A Guide to Google Ads Bidding Strategies
When you’re running Google Ads, how you set your bids can make the difference between steady growth and wasted spend. For years, advertisers relied on manual bidding, adjusting costs themselves keyword by keyword.
But then came Smart Bidding: Google’s AI-powered system that uses machine learning to adjust bids in real time. Instead of you making every decision, Smart Bidding looks at thousands of signals — location, device, time of day, even audience behavior — and decides how much to bid for each auction.
Both approaches have their place. The real question is: which one fits your goals right now?
What Is Manual Bidding?
Full control but with more work. Manual bidding means you’re in the driver’s seat. You decide the maximum CPC (cost per click) for each keyword, ad group, or campaign. You can also add bid adjustments based on devices, locations, or times of day. That makes it great for small campaigns, early testing, or advertisers who want to see clearly how each keyword is performing.
But the tradeoff is time and limits. Manually checking performance and adjusting bids can feel endless. And while you’re adjusting for obvious factors like device or location, Google’s algorithm is already weighing dozens of hidden signals you’ll never see. The bigger your campaigns get, the faster manual bidding shifts from helpful to overwhelming.
Why people like it:
Control. You know exactly how much you’re bidding and can fine-tune based on performance.
Clarity. It’s straightforward and easy to understand where your money is going.
Testing-friendly. Great for smaller campaigns or accounts where you want to test keywords before scaling.
Where it falls short:
Time-intensive. Manual bidding requires frequent monitoring and adjustments.
Limited signals. You only adjust based on a few factors (like device or location) — you can’t realistically keep up with the dozens of signals Google evaluates in real time.
Scalability issues. Works fine for a handful of campaigns, but managing at scale quickly becomes overwhelming.
What Is Smart Bidding?
Smart Bidding is Google’s automated bidding system powered by machine learning. The system uses your past data and real-time signals to set bids at the moment of each auction. You can still point it in the right direction by choosing strategies like Target CPA (cost per action), Target ROAS (return on ad spend), or Maximize Conversions.
The promise here is efficiency. Smart Bidding saves time, scales easily across big campaigns, and reacts in ways a human never could. But it’s not magic. It needs enough conversion data to learn, and in the beginning, it can feel unpredictable. Some advertisers also struggle with the lack of transparency — you can’t always see why Google chose a certain bid, only the results it produces.
Why people use it:
Real-time optimization. Google adjusts bids in the moment, something humans can’t do at scale.
Goal-driven. You can choose strategies like Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, or Target ROAS depending on your objectives.
Saves time. Once set up, it requires less manual tweaking and frees you up to focus on strategy and creative.
Where it falls short:
Data-hungry. Smart Bidding needs enough conversion data to optimize well. Without it, results can be inconsistent.
Less transparency. You don’t always see why Google chose a certain bid, which can be frustrating if you like control.
Learning period. It can take time to stabilize. Early on, performance may dip before improving
How Do You Choose?
Manual bidding still has its place in Google Ads. If your campaign is small, your budget is limited, or you’re testing new keywords, manual bidding gives you a steady hand on the wheel. It’s most useful when data is too thin for Smart Bidding to make accurate decisions and you need tight control over spend.
But once you’ve built reliable conversion tracking and enough history to feed the algorithm, Smart Bidding usually pulls ahead. Automation shines when you’re scaling across multiple channels, targeting larger audiences, or managing higher budgets. Instead of babysitting every keyword, you get to focus on the bigger picture: refining your strategy, testing new creative, and driving growth. It’s especially powerful for e-commerce and lead-gen accounts where conversions are clearly defined and consistent.
The good news? It doesn’t have to be an either-or choice. Many advertisers blend both strategies: starting with manual bidding to gather data, then shifting to Smart Bidding once campaigns gain traction. Some even run them side by side — manual for experiments, Smart Bidding for proven winners. The key is knowing when each approach serves your goals best.
Neither method is “better” in every case. Manual bidding gives you control. Smart Bidding gives you scale. The smartest advertisers know when to use one, when to use the other, and how to blend both as their campaigns grow. At the end of the day, the “right” strategy is the one that makes your budget work smarter, not harder.
Still unsure which method fits your goals?
You don’t have to figure it out alone — here’s where to start.
Take the Google Ads Masterclass at your own pace and turn guesswork into growth
Check out 5 Common Google Ads Mistakes (And How to Fix Them for Better Results) to make sure you’re not wasting budget before you even set bids.
Still unsure where to start? Book a discovery call and I’ll help you map out the right bidding strategy for your business goals.