In PPC advertising, the difference between a profitable campaign and a money drain often comes down to your bidding strategy. Knowing when and how to adjust bids can dramatically improve return on ad spend (ROAS), especially as competition intensifies and automation becomes more prevalent. This post breaks down the scenarios and signals that should prompt bid changes—and how to act without overreacting.
When Should You Adjust Bids?
Bid adjustments aren’t meant to be daily guesswork. Instead, they should be data-informed and aligned with specific goals. Here are key moments when a bid adjustment is worth considering:
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Performance Thresholds: If certain keywords or placements are consistently underperforming (e.g. CPA is 30% higher than average), consider lowering bids or pausing them.
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High-Value Conversions: Increase bids on campaigns or segments that drive high-margin conversions.
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Time-Based Trends: Use time-of-day and day-of-week performance data to set ad schedules and modify bids accordingly.
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Seasonal Peaks: Leading up to promotional events or holidays, temporary bid increases can capture higher-intent traffic.
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Device Performance Variance: If mobile outperforms desktop (or vice versa), adjust device bids to prioritize better-performing traffic.
Manual vs. Automated Bid Adjustments
Google Ads offers automated bidding strategies like Target CPA, Maximize Conversions, and ROAS. However, there’s still a place for manual bid adjustments, especially when:
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You're managing a tight budget and want full control.
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You’re in a testing phase for new keywords or audiences.
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You’ve identified clear patterns that automation hasn’t adapted to yet.
If you're using Smart Bidding, your role shifts from adjusting individual bids to feeding the algorithm better signals, such as robust conversion tracking, clean audience segments, and high-quality creatives.
How to Identify Opportunities for Bid Adjustment
To avoid over-managing your campaigns, look for these actionable signals:
1. Search Term Report
This report often reveals irrelevant traffic. For low-intent queries with clicks but no conversions, lower the bid or add as negative keywords.
2. Geographic Performance
If certain locations convert at higher rates, use location bid adjustments to direct spend there.
3. Audience Segments
Use audience insights in Google Ads to evaluate how different segments (e.g., affinity, in-market, remarketing lists) are performing, and adjust bids accordingly.
4. Impression Share Loss
If your ads are losing impression share due to rank (especially on high-intent keywords), consider boosting bids or improving Quality Score.
Bid Adjustment Best Practices
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Use Percentage-Based Changes: Instead of making large jumps, start with ±10–20% adjustments and monitor results over a few days.
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Avoid Knee-Jerk Reactions: Don’t make changes based on single-day or limited data. Use at least 7–14 days of performance history for reliable trends.
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Set Bid Modifiers in Layers: Combine bid modifiers (device + location + schedule + audience) strategically for compound impact.
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Monitor Quality Score: Sometimes poor performance isn’t a bid issue but a relevance problem. Improve ad copy or landing pages before blindly increasing bids.
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Use Experiment Campaigns: If you're unsure whether a bid change will help, set up a Google Ads experiment to test before applying platform-wide.
Bonus Tip: Leverage Google Ads Scripts & Rules
If you manage multiple campaigns or large accounts, use automated rules or scripts to:
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Pause high CPA keywords.
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Raise bids when conversion rates spike.
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Adjust bids on schedule (e.g., increase during lunch hours).
Automation doesn't eliminate strategy—it amplifies your inputs when used well.
Final Thoughts
Effective bid adjustments are part science, part art. Use available performance data to spot inefficiencies, set smarter bid modifiers, and align your strategy with business goals. Whether you're working with manual bidding or leveraging automation, the key is to stay proactive—not reactive.
If you’re struggling with granular control while managing across multiple channels, a tool like AdsPolar can help consolidate data and streamline adjustments for better campaign efficiency.