Okay, if you're running Google Ads with a Target CPA or Target ROAS goal AND your campaign is lim...Okay, if you're running Google Ads with a Target CPA or Target ROAS goal AND your campaign is lim...
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Michael F.'s avatar
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Michael F. Esan
• Aug 1
Okay, if you're running Google Ads with a Target CPA or Target ROAS goal AND your campaign is limited by budget, you need to read this before August 17th. This one actually matters.
Here's the deal: right now, if your campaign has a budget cap and a performance goal, Google's bidding algorithm quietly goes after the CHEAPEST conversions it can find within your budget. So if your Target CPA is set to $10, you might actually be getting $5 conversions. Feels great, right? Free upside.
Starting August 17th, that's going away.
Google is changing this so your campaign will actually trend TOWARD your set target, not undercut it. So if you're sitting at a $10 target but actually getting $5 CPA right now, expect that number to start creeping up toward $10 after the change. Same logic applies to ROAS, if your target is 200% but you're actually hitting 350%, expect that to drift back down toward 200% if you don't do anything.
Why is this happening? Google says it's about stability, apparently a lot of advertisers get spooked when they raise budgets and performance suddenly fluctuates. Might be true. It's also probably going to make Google more money, because more advertisers will end up bidding closer to what they said they were willing to pay, instead of quietly getting a discount. Both things can be true at once.
Here's the part that actually matters for you: this only affects campaigns that are BOTH limited by budget AND currently over-performing their goal. If your campaign isn't capped by budget, this change doesn't touch you.
So what do you actually do about it? If you're happy with your current performance (the good CPA/ROAS you're getting right now): → Increase your budget. That locks in more volume at the rate you're already happy with, instead of watching that rate quietly disappear.
If you're fine either way: → Adjust your target closer to what you're actually currently achieving. If your target's $50 but you're really getting $30, move the target down to $30 gradually — don't jump all at once, step it down over a week or two.
If you do nothing: → Your CPA/ROAS will likely drift toward your original target, meaning fewer conversions for the same spend. Quiet performance loss, no warning bells.
One more thing worth knowing, this could create a mild ripple effect across competitive auctions. If everyone bidding on the same keywords adjusts down to their real performance, things stay stable. But if even one competitor decides to keep their higher target and increase budget instead, they get more competitive in the auction, which can nudge costs up for everyone else too. Basically: how your competitors react matters just as much as how you react.
The businesses most likely to get blindsided by this are the ones NOT paying attention to their account regularly. If that's not you (and clearly it's not, you're reading this), you've got time to adjust before it happens.
Bottom line: go check your account today. Anything limited by budget with a goal that's over-performing, decide now: raise the budget, or adjust the target. Don't wait until August 17th to find out the hard way.
Follow along, more of these timely breakdowns coming. 👀
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