What are the benefits and drawbacks of using smart bidding for conversion tracking?

Time-management is definitely a benefit of smart bidding as it cuts down on the manual work and allows advertisers to focus more on guiding the performance of a campaign. It also allows marketers to tap into real-time signals happening in auctions to find efficiencies; avoiding instances of over or under bidding which can sometimes occur with manual bidding strategies. However, you do give up some key elements when using manual bidding. Control and experimentation are the biggest losses. At times it can feel like you are at the mercy of the machines and it becomes more difficult to tailor campaigns.

Smart bidding not only offers time efficiency but also brings a level of precision and adaptability to campaign management. By leveraging machine learning, it continuously refines bid strategies based on evolving market dynamics and user behaviour. This leads to more targeted and effective ad placements, ultimately enhancing campaign performance. While it does require a degree of trust in automated systems, the balance it strikes between efficiency and effectiveness makes smart bidding an invaluable tool in the modern advertiser's toolkit.

Drawbacks: 1. Learning Period: Requires time for algorithms to learn and optimize effectively. 2. Limited Control: Less transparency and control over individual bid adjustments compared to manual bidding. 3. Performance Variability: May experience fluctuations in performance as algorithms adapt to changes. 4. Dependency on Data Quality: Relies heavily on accurate conversion tracking data for optimal results.

Google's machine-learning models are insanely good. If you give it enough data, it can find the target audience you want, better than you can, with manual control. Hence, it is known as "efficient" - it can get you to the target audience, likely to convert, better than you can. And you do not have to spend more than 15 minutes looking at the data daily. But the exchange is that you don't know how it works. A black-box environment, so buyers beware!

Smart Bidding in Google Ads is much more than a performance booster; it's a strategic revolution in PPC campaign management. By leveraging Google AI for auction-time bidding, it offers a nuanced approach to bidding, considering a multitude of real-time signals like device and location. Machine learning algorithms underpinning Smart Bidding enable predictions and bid adjustments at a scale and complexity beyond human capacity. Additionally, its transparent performance reporting tools, like bid strategy reports and simulators, provide invaluable insights and facilitate effective comparisons with manual methods, empowering advertisers to fine-tune strategies for superior outcomes

Smart Bidding ≠ Panacea. Machine learning outputs are only as good as the inputs that it learns from so if your budget is spread too thin or you receive fewer than 1 conversion daily, you won't see the performance improvement you are looking for. To improve things: feed the algorithm with more data (e.g. soft conversions) or switch to manual CPC / max clicks

The data requirements for smart bidding is one of the main reasons small business and small budget businesses should be cautious about using them. If you're below the data thresholds for smart bidding you can see high volatility in campaign performance and you may struggle to drive the results you want.

Smart Bidding strategies like tCPA / tROAS let you overcome the $2 bid cap restriction for Google Grants accounts (for non-profits only). No-one is sure why this happens but it looks like the programme hasn't been updated since Google rolled out their new bid types