How to audit bidding strategies in Google Ads

Things to consider when auditing a Google Ads account bidding strategy

Search for recent changes in bidding strategy
Consider if the bidding strategy had enough time to run
Analyze CPC fluctuation before and after the learning period
Analyze clicks fluctuation before and after the learning period
Analyze CTR fluctuation before and after the learning period
Adjust for conversion delays
Consider that a number of factors will affect your results over a period of time [eg seasonal trends]
Establish a baseline for the bidding strategy’s performance
Make sure that you have enough data to evaluate the bidding strategy’s performance

Now let’s see what each strategy is and what it does

Target cost per Acquisition [tCPA]

tCPA is designed to spend the stated daily budget while driving as many conversions as possible at the CPA defined by the marketer.
This smart bidding strategy will strive to bring conversions and ignore the value of the conversions.

Do note that the daily budget needed for successful training “should” be around 10-20 times the target CPA.

Target return on ad spend [tROAS]

Target ROAS is a bidding strategy focused on conversion value over conversion volume. The strategy needs conversion values to be properly tracked in order to bring the best possible results.

Maximize clicks

‘Maximize clicks’ is a bidding strategy that allows campaigns to generate a large amount of data in a relatively short period of time. This objective is aimed at new accounts that need data before conversions.

Maximize conversions

This bidding strategy is ideal for campaigns that have the same conversion values. The strategy will attempt to drive as many conversions as possible within budget.

Target impression share

Target Impression share is a bidding strategy that helps advertisers achieve the desired impression share in the desired location within the budget. Eg 100% Absolute Top of the page.

Manual bidding

Manual bidding is a bidding strategy that is perfect for new accounts as well as old accounts. Manual bidding allows the marketer to adjust bids on devices, Audiences, Locations, Time, Age, Genders, etc. This bidding strategy allows for ultimate control and cost-effective experimentation.

Enhanced CPC [ECPC]

Enhanced CPC is a bidding strategy that helps you get more conversions from manual bidding. ECPC will automatically adjust the bids for clicks that are more or less likely lead to the desired outcome [eg conversions]. The difference between ECPC and other Smart bidding campaigns is that ECPC partially automates your manual bids by adjusting your max CPC [including the bid adjustments you have made]

Cost-per-view-bidding CPV

It is the default bidding strategy for TrueView video ads. With CPV bidding you’ll pay for video views or interactions[clicks, CTAs, overlays, cards, and companion banners). A view is counted when someone watches 30s of your ad or interacts with your ad.

If you want to know more about Google Ads audits, then visit the following link

Google Ads Audit guide & free [Notion & Google Sheets] template

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