See a Search Ads 360 bid strategy's target bid

The Target bid column for a biddable item shows the bid that Search Ads 360 would have used the last time it evaluated that item’s bid if there were only a primary goal with no constraints (such as minimum/maximum bids or a secondary position goal).

This column is a great way to see if your existing minimum/maximum bids are too restrictive. For example, if the target bids are mostly in the $10-15 range but your current min/max bid range is $8-12, you should consider expanding the min/max bid range (either for the bid strategy as a whole or for the specific biddable item). This would allow Smart Bidding to more fully optimize bids and earn a greater return on your investment.

You can also use the Target bid column to get an idea about what Search Ads 360 would bid before giving more control to the bid strategies.

The Primary constraint column shows which setting is actually the reason that the target bid is different from the max CPC bid for a particular biddable item. You can then attempt to adjust the setting to give Smart Bidding a better chance at applying the target bid.

How to see a Search Ads 360 bid strategy's target bid

1. Do one of the following:

   • Navigate to an advertiser or lower scope. Then click the Keywords tab or click the Targets▼ tab, and then click Product groups.

     Steps for navigating to an advertiser

     1. Click the navigation bar to display navigation options.

     2. In the "Agency" list, click on the agency that contains the advertiser. You can search for an agency by name or scroll through the list.

     3. In the "Advertiser" list, click on the advertiser.

     4. Click Apply or press the Enter key.

     Search Ads 360 displays the advertiser page, which contains data for all of the advertiser’s engine accounts.

   • Navigate to a bid strategy and click the Keywords tab or the Product groups tab.

     Steps for navigating to a bid strategy

     1. Navigate to an advertiser.

     2. In the left navigation panel, click Bid strategies.

     3. Click a bid strategy name from the reporting table.

        Alternatively, you can do the following:

        1. Click the more icon at the end of the navigation bar to display navigation options.

        2. In the Agency list, click on the agency that contains the bid strategy. You can search for an agency by name or scroll through the list.

        3. In the Advertiser list, click on the advertiser that contains the bid strategy.

        4. In the Bid strategy list, click on the bid strategy.

        5. Click Apply or press the Enter key.

     Search Ads 360 displays the bid strategy page.

2. If the Target bid and Primary constraint columns aren't already displayed in the reporting column, do the following:

   1. Above the performance summary graph, click the Columns button.

   2. In the Search for columns box, type the column name and press the Enter key.

   3. Click + next to the column name in the Available columns list.

3. To see only the biddable items that are constrained from optimal bids, click Filter and specify Target bid > 0.

   The Target bid column is left empty for those keywords that are not constrained by bid limit or position constraints. For example, if Max CPC = Target bid, the report doesn’t show the target bid.

FAQs

Does the report show a target bid for paused bid strategies?
No. The target bid is only displayed for bid strategies with a status of Active.

Does the report show a target bid when the bid strategy is on hold due to the 24-hour manual override period?
No. The target bid is only calculated when the engine is run on the keyword. The engine does not run for keywords that are manually overridden.

Why isn't a target bid shown?
If you've recently applied or changed a bid strategy, the Target bid column will be empty because the bid strategy is recalibrating bids based on the new information.  Wait a while and then check the column again.

If a bid strategy has Target CPA + position constraint + bid limits, what does target bid show?
The max CPC that the bid strategy would set if there were no bid limits and no position constraint (in other words, purely a Target CPA bid strategy). In this case, target bid shows what we would bid if there were no secondary constraints and only a primary goal. This is the same for ERS and Floodlight bid strategies.

If a bid strategy has primary position goal + bid limits, what does the target bid show?
The max CPC that the bid strategy would set if there were no bid limits, but just a position goal.