Google Ads Bidding Strategies

1. Manual bidding

Manual bidding is relatively labor intensive, but it also puts a great deal of control into the hands of the ads manager.

Manual bidding allows ads managers to determine their maximum cost-per-click (CPC) bid. This is the largest amount you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad. Sometimes, the actual CPC will be less, but it will never surpass the max. CPC. 

How can you decide what CPC bid to set? 

Manual bidding requires a level of bid monitoring experience to execute. Thankfully, Google provides a number of tools to help marketers identify the best max. CPC to set.

• When you first select the Manual CPC bidding strategy, Google provides a default max. CPC bid. This can then be adjusted depending on your comfort level.
• Bid Simulator allows marketers to run “what-if” scenarios if a bid had been higher or lower.
• Keyword Planner helps marketers estimate a CPC based on particular keywords.
• First-page bid estimates provide an estimate on how much a marketer would have to bid to reach the first page of Google.

Because internet traffic is always changing, and CPC for particular keywords with it, it is crucial for marketers to consistently monitor and re-evaluate max CPC bids. To help soften these changes, marketers can set bid adjustments that increase or decrease max. CPC bids depending on searches taking place.

Ultimately, Google will charge you for an actual CPC. Google states:

"Actual CPC is often less than max. CPC because with the Google Ads auction, the most you'll pay is what's minimally required to clear the Ad Rank thresholds and beat the AdRank of the competitor immediately below you (if any)."

2. Automated bidding

The last four automated bidding goals listed above are labeled “Smart Bidding.” Google states:

"Smart Bidding is a set of conversion-based bid strategies—Target CPA, Target ROAS and Enhanced CPC—that use advanced machine learning to help you tailor the right bid to each and every auction. It factors in a wide range of auction-time signals including device, location, time of day, remarketing list, language, and operating system to capture the unique context of every search."

3. A manual-automated combo

Manual-automated combo is not an “official” Google Ads bidding strategy, but it’s one we often employ at RivalMind. There is much benefit to letting Google's algorithms work to your advantage. Having the Ads platform utilize AI learning to optimize across your campaigns alongside the watchful eye of an expert for negative keyword adjustments and audience-based, manual bidding strategy is typically a recipe for success. Google Ads are not a hands-off marketing tool. To achieve the best results from your campaigns, completely automated bidding should not be implicitly trusted.

For most of our client’s campaigns, we choose the best of Google’s automated bidding options for a particular goal – and regularly adjust campaign focuses. As your goals change and your campaigns gather data, your bidding strategy should too. This is where experience and expertise play an important role in getting great results.

The manual-automated approach allows Google’s automated systems to select the best CPC for your campaigns while a professional strategist is guiding the process.

1. Gradually increase your ad spend

2. Don't start with maximized conversions