Masoud Azizi
Co-Founder & CMO, Indigo Mars
Google Ads' automated bidding comes down to four core strategies: Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Target CPA, and Target ROAS. Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value are the right starting point for a newer campaign still building data; Target CPA and Target ROAS are refinements you move to once that data is stable enough to set a real target against. There's also a real, time-sensitive change worth knowing about if you're managing an active campaign right now — more on that below.
The Four Strategies, in Plain Terms
Maximize Conversions spends your full budget trying to generate as many conversions as possible, without a specific cost target attached. Good for lead-generation businesses where each conversion carries roughly similar value.
Maximize Conversion Value does the same thing but prioritizes higher-value conversions over lower-value ones — the right choice when conversions vary meaningfully in value, which is typical for e-commerce.
Target CPA lets you set a specific cost-per-conversion goal, and Google's system bids to hit it. This is the natural next step after Maximize Conversions once you know roughly what a conversion should cost you.
Target ROAS lets you set a target return on ad spend instead of a target cost — the natural next step after Maximize Conversion Value, better suited to businesses where revenue per conversion genuinely varies.
Worth knowing if older material seems to use different names: Google renamed these in mid-2026 — "Maximize conversions with a Target CPA" became simply "Target CPA," and "Maximize conversion value with a Target ROAS" became "Target ROAS." The underlying mechanics didn't change, just the labels.
Which One to Start With
Match the strategy to your actual goal, not the other way around. If you're generating leads of roughly similar value, start with Maximize Conversions, gather real data, then transition to Target CPA once you have enough conversions to set a meaningful target. If you're selling products with varying prices and margins, the same logic applies with Maximize Conversion Value moving to Target ROAS.
Don't Reset the Learning Phase
Give any bidding strategy at least one to two weeks before judging its performance or switching again — the same learning-phase principle covered in earlier posts, applied specifically here. Frequent strategy changes keep resetting the algorithm's data collection before it ever completes, which produces exactly the erratic performance a business is usually trying to escape by switching strategies in the first place.
A Time-Sensitive Change Worth Knowing About Right Now
Starting August 17, 2026, Google is changing how Target CPA and Target ROAS behave specifically for campaigns marked "limited by budget." Previously, a budget-limited campaign could meaningfully outperform its stated target — a $10 Target CPA campaign might actually be delivering conversions at $5. After this change, Google's system will steer performance to land closer to the actual stated target rather than letting it run ahead of it. In practice, this means a business that's been quietly benefiting from better-than-target performance on a budget-limited campaign may see costs drift upward toward the stated target after this date, even with no changes made on the advertiser's end. If you're currently running Target CPA or Target ROAS on a budget-limited campaign, this is worth reviewing before the change lands, not after performance already shifts.
Where to Go From Here
Smart Bidding only works as well as the conversion tracking feeding it — see the setup guidance in Performance Max Campaigns: What They Actually Do (and When to Use Them), where the same tracking dependency applies.
Not sure which bidding strategy actually fits your account, or whether the August change affects you? Get in touch — we'll take a look at your specific setup.
