Google Ads announced a number of updates and changes this morning including changes to bidding target optimization, expanding access to Smart Bidding Exploration and promotion mode beta rolling out. My biggest concern is with bidding target optimization, as Google said it will deliver more predictable performance campaigns with fixed spending limits.
Bidding Target Optimization
Google will be changing how bidding target optimization works with the goal to "deliver more predictable performance in line with your bidding targets, especially as you scale your campaign." These changes will start rolling out on August 17 and take a few weeks to fully roll out.
The changes are documented in this help document, Google wrote:
If you have a campaign that’s limited by budget that has historically overachieved its stated target, you may experience performance volatility if you don’t make any changes to the campaign before August 17.For example, if your campaign's Target CPA is $10, but your recent actual CPA performance is $5, your campaign will deliver more closely to a $10 actual CPA starting August 17, 2026. Update your target to $5 to maintain your recent performance or to a target CPA of your choosing based on your business goals.
For multi-channel campaigns like Performance Max and Demand Gen, you may also see shifts in how traffic is distributed across different channels.
Because the system will optimize more consistently toward the target you entered, campaigns currently performing more efficiently than their set targets may see campaign performance trending toward your set target.
Google warned that "you may need to adjust your campaigns' CPA or ROAS targets to make sure they reflect your business goals." Google will show notifications in your Google Ad dashboard as soon as July 6th if you need to make adjustments to your campaign related to the updates to bidding target optimization.
Smart Bidding Exploration Expands
Google is expanding access to Smart Bidding Exploration. Now, all Performance Max campaigns without a product feed will have access to this bidding option. Google also enabled Smart Bidding Exploration beta for Shopping ads on both Performance Max campaigns with a product feed and Shopping campaigns.
Promotion Mode Beta
Last September, we saw some advertisers show they had access to the promotion mode option and now Google announced it is "launching promotion mode in beta" to more advertisers. Google said this is "to help you capture more queries and conversions during demand spikes."
This feature lets you schedule temporary changes to your ROAS tolerance and add extra daily budget during peaking periods, helping you maximize performance during seasonal events, flash sales, product launches, and more.
Promotion mode lets you set temporary changes to your ROAS tolerance and add extra daily budget during peak periods. This beta is available for Search and Performance Max campaigns.
Forum discussion at X.
