The bid is how much you offer in each auction. The bidding strategy is who decides that figure and on what basis: you by hand, or Google with a target you give it. In 2026 almost every serious account uses some form of automated bidding, but knowing what each strategy does is essential in order to choose well and to understand what is going on when the numbers change.
The map
| Strategy | Who bids | Optimises towards | Needs | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual CPC | You, per keyword | Nothing: your own judgement | Time and data | Very small accounts, or full control in tests |
| Enhanced CPC (ECPC) | You + Google's adjustment | Conversions, starting from your bid | Conversion tracking | Moving from manual to automated |
| Maximize clicks | The most clicks your budget can buy | Nothing | Pure traffic, with no conversion tracking (early stage) | |
| Target impression share | Appearing in a % of auctions in a given position | Nothing | Brand and visibility, not profitability | |
| Maximize conversions | Google (Smart Bidding) | The most conversions your budget can buy | Conversion tracking | Lead generation with no value per lead, budget as the limit |
| Target CPA | Google (Smart Bidding) | Maximum conversions at an average cost per conversion | Conversion tracking (ideally ≥ 30/month) | Lead generation with a clear target cost |
| Maximize conversion value | Google (Smart Bidding) | The highest total value your budget can buy | Conversion values | Ecommerce with no fixed ROAS |
| Target ROAS | Google (Smart Bidding) | Maximum value at an average return | Conversion values (ideally ≥ 50 conv/month) | Ecommerce and businesses with a value per conversion |
«Smart Bidding» is Google's name for the last four: they bid for conversions or value using signals from each auction (device, time of day, location, history, browser, intent...) that no person could process. A note on naming: «Maximize conversions with a target CPA» and «Target CPA» are now the same thing; likewise «Maximize conversion value with a target ROAS» and «Target ROAS».
With a target or without: the difference
- Without a target (Maximize conversions / Maximize conversion value): Google tries to spend the whole budget getting as much as it can. The budget is the brake. Useful for getting going and building up data; dangerous if the budget is generous, because it will spend it even if the CPA goes through the roof.
- With a target (Target CPA / Target ROAS): Google chases the average cost or return you give it and may spend less than the budget if it cannot find auctions that meet it. The target is the brake. This is the «grown-up» mode for an account with data.
What to choose depending on the stage
- New account, no conversion tracking yet: Maximize clicks (or Manual CPC if the account is very small) for the first few weeks, while you install tracking. The goal is data, not profitability.
- Tracking installed, few conversions (< 30/month): Maximize conversions with no target, on a contained budget. Let it build up.
- 30+ conversions a month: Target CPA (lead generation) or Target ROAS (ecommerce with values), set from the actual CPA/ROAS of the last few weeks, not the one you wish for (lesson 4).
- Brand: Target impression share (90% at the top of the page, say) is legitimate: there you want to be present, not to optimise.
Portfolio bidding
Smart Bidding strategies can be applied to several campaigns at once (a portfolio strategy): a single target CPA for a group of campaigns. Advantage: the algorithm pools the data from all of them and learns sooner. It is the way to run Smart Bidding on small campaigns that on their own would never reach the volume.
💡 Ninja trick: the strategy decides how Google bids, but the result depends on what you teach it to chase (the tracking) and on how much you ask of it (the target). Three out of four «Smart Bidding doesn't work for me» cases are dirty tracking or impossible targets. Our Smart Bidding (SBNS) judges each campaign by its real business goal, not by what the strategy claims to be chasing, and moves budgets and targets gradually — the work we'll see at Intermediate level.
What you should remember
- Manual and «Maximize clicks» buy traffic; Smart Bidding buys conversions or value.
- Without a target = the budget is the brake. With a target = the target is the brake.
- Stages: clicks → Maximize conversions → Target CPA/ROAS once you have 30+ conversions a month.
- Portfolios pool the data of several campaigns: Smart Bidding for small accounts.