As announced on 5 September 2024, the Enhanced CPC (ECPC) bid strategy will no longer be available for search and display campaigns.
What will happen in October 2024?
- The ability to opt into the ECPC bid strategy won’t be available for Search or Display.
- ECPC option will be removed for existing campaigns that have switched out of ECPC.
- Existing campaigns using ECPC will be able to continue using it until March 2025.
Bear the following in mind:
- While transitioning to a new bid strategy, it’s important to closely monitor performance and minimise fluctuations as bidding gradually adjusts to your new strategy.
- Manage spend and performance by adjusting budgets and targets as needed
- After 15 March 2025, search and display campaigns that are still using the ECPC bid strategy will be automatically migrated to Manual cost per click (CPC).
Consider the following bidding strategies and goals:
- Maximise conversions or target CPA: If your goal is to get as many conversions as possible within your budget and target CPA constraints (if applicable) . More details here
- Maximise conversions value or target ROAS: If your goal is to maximise the return on the ad spend that you set within your budget and target ROAS constraints (if applicable). Before switching goals, ensure that you have sufficient conversions with value enabled (two or more differentiated values). More details here and on the value-based bidding hub
- Maximise clicks or target impressions/cost per thousand impressions (CPM): if your primary goal is to increase site visits or impressions.
- Pay-per-conversion (Display only): If eligible, you can use pay for conversions to increase conversion volume while only paying for those conversions. Find more details on eligibility here.
Automated bidding takes the heavy lifting and guesswork out of setting bids to meet your performance goals. Unlike Manual CPC bidding, there’s no need to manually update bids for specific ad groups or keywords. Google Ads sets bids for your ads based on that ad’s likelihood to result in a click or conversion that helps you achieve a specific goal for your business.
Different types of automated bidding strategies can help you increase clicks, visibility and conversions. Automated bid strategies learn as they go, using information about a bid’s performance to inform future bids. Learn how to determine a bid strategy based on your goals
This article describes different business goals and the automated bid strategy that best achieves each goal.
How Smart Bidding enhances automated bidding for Search campaigns
Smart Bidding leverages the benefits of goal-oriented automated bidding and applies them to conversions (clicks converted to purchases or services) and conversion values. It factors in a wide range of auction-time signals that include device, location, time of day, remarketing list, language and operating system, to capture the unique context of every search. Smart Bidding uses a feature called 'auction-time bidding', that sets a bid for every query. Target CPA, target ROAS, Maximise conversions and Maximise conversion value are all Smart Bidding strategies. Learn more about Smart Bidding
Example
Perhaps you want to increase conversions across your campaigns at a CPA goal, but don’t have the time to set an individual max. CPC for each individual keyword. By adding those campaigns to a Target CPA portfolio bid strategy and setting a CPA goal that you want to hit, you allow Google Ads to optimise bids using advanced AI to get you better performance for your goals.
For more information on how Smart Bidding works, refer to Your guide to Smart Bidding, About Smart Bidding and Setting Smarter Search Bids.
Types of automated bid strategies
| Goal | Bid strategy |
|---|---|
|
Increase site visits. |
Maximise clickssets your bids to help get as many clicks as possible within your budget. Maximise clicks is available as either a standard strategy in a single campaign or portfolio bid strategy across multiple campaigns. |
| Increase visibility. |
Target impression share sets bids with the goal of showing your ad on the absolute top of the page, on the top of the page or anywhere on the page of Google search results. Target impression share is available on the Search Network only, as either a standard strategy in a single campaign or portfolio bid strategy across multiple campaigns. |
|
Get more conversions with your target CPA Smart Bidding |
Target CPA sets bids to help get as many conversions as possible at the target cost per action (CPA) you set. Some conversions may cost more or less than your target. Target CPA is available as either a standard strategy in a single campaign or portfolio bid strategy across multiple campaigns. If Maximise conversions or Maximise conversion value is available for your campaign type, we recommend that you use that instead of target CPA. When you're using Maximise conversion value without a target CPA set, we will aim to spend your budget to maximise conversion value for your campaigns. When you're using Maximise conversion value with a target CPA set, we will help get as much conversion value as possible at the target return on ad spend (ROAS). |
|
Meet a target return on ad spend (ROAS) when you value each conversion differently. Smart Bidding |
Target ROAS sets bids to help get as much conversion value as possible at the target return on ad spend (ROAS) you set. Some conversions may have a higher or lower return than your target. Target ROAS is available as either a standard strategy in a single campaign or portfolio bid strategy across multiple campaigns. Learn more About target ROAS for Shopping campaigns Learn more about how to set up target ROAS for Hotel ads |
|
Get more conversions while spending your budget. Smart Bidding |
Maximise conversions bidding will help you optimise towards conversions. You have the option to set a target CPA on your Maximise conversions bidding strategy, which means Smart Bidding will try to get as many conversions as possible at the target cost per action (CPA) that you've set. If the target CPA option is not set, then Maximise conversions will aim to spend your budget to get as many conversions as possible. Maximise conversion value bidding will help you optimise towards conversion values. You have the option to set a target ROAS on your Maximise conversion value bidding strategy, which means Smart Bidding will try to get the highest conversion value possible at the target return on ad spend (ROAS) that you set. If the target ROAS option is not set, then Maximise conversion value will aim to spend your budget to drive as much conversion value as possible. Maximise conversion values emphasises the area that you want to maximise, but limits spending to your specified budget. Refer to Maximise conversions vs Maximise conversion value Learn more About Maximise conversions |
|
Get more conversion value while spending your budget. Smart Bidding |
Maximise conversion value sets bids to help you get the most conversion value for your campaign while spending your budget. Maximise conversion values emphasises the area that you want to maximise, but limits spending to your specified budget. When you're using Maximise conversion value without a target ROAS set, we will aim to spend your budget to maximise conversion value for your campaigns. When you're using Maximise conversion value with a target ROAS set, we will help get as much conversion value as possible at the target return on ad spend (ROAS). When you create a Maximise conversion value bid strategy, you can set a target ROAS (return on ad spending). Refer to Maximise conversions vs Maximise conversion value Learn more About Maximise conversion value |
Create an automated bid strategy
You can create an automated bid strategy for a single campaign (standard strategy) or multiple campaigns (portfolio bid strategy) in the following ways:
- Create with a new campaign.
- Create or change from campaign settings.
- Create from 'Bid strategies'
To create, review or manage your bid strategies, take the following steps:
- In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon
.
- Click the Budgets and bidding drop-down in the section menu.
- Click Bid strategies.
.To create a bid strategy, refer to Set up Smart Bidding.
The power of Smart Bidding
Smart Bidding is a set of conversion-based bid strategies, Target CPA, Target ROAS and Enhanced CPC that use advanced AI to help you tailor the right bid to each and every auction. It factors in a wide range of auction-time signals including device, location, time of day, remarketing list, language and operating system to capture the unique context of every search.
For more information on how Smart Bidding works, refer to About Smart Bidding or download our Display Smart Bidding Guide.
