Smart Bidding

At each auction, Smart Bidding uses signals no person can see, such as device, location, time, audience and the search itself, to bid for the chance of a conversion. On most accounts with good tracking, it beats manual bids.

It learns from conversions, so it is only as good as the tracking. Dead goals, double counts and fixed values teach it the wrong things very efficiently.

1. Open a campaign, then Settings, then Bidding.
2. Smart Bidding strategies are Maximize conversions, Maximize conversion value, Target CPA and Target ROAS.
3. Check the strategy status for Learning or Limited.
4. Check the primary conversion actions it aims at.

An account moves to Smart Bidding after fixing a duplicate purchase action. Bidding now learns from real sales, and cost per sale falls over the following month.

• Switching on Smart Bidding with broken or doubled tracking.
• Using it on brand campaigns without a cap.
• Changing targets every few days.

The audit checks Oppy runs on this, each with its own page.

• A target set before the bidding has enough to learn from
• A brand campaign letting Google decide what your own name is worth
• A goal Google is aiming at that has never been hit

• Target CPA: A bid target for the average cost per conversion.
• Target ROAS: A bid target for the average return on ad spend.
• Learning period: The time Smart Bidding needs to recalibrate after a new strategy or a large change.