What Is Bid Strategy?
Also written as bidding strategy, bidding strategies, Google Ads bidding.
Definition
A bid strategy is the rule that tells Google Ads how to bid for you in each auction. It might aim for conversions, conversion value, clicks or visibility. For an ecommerce store, the usual choice is a Smart Bidding strategy that aims for sales value, such as Maximize Conversion Value or target ROAS.
Written by Christopher Krassnig, Founder & CEO of ZenoX Media. Written by the ZenoX team from the accounts we run. Definitions are general; the numbers in examples are maths, not client results.
Bid Strategy, Explained
Every campaign needs a way to set bids. Google says it offers "several bid strategies that are tailored to different types of campaigns" (checked 5 November 2026). The right pick starts with your goal.
For sales: Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Target CPA and Target ROAS. These are Smart Bidding, where Google sets the bid for each auction from its signals.
For clicks: Maximize Clicks, Target CPC and Manual CPC. With Manual CPC, you set the max bids yourself.
For visibility: Target Impression Share, which aims for a spot on the results page.
For views: CPM and CPV, used on Display and video.
A store usually wants sales value, because a 200 dollar order beats a 20 dollar order. Maximize Conversion Value spends the budget to bring in the most sales value. A target ROAS adds a return goal on top.
A tight target with no data is a fast way to stall a campaign. Smart Bidding learns from your conversions. A new account has none, so the campaign can stall and spend nothing. Start without a target. Add one when you have sales data, and base it on your break-even ROAS.
Do not change strategy every few days either. Each big change can restart the learning.
How We Use It at ZenoX
We start feed-only Performance Max on Maximize Conversion Value with no target. A target comes later, once there is enough sales data and we have read break-even ROAS. Brand Search is different: it runs on Manual CPC, or Maximize Clicks with a max CPC limit, because those clicks should stay cheap.
Questions People Ask About Bid Strategy
What Is the Best Bid Strategy for a New Ecommerce Store?
For a new feed-only Performance Max campaign, we start with Maximize Conversion Value and no target. A tight target with no data can stop the campaign from spending. Add a target ROAS later, once you have sales data, and set it from your break-even ROAS.
What Is the Difference Between Smart Bidding and Manual CPC?
With Smart Bidding, Google sets the bid for each auction to chase your conversion goal. With Manual CPC, you set the max bids yourself. Manual gives you more direct control but less use of Google's signals. Most stores use Smart Bidding once tracking works.
Related terms
- Smart BiddingSmart Bidding is Google's automatic bidding.
- Target ROASTarget ROAS is a Google Ads bid strategy that tries to get a return you type in, as a percentage of spend.
- Break-Even ROASBreak-even ROAS is the return on ad spend you must hit before a sale makes any profit.
- Learning PhaseThe learning phase is the stretch after a big change when Smart Bidding is still guessing.
Go deeper
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