Inside Google Ads podcast: Episode 26 - Bidding Without Conversions

Never include Display Network in a Search campaign. Always ensure Auto-Apply Recommendations are turned off. 

There are a few absolutes in Google Ads that most practitioners will agree on, but there are far more that we all disagree on or will say, “It depends” or “More context is needed.” 

I started my content creation journey on TikTok, where context is lacking and absolutes get attention. So I've said things over the years like, “Manual bidding in Google Ads is a mistake” and I've meant it. I'm not going to lie for cheap attention. But of course, it usually does depend. And context is helpful. 

So today, we're going to answer your questions about using Google Ads bid strategies that don't focus on conversions. Is it really always a mistake? 

I'm your host, Jyll Saskin Gales. I spent six years working for big brands at Google, and now I work for you.

This is Inside Google Ads, Episode 26, Bidding Without Conversions. 

Our first question comes from dvniel_xv on Instagram, and they say, I have a question. What's the better strategy if you want your ads to be shown on a specific placement, CPM or Max Clicks? 

So firstly, Daniel, I just wouldn't do this, personally, as a strategy, but I will answer this question anyway to push myself, and because I know a lot of people like to try something like this out. 

Picking a placement means you are choosing a specific website you want your ad to show on, or a specific app or YouTube channel, and you can do this with Display campaigns and Video campaigns. 

Now, if you're picking placements, and you're deciding between a Target CPM strategy or Max Clicks, that means that your goal is not conversions or sales. It is visibility in a certain spot. 

Given that goal of visibility, Target CPM, an Impression-based bid strategy, would be the best fit. Many campaign types won't allow this, so you wouldn't even be able to choose Max Clicks or Target CPM as your bid strategy, but assuming you can, and with a visibility goal, I’d say Target CPM.

I'm going to guess that at the end of the day, the way you're going to judge this campaign's success, whether it gets to stay enabled or gets paused, is by its ROAS or by its CPA, not by your cost per impression. So because of that, I would go with a Conversion-based Smart Bidding strategy, and I would not try to pick specific placements for my campaign. 

But that's just me. If you're going to go for it, by all means, go for it. 

Now, before we get to our second question, I'm getting to you a little bit late on this one because I do record these episodes in advance. But while you're listening, yesterday marked the return of PPC Zone. PPC Zone is a free online event I founded in 2022 to elevate new insights and perspectives in the PPC industry. Anyone can attend, anyone can apply to speak, and yesterday we had three stellar speakers sharing their expertise in Google Analytics 4, setting objectives, and shopping feed optimization. 

I'm finalizing the schedule right now for next month's event. By the time you hear this, you should have a date for next month's event. And since you're already listening to or watching this podcast, you can open up your podcast app, search for PPC Zone, and tap follow or subscribe on the PPC Zone podcast. There you'll catch the recording of every event within a week of the live broadcast. 

If you'd like to join us live for a future PPC Zone, your best bet is to follow me on LinkedIn or YouTube, as that's where we broadcast. The links for both are in the episode description. 

If you'd like to speak at an upcoming PPC Zone, you can apply on our website, ppc.zone. Everyone who applies will get a chance to speak. I hope to see you there. 

Our next question today comes from adwordsnur on Instagram, and they ask, can I use Target Impression Share for Google Maps Ads? 

This question is actually more complex than it seems, so let's start with Google Maps ads. That's not actually a campaign type. To show your ads on Google Maps, you need to connect your Google Business Profile to Google Ads and ensure the location asset is enabled. Search campaigns can show ads on Google Maps, which means PMax can as well, because Google Maps - fun fact - is considered part of the Search network. So it's not a Search Partner, it's considered part of Google Search. 

You can't use Target Impression Share with Performance Max. This bid strategy is actually only available for Search campaigns on the Search Network. 

So to answer your question, yes, you can use Target Impression Share to show ads on Google Maps, but the way you're going to do that is by creating a Search campaign with location assets. That'll make it eligible to show ads on Google Maps. And then for your Search campaign, you can choose the Target Impression Share bid strategy. But note, as I said, you can't just run Google Maps ads, so that means that the Maps placements would just make up a portion of your Search campaign spend. 

If you need some help with the nitty-gritty of Google Ads, you can book a one-on-one call with me. I've actually had three different coaching clients in the last month book a call with me after saying, “Hey, I was listening to your podcast and I heard XYZ and booked a call.” And that is so cool! Thank you for listening. I'm here if you ever need help. 

You can learn more info about booking a call with me at my website, jyll.ca. That's J-Y-L-L dot C-A and the direct link is in the episode description. 

Our final question today comes from theujjwalbaranwal on Instagram, and they ask, what do you mean by Manual CPC bidding as a mistake? If not Manual, what do you suggest? 

So as I mentioned up top, in my videos that I have repurposed over the years across channels, I say that you shouldn't use Manual CPC bidding in Google Ads and that it's a mistake. You should use Smart Bidding instead. 

I know not everyone agrees with this, and of course, there are always exceptions, but Manual CPC just tries to get you cheap clicks. For most of us, our goal is leads, sales, and conversions. So why would you pick a bid strategy that's not aligned with your goals? 

That's like, let's say you're running a race. And a fact about you, you get embarrassed when people take pictures of you with big sweat stains. (Who doesn't?) So your coach says to you before you run this race, “Don't sweat! No matter what you do, don't sweat. Your objective here is not to sweat, and that way you can make sure that no pictures will be taken of you with sweat stains.”

So what would you do if you were running a race and told that your key objective is not to sweat? You would slow down, you would walk, you would stop to drink water and fan yourself. Then you might get to the finish line five hours later, sweat-free, but dead last in the race. And your coach would yell at you like, “Why did you keep stopping? Why were you so slow?!” And you're like, “I did exactly what you told me to! I didn't sweat. If you wanted me to run as fast as possible, I could have done that, but I would have sweat a lot. I was just following instructions.” 

And it's like, who cares about sweat stains in a race? Maybe in a black tie function or something where you don't want to have big pit stains. I get that. But in a race? Context is key here. Who cares? The point of a race is to win the race. 

Anyway, I got a little overly excited in that analogy, but setting a campaign on Manual CPC bidding is like telling a runner not to sweat during a race. Like, sure, you don't want to pay too much for your clicks. You know, sure, you prefer not to sweat. But in a race, the point is to finish first. In a campaign, the point is to get conversions. 

Don't focus on the wrong thing and don't tell Google Ads to focus on the wrong thing. It's not what you really care about, at the end of the day. And so that is why in most situations, I believe Manual CPC bidding in Google Ads is a mistake. 

Are there situations where you'll need a non-conversion-focused bid strategy? Of course. As I shared in Episode 15, my default is usually Maximize Conversions bidding, even with no conversion history, even with a new campaign. You can go listen to Episode 15 for more on why I say that, but I've still been on coaching calls where I'll set someone up with a Shopping campaign on Max Clicks, or we'll launch a Search campaign on Max Clicks. Context matters. When in doubt, though, my preference is always Smart Bidding, Maximize Conversions. 

Today's Insider Challenge is to come up with a scenario in which you would use a Manual bid strategy rather than a Smart Bidding strategy. Why would that be the right choice? 

You can participate by sending me your response to this challenge or any episode’s challenge. The beauty of the Insider Challenge is there's no right or wrong answer, just an opportunity to stretch your brain on real-life Google Ads problem solving. Shoot me an email at thegooglepro@jyll.ca, that's J-Y-L-L dot C-A, or send me a voice note in my Instagram DMs. I'm @the_google_pro on Instagram. 

Last episode's challenge was this. Say you have a client who is a high-growth startup. Their goal is to scale as large as possible, as fast as possible. Would this change how you think about the attribution model? What attribution models in Google Ads would you consider other than Data Driven Attribution? 

I'll keep my answer short here and just tell you what my colleagues at Google actually did with this client. That doesn't mean it's the right answer, it's just what actually happened in this example. 

So this client decided to switch from Last Click to First Click Attribution. If your goal is growth, you want those touch points that are introducing your brand, bringing new people, to get credit. This means that the challenges my colleagues faced with their client were totally different than the challenges we usually face. 

For example, having to convince their client to spend money on Remarketing and Brand Search because under First Click Attribution, of course, those tactics would look like they were doing terribly. But then having no problem pitching them on Competitor Search or Generic Search, because of course, in a First Click world, those tactics will look very profitable. 

And this was before Video campaigns were as common a tactic as they are now. I imagine that would have been a big part of it as well, because there was this First Click Attribution in place. So the bid strategy isn't the only way you tell Google what you're trying to achieve. Something as seemingly mundane as your attribution model can do that too, which is why I love this example. 

What do you think? Would you consider the same things or something totally different? 

Shoot me an email at thegooglepro@jyll.ca, that's J-Y-L-L dot C-A, or send me a voice note in my Instagram DMs. I'm @the_google_pro on Instagram. 

I'm Jyll Saskin Gales and I'll see you next time Inside Google Ads.

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