtime — has introduced corrupted or missing conversion data that would otherwise distort the model’s baseline. Data exclusions should not be used to remove periods of poor organic performance, as this artificially inflates the model’s expectations.^[1][15]

Target adjustments for longer seasonal periods

For seasonal changes lasting longer than 7 days (e.g. a Black Friday–Christmas period running 5 weeks), a temporary target adjustment is more appropriate than a seasonality adjustment. Change the tCPA or tROAS to reflect the expected performance during the period, then revert to the standard target after the season ends. Wait one conversion cycle before reverting to give the model time to re-anchor.^[1][15]

10. Transitioning Between Strategies and the Learning Period

Changing bid strategy is one of the higher-risk account interventions available to a Google Ads manager. Done well, it accelerates performance; done poorly, it resets the model’s learning and produces weeks of erratic results. The core principle is to make one change at a time, preserve budget stability during the transition, and evaluate results only after accounting for conversion lag.^[1][10][13]

The recommended migration sequence

Stage	Condition	Recommended strategy	Minimum hold period
1. Data collection	<30 conversions/month; new campaign	Manual CPC or Maximise Clicks	Until 30 conversions are recorded
2. Volume optimisation	30–49 conversions/month	Maximise Conversions (no target)	Until 50+ conversions/month is stable
3. Efficiency control	50+ conversions/month, known acceptable CPA	Target CPA (at actual CPA)	14 days minimum per target step
4. Value optimisation	50+ conversions/month, conversion values accurate	Target ROAS (at actual ROAS)	14 days minimum per target step

The learning period

Every time a bid strategy is changed, a target is adjusted by more than 10–15%, or a budget is increased by more than 15–20%, the Smart Bidding model enters a learning period. During this period, the “Learning” status badge may appear in the campaign status column. Practitioner guidance commonly places the learning period at 7–14 days; Google’s own guidance is more conservative, recommending evaluation after at least one full conversion cycle and often 1–2 conversion cycles.^[1][10][17]

During the learning period:

• Do not make additional changes to bid strategy, targets, budgets, or campaign structure.
• Do not judge performance by same-day or 3-day windows — conversion lag will make the data misleading.
• Use Google Ads Experiments (formerly Drafts & Experiments) when testing a strategy change so the original setup continues running as the control and only a portion of traffic is exposed to the new strategy.^[5][17]

August 2026 learning period consideration

The 17 August 2026 backend update to budget-limited campaigns means that accounts previously relying on “overdelivery” against a CPA or ROAS target while budget-limited may see a performance shift after this date — even without any explicit change made by the account manager. Treat 17 August as an implicit trigger for a new observation window of at least 14 days before drawing conclusions about campaign performance.^[1][2][4]

11. Common Mistakes to Avoid

The following errors are the most frequently observed sources of Smart Bidding underperformance in 2026. Each can be diagnosed systematically and corrected without a full campaign rebuild.

1. Switching to Smart Bidding before reaching the conversion threshold

Moving to Target CPA or Target ROAS before recording 30–50 conversions per month gives the model insufficient signal. The result is erratic CPAs, delivery fluctuations, and — in the worst cases — budget depletion on low-quality auctions. Fix: use Maximise Conversions first and only switch once the threshold is consistently met.^[4][5][11]

2. Setting a target far below actual performance

A Target CPA set 40% below the current actual CPA, or a Target ROAS set 80% above actual ROAS, will starve delivery. The model cannot find enough qualifying auctions to meet the constraint and spend drops sharply. Fix: anchor targets to actual recent performance and tighten in 10–15% increments.^[1][5][15]

3. Making too many changes during the learning period

Each meaningful change — target, budget, strategy, structure — resets or disrupts the learning period. Accounts that make weekly adjustments trap campaigns in a perpetual learning state where performance never stabilises. Fix: define a minimum 14-day observation window after any change and hold all other variables constant.^[3][12]

4. Ignoring conversion lag when evaluating performance

For campaigns with multi-day or multi-week conversion cycles — B2B, legal, financial services — evaluating the last 7 days of conversion data will systematically undercount recent conversions that have not yet been attributed. Fix: use a reporting window that extends beyond your typical conversion lag, and check the “Days to conversion” report in Google Ads.^[10][17]

5. Allowing budget constraints to undermine target-based strategies

A campaign running Target CPA at $80 with a daily budget of $60 can never generate more than 0.75 conversions per day at target. If the budget is too tight, the model cannot explore enough auctions to learn efficiently and will consistently show as “Limited by budget.” Fix: ensure the daily budget is at least 10–15× the Target CPA (e.g. a $80 tCPA needs at least an $800–$1,200/month budget, or $27–$40/day).^[1]

6. Tracking the wrong conversion actions

Including soft micro-conversions (e.g. homepage visits, 10-second sessions) in the “Conversions” column that drives Smart Bidding will cause the model to optimise for actions that do not represent business value. Fix: audit conversion actions quarterly and ensure only genuine business outcomes are set to “Include in Conversions.”^[5][17][18]

7. Failing to review budget-limited campaigns ahead of 17 August 2026

The backend update effective 17 August 2026 will cause budget-limited campaigns using Target CPA or Target ROAS to adhere more strictly to their stated targets. Campaigns that previously overdelivered against a loose target while constrained may see a reduction in conversion volume after this date. Fix: before 17 August, review all budget-limited campaigns, decide whether to raise the daily budget or adjust the target, and do not assume the old overdelivery pattern will continue.^[1][2][4]

12. What Changed Recently (Last 30 Days)

Three material changes to Google Ads bidding took effect or were confirmed in July–August 2026. Each has direct operational implications for account management.

1. Target CPA and Target ROAS UI rename (effective June 2026)

In June 2026, Google updated the campaign interface so that what was previously labelled “Maximise conversions with a Target CPA” is now simply labelled “Target CPA,” and “Maximise conversion value with a Target ROAS” is now labelled “Target ROAS.” Google has confirmed the underlying bidding behaviour is unchanged — this is a labelling update only.^[1][4] No action is required for existing campaigns. The change does mean that “Maximise Conversions” and “Maximise Conversion Value” now refer exclusively to the unconstrained versions of those strategies, which clarifies the UI but changes the navigation path when adding or removing a target.

2. Budget-limited campaign bidding update (effective 17 August 2026)

Starting 17 August 2026, Google is updating the bidding system’s behaviour for campaigns flagged as “Limited by budget” that use target-based strategies (Target CPA or Target ROAS). After this date, these campaigns should perform more consistently toward their stated target, including during budget adjustments. The practical implication: campaigns that previously outperformed their stated target while budget-limited (a common pattern where the model found cheap conversions and overdelivered) may see their actual CPA rise toward the stated target or actual ROAS fall toward the stated target after 17 August.^{[1][2][9][13]}

Recommended actions before 17 August 2026:

• Identify all campaigns marked “Limited by budget” using Target CPA or Target ROAS.
• For each, compare the actual CPA/ROAS over the prior 30 days against the stated target.
• If the actual CPA is materially below the stated target (e.g. actual $46, target $55), decide whether to lower the target to match actuals or raise the budget to remove the constraint.
• Do not assume the pre-August-17 overdelivery pattern will continue — build your post-update forecast on the stated target, not the actual overperformance figure.^[2][7][13]

3. Bid Target Adjustment Tool and Smart Bidding Exploration (July 2026 rollout)

The Bid Target Adjustment Tool became available in the Google Ads interface from 7 July 2026. It allows account managers to apply a target based on a campaign’s recent actual performance with a single action, reducing the risk of manually setting a target that diverges too far from current results.^[2][13] Use this tool as a starting point when first applying a tCPA or tROAS to a campaign that has been running on Maximise Conversions — it will suggest a target aligned with recent actuals.

Smart Bidding Exploration, announced at Google Marketing Live 2026, expands the model’s ability to test new auction opportunities beyond the core converting audience. Google frames this as a way to find incremental conversions by temporarily accepting a slightly higher CPA on exploratory queries.^[8][9][13] Account managers should monitor impression share and CPA distributions carefully if this feature is enabled, as it may temporarily widen the CPA range above the stated target while the model explores new segments.

Promotion mode, also announced at Google Marketing Live 2026, provides a structured workflow for layering seasonal or promotional bidding intent into campaigns without manually adjusting targets.^[8][9] Full rollout details and interface availability should be confirmed in-account, as the feature was announced but progressive rollout timelines were not specified at the time of publication.

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