Paid Search
Which bidding strategy fits your account?
Among its automated bidding strategies, Google lists target ROAS, target CPA, maximize conversions, maximize conversion value, enhanced CPC, maximize clicks and target impression share g-gebote. Which one fits is decided not by the strategy but by the data underneath: without reliable conversion values, every one of them optimizes on a number that does not reflect your business. The second question is one of volume, because every switch costs a learning phase.
What we do: We check conversion values, derive the target from history, schedule changes for quiet weeks and monitor the automation with rules and alerts; you do not pay for learning phases that bring nothing, and the strategy bids on a number that reflects your business.
By Robin Kardinal, Chief Operation Officer (COO)
Last updated on
What it is about and when it becomes relevant
What separates the strategies
Target CPA steers on a price per conversion, target ROAS on a ratio of revenue to ad spend. Maximize conversions and maximize conversion value set the budget as the constraint instead of the target. Enhanced CPC adjusts manual bids, maximize clicks aims at volume, target impression share at visibility g-gebote. As auction-time signals Google names, among others, device, browser, location and time of day, plus membership in remarketing lists g-gebote.
When it becomes relevant
Whenever results swing without anything changing in the market, and with every switch from volume to value steering. An account where every conversion carries the same value cannot use a value-based strategy meaningfully.
The learning phase is a cost factor
Every switch resets the steering. Whoever switches every two weeks pays for learning phases permanently and never sees a settled result. That is the most common silent loss in small and mid-size accounts.
Common mistakes and how you spot them
Target ROAS on uniform conversion values
How you spot itAll conversions carry the same value although contribution margins differ substantially. The strategy then buys volume and calls it value.
Target set too ambitiously
How you spot itAfter the switch, volume collapses; the metric looks good, revenue sinks. A target far above the historical value acts like a budget brake.
Switching in the middle of the season
How you spot itThe learning phase lands in the weeks with the most revenue. Visible in swinging cost per conversion exactly when calm would matter most.
Too few conversions in the time window
How you spot itThe campaign collects only a handful of conversions per week. The steering then has too little signal and reacts to chance.
How we go about it
Check values before the strategy changes
We look at whether conversion actions and values reflect the business. Margin, returns and customer value belong in the number your bids are based on.
Derive the target from history
The first target sits at the past result, not at the wish. Tightening happens in steps, watching volume and revenue, not just the metric.
Plan learning phases
We schedule switches for quiet weeks and never several at once. What changes during the learning phase gets documented so the comparison holds up afterwards.
Monitor the automation
Rules and alerts run continuously; exceptions are decided by a team that knows the patterns from many accounts.
Further reading
This topic belongs to SEA.
Frequently asked questions
Which automated bidding strategies exist in Google Ads?
Google names, among others, target ROAS, target CPA, maximize conversions, maximize conversion value, enhanced CPC, maximize clicks and target impression share g-gebote.
Which signals does Smart Bidding use?
Google names device, browser, location and time of day, and additionally adjusts bids by membership in remarketing lists g-gebote.
How long does a learning phase take?
That depends on the number of conversions in the account; any fixed duration would be a guess. The usable yardstick is whether cost per conversion has settled over several weeks.
Target CPA or target ROAS?
Target CPA as long as all conversions are worth roughly the same. Target ROAS once they are not and the differing values are actually passed on.
Should I go back to manual bidding?
Rarely. It is usually more sensible to fix the data foundation the automation bids on. Whoever steers manually trades a data problem for a capacity problem.
Is this exactly where you are stuck?
Write to us about where it is stuck. Robin Kardinal and the team will look at what is concretely behind it in your case, and tell you where the biggest lever sits.
Sources
Every statement about ad products comes from the official documentation of the respective platform, with the date we retrieved it. Products change; if something looks outdated to you, write to us and we will check it.
- g-geboteGoogle Ads-Hilfe, Automatische Gebotsstrategienretrieved on 21.9.2026
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