Google Ads Bidding Strategies: Types and How to Choose

Key takeaways:

• Manual and automated bidding strategies differ in the level of control: you either set and manage bids yourself or let Google handle them.
• There is no universally “best” bidding strategy. The right choice depends on whether your campaign is focused on traffic, conversions, or reach.
• Smart Bidding depends on accurate conversion tracking. Without reliable conversion data, the algorithm has little useful information to learn from.
• Enhanced CPC is no longer available as a separate bidding strategy for Search campaigns.

Google Ads has evolved from fully manual bid management to machine learning-based automated bidding. Since this article was first published, Google Ads bidding strategies have changed significantly. Some options have disappeared from the interface, while others have gained new settings and capabilities.

What has not changed is the importance of choosing a strategy around the actual campaign goal. If the bidding model does not support what you are trying to achieve, even a well-built campaign can struggle to deliver the expected results. Define the primary objective first, then choose the bidding strategy around it.

In this guide, we’ll review the current Google Ads bidding strategies for Search campaigns, explain their strengths and limitations, and show what to consider when matching each one to a specific goal.

And if you need help with the full campaign process, Livepage offers Google Ads campaign management, including setup, bid control, and ongoing optimization aligned with your business objectives.

What Are Bids and Bidding Strategies in Google Ads

Bids in Google Ads determine how much an advertiser is willing to pay for a click, conversion, or ad impression. A bidding strategy is a set of rules Google uses to calculate the bid amount in each individual auction, based either on the advertiser’s decisions or on the algorithm’s prediction.

An ad’s position in search results is determined by more than the bid amount. During the ad auction, Google also considers the quality of the ad, including the relevance of the copy, expected CTR, landing page quality, and other factors. Together, these signals contribute to Ad Rank, which determines whether your ad can appear above a competitor’s even if that competitor is willing to pay more per click.

The conditions also change from auction to auction. Google may consider signals such as location, time, device, previous search behavior, and other contextual information. Since campaigns can participate in thousands of auctions, managing every adjustment manually becomes difficult very quickly. That is where automated bidding comes in. Machine learning evaluates available signals in real time and adjusts bids according to the campaign objective.

With manual bidding, you set the maximum CPC yourself and then increase or decrease bids based on performance data. With automated strategies, Google estimates the likelihood of a click or conversion and sets the bid accordingly, using signals that may not appear in standard reporting.

Even the most advanced bidding strategy won’t perform well if you repeat the same Google Ads mistakes to avoid, such as using unrealistic targets or incorrect conversion tracking.

Types of Bidding Strategies: The Full Map

Before looking at Google Ads bidding strategies in detail, let’s compare how they differ, when each type is suitable, what is required for it to work correctly, and what its main risk is:

Manual Bidding Strategies

Now let’s take a closer look at the types of bidding strategies. Until recently, manual bidding strategies offered two setup options: fully manual bidding and manual bidding with some automation. However, since 2025, the Enhanced CPC strategy has been discontinued by Google Ads.

Manual CPC bidding

Manual CPC is the simplest bidding strategy. Bids are set manually at the keyword level and remain unchanged until the advertiser adjusts them. Its biggest advantage is control. Google cannot automatically increase your bid beyond the limit you have set, which makes the strategy useful when you do not yet know what traffic should cost or need to keep spending under tight control.

Manual bidding makes sense when the account has not yet accumulated enough conversions for the algorithm to learn from, the budget is too small to provide a stable signal, or the campaign is testing a new niche without historical data.

The main drawback is that you need to regularly analyze performance and adjust bids manually because conditions in Google Ads auctions are constantly changing. Advertisers also do not have access to all the signals available to Google’s algorithms when automated strategies are used. Manual bidding can still perform well, as our PPC for Orlando appliance repair case study shows, but that limitation should be part of the decision.

Enhanced CPC: Why this strategy is gone

Enhanced CPC combined manual bid management with elements of automation. The advertiser set a bid for a keyword, while Google could adjust it during the auction depending on the likelihood of a conversion.

Enhanced CPC is no longer available as a separate option. It was fully discontinued on March 31, 2025. Search and Display campaigns that advertisers did not migrate manually were automatically moved to manual bid management.

As alternatives, Google recommends choosing:

• Maximize Conversions or Target CPA when the priority is generating more conversions within a defined budget or acquisition target.
• Maximize Conversion Value or Target ROAS when revenue or conversion value matters more than raw conversion volume.
• Maximize Clicks when the main objective is driving more traffic to the website.

We often see advertisers who used Enhanced CPC for years assume it was essentially a full automation strategy. After it was discontinued, many were unsure which option to switch to. A Google Ads audit can help determine which bidding model best fits the campaign before making the switch.

Automated Bidding Strategies

All the strategies discussed below fall under one general term — Smart Bidding. During each auction, Google evaluates a wide range of contextual signals, including device type, approximate location, time of day, previous search behavior, seasonal trends, and other factors that advertisers cannot fully see or manage manually.

That is why, when advertisers expect Smart Bidding to deliver immediate results, we explain that the algorithm needs a learning period and enough data before these signals can be used effectively.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at the main automated bidding strategies and when each one is used.

Maximize Clicks

Maximize Clicks is a fully automated strategy designed to generate the highest possible number of clicks within the campaign’s daily budget.

This strategy works best when your goal is to attract more traffic to the website, increase brand awareness, grow an active blog audience, or collect the first behavioral data in a new account.

For example, a niche eCommerce store or media project at the launch stage can use Maximize Clicks to quickly generate relevant website visits without waiting to accumulate conversion data.

A few practical tips:

• Set a maximum CPC and monitor the average cost per click. Google aims to spend the available daily budget, so click costs may rise above their usual level.
• Monitor traffic quality and check whether visitors complete the desired actions. If they do not, adjust the campaign settings or consider another bidding strategy.
• Pay close attention to how you use negative keywords in Google Ads, as they directly affect traffic quality.

Maximize Conversions

Maximize Conversions is similar to Maximize Clicks, but the focus here is on generating as many conversions as possible within the daily advertising budget. The system does not follow fixed keyword-level bids. It adjusts bids auction by auction based on how likely each user is to convert.

Although the strategy looks simple, it should be used carefully:

• Do not use it without accurate conversion tracking. If tracking is set up incorrectly, the algorithm will not have reliable data to learn which users are more likely to convert.
• Google may bid aggressively in order to maximize conversions, so costs can increase. Monitor performance and give the campaign time to learn. Results usually become more stable after roughly two weeks.
• Each campaign using Maximize Conversions should have its own daily budget. If it is included in a shared budget, it may consume a disproportionate share of the group’s spend.

Target CPA now works as an optional target within Maximize Conversions rather than as a separate strategy. We’ll cover that setting in more detail below.

If your goal is to generate more valuable actions, Maximize Conversions can be a good choice. However, if the budget is very limited, it may be worth considering other bidding strategies.

Maximize Conversion Value

Maximize Conversion Value goes one step beyond Maximize Conversions. Instead of trying to generate the highest possible number of conversions, it tries to generate the greatest total value from them. In other words, this strategy may generate fewer conversions, but those conversions can be more profitable.

For the strategy to work effectively, you need:

• Accurate conversion tracking. This is the foundation the campaign needs to learn and improve performance.
• A value assigned to each important conversion action. For example, a conversion worth $2,000 should carry more weight than one worth $10. Once Google receives this information, the algorithm can learn to prioritize actions that bring more value to the business.

For B2B and lead generation campaigns, where there is no immediate purchase amount, you can estimate value using the expected average deal value multiplied by the lead-to-sale conversion rate. The estimate does not have to be perfect. What matters is giving Google a consistent relative signal. A proper Google Analytics 4 setup helps pass those values into the campaign correctly.

Target CPA

Target CPA used to be a separate bidding strategy, but it is now available only as an option within Maximize Conversions. With Target CPA, the advertiser sets a target cost per conversion, and Google adjusts bids to generate as many conversions as possible at that target cost.

There are several things to watch:

• Conversion tracking must be enabled and configured correctly. If Google cannot measure conversions correctly, Target CPA has no reliable signal to optimize toward.
• The strategy works better when the campaign already has a meaningful amount of conversion history. There is no universal minimum for most campaign types, but around 30–50 conversions per month at the campaign level is a good benchmark.
• Set a realistic target at the beginning. If your average CPA over the past six months has been $100, immediately setting a $50 target can restrict Google’s participation in auctions that could otherwise provide useful learning data.

We recommend treating the first two to four weeks as a learning period. Set the target slightly above your recent average CPA or use the value suggested by Google, then gradually lower it toward your desired level.

Target ROAS

Target ROAS works according to the same general logic as Target CPA, but instead of focusing on a fixed cost per conversion, it optimizes toward a target return on ad spend.

Google predicts conversion performance based on historical data and adjusts bids in real time to move closer to the specified ROAS at the ad group or campaign level, balancing individual conversions over time.

To use it effectively:

• Make sure conversion values are tracked accurately, not just conversion volume. The algorithm needs both enough history and reliable revenue signals.
• Avoid setting an overly aggressive target right away. Start slightly below your recent ROAS and increase it gradually as performance stabilizes.

Target ROAS is a natural fit for eCommerce because revenue is usually known shortly after the conversion. It is more difficult to use in B2B, real estate, consulting, and other long-cycle businesses where the final deal value may not appear until weeks or months later.

Target Impression Share

Target Impression Share lets you set a target percentage of impressions and aims to place your ads in prominent positions on the search results page. It is most commonly used when it is important to appear above organic results for branded searches or to maintain visibility against competitors bidding on your brand. In these situations, competitor ad analysis can help you understand how aggressively others are competing for that traffic.

Even the best bidding strategy performs better when supported by properly configured ad extensions in PPC, as they improve both visibility and user engagement.

Target Impression Share offers three placement options: absolute top of the page, top of the page, or anywhere on the page. Each option gives the algorithm a different signal about your priorities, and Google adjusts bids accordingly.

You can set a maximum CPC to avoid overspending, but if the limit is too low, the strategy may become less effective because Google may not be able to achieve the desired impression share (e.g., 80–90%).

Keep these recommendations in mind:

• Always set a maximum CPC limit. Try starting about 10–15% above your current bid. If that provides enough visibility, leave it unchanged. If impression volume is still too low, increase the limit gradually.
• Continue using the strategy only after confirming that it delivers the required visibility at an acceptable CPC.

Portfolio Bid Strategies

A portfolio bid strategy combines several campaigns under one shared goal instead of using a separate automated strategy for each campaign. Google optimizes bids across the entire group based on aggregated conversion data. This approach can be useful when individual campaigns generate too few conversions for the algorithm to learn effectively on its own.

It makes sense to combine campaigns into a portfolio when they work toward the same business goal and share similar budget, CPA, or ROAS constraints. You can also set bid limits at the portfolio level, giving you additional control over how aggressively Google allocates spend across campaigns.

What’s New in Smart Bidding

Smart Bidding Exploration expands the range of search queries the algorithm can test beyond those it already considers highly relevant. This can help uncover new audiences that are capable of converting. The option is best suited to accounts with stable, accurate conversion tracking that are prepared to accept some irrelevant traffic in exchange for discovering new opportunities.

The ROAS Tolerance setting allows you to define how far the algorithm can deviate from the target return on ad spend while searching for profitable combinations. The wider the tolerance, the more actively the system can experiment.

Google is also developing Journey-Aware Bidding, which evaluates a broader customer journey instead of looking only at the final click. Other improvements affect budget distribution throughout the day and bidding behavior during seasonal shifts in demand.

Our experience shows that the more broadly the algorithm explores new queries, the more important clean conversion data becomes. The system will also learn from poor signals, such as accidental conversions, duplicates, or incorrectly configured eCommerce tracking, but it will learn to optimize toward the wrong outcomes.

Before testing newer Smart Bidding features, review your conversion setup first. If it is difficult to identify the weak points yourself, Livepage’s PPC services include account analysis and a recommended plan for moving to a more suitable setup.

Choosing a Bidding Strategy Based on Your Advertising Goals

To understand how to choose a bidding strategy, answer three questions:

1. What is the final goal of the campaign?
2. Is conversion tracking set up correctly?
3. How much data has the account already accumulated?

Then choose the strategy that best matches your situation:

• If you need traffic and brand awareness but are not yet tracking conversions → Maximize Clicks.
• If you want conversions, tracking is set up, but there is still little historical data → Maximize Conversions without a target CPA.
• If you want conversions at a predictable cost and already have historical CPA data → Maximize Conversions with Target CPA.
• If the goal is to maximize profit and conversion values are known → Maximize Conversion Value, optionally with Target ROAS.
• If the priority is search visibility and brand protection → Target Impression Share.

Here are a few common situations you may recognize:

• Brand campaign. The goal is to prevent competitors from outranking you for your own brand name. Target Impression Share with a focus on the absolute top of the page and a maximum CPC limit can work well here because branded traffic usually converts efficiently.
• B2B lead generation. When a lead may turn into a deal weeks or months later, immediate revenue data is often unavailable. In that case, Maximize Conversion Value with modeled or relative lead values may be more practical than Target ROAS. If you are planning paid search for B2B, Livepage specialists can help choose suitable Google Ads strategies and bid settings.
• eCommerce with known order values. When order value is passed automatically into Google Ads, Target ROAS allows you to optimize directly for profitability rather than only for sales volume. This is especially important in PPC for eCommerce, where the value of individual conversions can vary significantly.
• Test launch in a new account. When there is no useful conversion history yet, Manual CPC or Maximize Clicks can help you collect initial data before handing more control to automated bidding.

The Learning Period: Data Requirements and What Not to Do

When an advertiser enables or changes an automated bidding strategy, the campaign enters a learning period. During this stage, the algorithm collects data about which auctions lead to conversions and adjusts its bidding model accordingly.

Results can be unstable while this is happening. CPA and spend may move more sharply than usual, and the campaign can take several weeks to settle. Google Ads shows the learning status directly in the interface.

Avoid making major changes while the strategy is learning. Do not frequently adjust Target CPA or Target ROAS, make large budget changes, switch bidding strategies, or upload large batches of new keywords and ads. These changes can restart the learning process.

A common mistake is to judge Smart Bidding after only three or four days. At that stage, Google may still be collecting the data it needs to understand the campaign. Ending the test too early can make a normal learning phase look like a failed strategy.

Common Bidding Strategy Mistakes

We have already covered the main cautions for each bidding strategy above, but there are also several mistakes that advertisers commonly make across different strategies:

• Launching Smart Bidding without accurate conversion tracking — the algorithm ends up optimizing based on missing or incorrect data.
• Setting an overly aggressive initial Target CPA or Target ROAS — a target that is too restrictive can limit the auctions in which Google is willing to participate.
• Changing bidding strategies too often — each switch triggers a new learning period.
• Running a Maximize Conversions campaign on a shared budget with other campaigns — it consumes a disproportionate share of the group’s budget.
• Evaluating performance before the learning period is complete — this often leads advertisers to abandon a strategy that could have worked once it stabilized.
• Ignoring traffic quality — even if the campaign reaches the target CPC, you should still check whether the conversions are actually valuable to the business.

Some of these issues can be difficult to identify on your own. A PPC audit or Google Ads audit can help reveal where the campaign is losing budget and what needs to be corrected.

Bidding in Other Campaign Types

This guide mainly covers Search campaigns, but bidding works a little differently across other Google Ads formats as well:

• In Google Shopping, bids compete at the product level, so feed and product data quality directly affect auction performance. Google Shopping campaign management requires accurate data, proper bid setup, and ongoing optimization.
• Performance Max combines Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps under one automated strategy and budget.
• Demand Gen is designed to reach visually engaged audiences across YouTube, Shorts, Discover, and Gmail. Because it often works higher in the funnel to generate interest, running PPC remarketing for these audiences can produce better conversion rates than relying only on cold traffic.
• AI Max for Search is an AI-powered layer that expands standard Search campaigns with automated ad copy, search query matching, and landing page selection. If you enable AI Max, pay close attention to brand exclusions and negative keywords so automated query expansion does not create internal competition with your other Search or Performance Max campaigns.

Our Hoxton Mix Google Ads results show how combining the appropriate bidding strategy with continuous optimization leads to measurable business growth.

Final Thoughts

We’ve reviewed the main Google Ads bidding strategies for Search campaigns, and here are a few important takeaways:

• Choose a bidding strategy based on the campaign goal. Maximize Conversions with Target CPA works well for conversion-focused campaigns, while Target Impression Share is better suited to visibility and brand awareness.
• Understand the difference between manual and automated bidding. Manual CPC gives you more direct control over spending but requires ongoing monitoring, while automated strategies simplify management but can increase costs if left unchecked.
• Keep monitoring performance. Regularly review CPC, CPA, and traffic quality regardless of which strategy you use.
• Use newer Smart Bidding capabilities (Smart Bidding Exploration, portfolio strategies, Journey-Aware Bidding) when they fit the campaign and can support better efficiency.
• Be ready to adapt as Google Ads changes quickly. Enhanced CPC recently disappeared from the interface, while portfolio settings and new Smart Bidding features continue to expand. A strategy that was standard a year ago may no longer exist in the same form today.

Effective Google Ads campaign management requires understanding the available bidding strategies and applying them according to the needs of the business. If you need help with that process, you can contact the Livepage PPC team. You can also see the results of our work in our PPC case studies.

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