We’ve heard from advertisers that they want the control of manual bidding with the flexibility to adjust lead prices. We understand that small businesses value both control and flexibility. To help you achieve this balance, Local Services Ads is introducing target cost per lead (TCPL) bidding. With TCPL, you keep control of your manual bids while enjoying more flexibility to reach your target cost per lead.
Starting in September 2024, you’ll find optional target fields under the 'Maximise Leads' bidding strategy.
How is this different from manual bidding (Max Per Lead)?
With Max Per Lead, your limit acts as a hard cap. For example: if you set a £15 limit, we'll never bid on leads that cost £16, even if your average lead price would have stayed around £15 (or even lower).
With TCPL, some leads may cost more than your target and some may cost less, but altogether, we will try to keep your cost per lead close to the average that you set. As always, we’ll never go over your monthly budget.
What should I choose?
In a pilot, advertisers who switched from manual bidding (Max Per Lead) to TCPL saw an increase in leads, while those who switched from automated bidding (Maximise leads) to TCPL saw a decrease in leads.
For advertisers currently using manual bidding (Max Per Lead) only: consider switching to TCPL with the recommended target for improved results, or to automated bidding (Maximise leads) for the best possible performance. We continue to recommend (automated bidding) Maximise leads for optimal performance for both single- and multi-vertical advertisers.
For tips on improving ad performance, visit Improve your Local Services Ads performance.