roydan
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Starting August 17, campaigns that are limited by budget and use a target-based bidding strategy will start performing closer to the target entered in the account.
Google's own example is pretty simple:
Target CPA: $10
Actual CPA: $5
Today, that campaign may keep generating conversions at around $5 while it's limited by budget.
After the update, if the target stays at $10, the actual CPA may start moving closer to $10.
This matters because a lot of advertisers don't use target CPA as the number they actually want Google to hit. They use it as a limit that gives the bidding system enough room to work.
A campaign might have a $100 target CPA while consistently generating conversions for $65.
The advertiser doesn't necessarily want to pay $100. They just don't want Google to hold back too much.
That difference is about to matter a lot more.
It doesn't mean everyone should immediately lower their targets to match the last 28 days. Recent performance may not hold at a larger scale, and setting a target that's too aggressive can kill volume.
But I would review every target CPA and target ROAS campaign that:
Then ask a simple question:
Is the target in the account really an acceptable business outcome, or was it just there to give Google more room?
There is a positive side to this.
Google says budget increases should become more predictable because campaigns will continue working toward the same target as spend increases.
That could make scaling easier.
But it also means the target sitting in the account is no longer something you can treat as a loose guideline and forget about.
Google is going to take it more seriously.
You probably should too.
Google Ads Help Center announcement
Google's own example is pretty simple:
Target CPA: $10
Actual CPA: $5
Today, that campaign may keep generating conversions at around $5 while it's limited by budget.
After the update, if the target stays at $10, the actual CPA may start moving closer to $10.
This matters because a lot of advertisers don't use target CPA as the number they actually want Google to hit. They use it as a limit that gives the bidding system enough room to work.
A campaign might have a $100 target CPA while consistently generating conversions for $65.
The advertiser doesn't necessarily want to pay $100. They just don't want Google to hold back too much.
That difference is about to matter a lot more.
It doesn't mean everyone should immediately lower their targets to match the last 28 days. Recent performance may not hold at a larger scale, and setting a target that's too aggressive can kill volume.
But I would review every target CPA and target ROAS campaign that:
- Is limited by budget
- Is currently performing much better than the target
- Uses a relatively loose target just to give Google more room
Then ask a simple question:
Is the target in the account really an acceptable business outcome, or was it just there to give Google more room?
There is a positive side to this.
Google says budget increases should become more predictable because campaigns will continue working toward the same target as spend increases.
That could make scaling easier.
But it also means the target sitting in the account is no longer something you can treat as a loose guideline and forget about.
Google is going to take it more seriously.
You probably should too.
Google Ads Help Center announcement
