Definition
A bid strategy is the rule that decides what you pay for each auction. Manual strategies set a cost you control directly. Automated strategies such as Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value let the platform set every bid using its own signals. The trade is control for signal: the platform sees things about the user at auction time that you never will.
What to know
Automated bidding runs on your conversion data, so the quality of that data caps the performance available. A campaign optimising toward a mistracked or very low volume conversion event will bid confidently toward the wrong outcome.
Changing strategy resets the learning phase, and every reset buys you a stretch of unstable delivery. Frequent switching is one of the most common ways an account is kept permanently in the least efficient state it has.
Related terms
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