Question

How can I reign in google spend? Bid strategy: target cpa Daily budget: $90 CPA set at $50 Spending $150 for a conversion Campaign has 6 conversions. Seems not smart enough to know that the clicks aren’t converting at the price I need, but how to I keep it from almost doubling my budget while it learns?  

Answer 1

Don’t use maximize conversions they are for idiots. Instead learn how to use dynamic keyword insertion and ad customizers to make more relevant and targeted ads. when the ad works the conversions will happen

Comments

@berar max conversion is not for idiots. It has its place but gets overused

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It’s promoted by google stay far away from it

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@berar maximize conversions works well for me

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@berar the campaign is currently set up with keywords being sent to landing pages with matching headlines. Did max conversions for a week and it just spent like crazy with little results so I changed it.  

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@aeolis do you know their is a top of page bid column in google ads that lets you know what it cost to bid at the top? Compare that number to your cost per click

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@coleencolella even a broken clock is right twice a day

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@aeolis no you only shift to max conversion when youre already getting stable conversions if not yet then yiu better use the ecpc

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@berar someone told me that once but I don’t know where. I’m still pretty geeen

Answer 2

Too low of a daily budget to have a target CPA of $50. I’d switch to manual bidding on that budget

Answer 3

Too little data for automated bidding. Do manual with enhanced cpc. Google will push automation incessantly once you have enough data. Make sure you've got your negative keyword list set up, and following search queries daily to find new ones. Set your ad schedules and make sure your geo targeting is correct.  

Answer 4

If you want to give the algorithm a real learning curve and enough space to get that CPA, your daily budget should be at least 10x factor of tCPA. So, tCPA set at $50 would have optimal daily budget at $500. What you could do, is set up the same type of campaign setting as you currently have and run with maximize conversions. You might get better results.  

Comments

He would need at least 30 monthly conversions for the maximize conversions strategy to work as effectively as possible. I'd go with eCPC for starters here. 2736 USD is a decent enough budget to do a lot with it is your goal is 50 USD CPA.  

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Until he does not test it, he will not know.  

Answer 5

Thanks everyone

Answer 6

A/B test bid strategies to find what is most effective and efficient for your campaigns. Every data set is different so pro/con comments about experience with bid strategies doesn't help move you closer to your ideal solution.  

Answer 7

Keep running manual CPC until google recommends automated bidding.