In total, there are 12 different types of Google Ads bidding strategies available:
Get the most conversions possible at a target CPA set by you. This is best to use if your goal is to hit targets and increase leads. If your main advertising goal is getting conversions (like sales, signups, or mobile app downloads) at a designated CPA goal, then Target CPA bidding can help automatically get more conversions for your budget.
Do you have a certain ROI you want to hit when it comes to your PPC spend? If so, using return on ad spend (ROAS) might be for you. ROAS is a metric that takes your conversion values (set at the conversion tracking stage) or Google Analytics eCommerce revenue values into account.
Let’s say you’d like an ROI of 5. This means that for every $1 you spend on clicks, you’re expecting $5 in return. The bid strategy’s target ROAS would then be set to 500%.
With “Maximize clicks”, Google Ads automatically sets your bids to help get as many clicks as possible within your budget. This is ideal to use when you have a strong conversion performance and want to find more volume.
If your goal is to increase sales or leads, you can have Google automatically set your bids to help you get the highest number of conversions within your budget. This automatically finds more people who are more likely to convert and bids higher on them BUT there is no bid limit control, so clicks can become very costly. You can easily shoot past your daily budget.
Google Ads automatically sets your bids to help you get the most conversion value within your budget. Google uses the info gathered about device, location, time of day, demographics, query, and more to find the optimal CPC bid for each auction. Google will be looking for people who are more likely to complete purchases of more value to you, but the demographic selection is inherently limited. You DO have the option to dictate demographic targeting data though, which improves conversions when done correctly.
Target impression share bidding automatically sets bids to help achieve your Impression Share goal across all campaigns. This strategy lets you set a maximum CPC bid limit, which is a cap on the maximum amount you’ll let the strategy bid. If you set your limit too low, you risk restricting your bids, which can affect your goals. If you set no limit at all, your CPCs can really skyrocket, and you can burn through your budget fast.
Manual cost per click allows you to set bids at either the ad group or keyword level. Setting individual bids at the keyword level allows for the highest level of control. Ad group level manual bids, in contrast, give the same bid to all the keywords or placements within that ad group.
This is usually the best bidding strategy for tight budgets or new campaigns. You can keep a close eye on performance and make sure that none of your ads are overspending. The data from manual placements can inform your automated bid strategy, resulting in higher performance faster. It does, however, require more work, time, and experience to keep the bids up to speed and get the best results.
Enhanced CPC (ECPC) is a smart-bidding setting you can apply to manual CPC that gives Google the freedom to increase or decrease your bids when it determines there’s more or less chance of a conversion.
Only available for Display Network, viewable CPM bidding allows you to set target bids for every 1,000 impressions where your display ad was considered viewable. In the past, you could use target CPM bidding on display campaigns, meaning you’d pay for 1,000 impressions even if the majority of your ad was below the fold and not visible.
Now, you’re not wasting money on impressions where your ad was barely playing peek-a-boo above the fold–you’re only paying when your ad’s been seen clearly. It’s a great way to raise brand awareness with predictable pricing, where you only pay per 1,000 times the ad has actually been viewed. The goal here is NOT conversions, so expectation management is key. This option gets eyeballs on your name, but not much else. It’s like a digital billboard.
If you’re planning to raise brand awareness with a YouTube campaign, this bid strategy will be one of only two bidding options. With Maximum CPV, you set the highest bid you’re willing to pay for a video view (or an interaction with your ad). 30 seconds watched is considered a view, or if your video ad is shorter, then the entire ad watched is considered a view.
If someone interacts with your ad first, by clicking on any overlays you have or the like, then you’ll be charged your CPV bid for that. So, you’re not paying for people who skip out on your ad, or close the video before the ad is finished.
As we mentioned earlier, this strategy used to be available for display campaigns, but now it’s only available on Youtube campaigns. With this strategy, you’re getting charged your specified target CPM, which is not the maximum, but instead the average bid you’re comfortable paying for every 1,000 times your ad is shown.
Whether or not viewers finish the ad or skip it, your cost is based on the fact that your ad was shown. This could lead to wasted spend, which is something to keep in mind.
A portfolio bid strategy is when you create one bid strategy that’s applied across multiple campaigns, rather than applying different strategies on a campaign-by-campaign level. Portfolio bid strategies are housed in your shared library.
