Bidding Strategies

Enhanced CPC vs Target Impression Share: Conversions or Position

In short: Enhanced CPC adjusted manual bids by conversion likelihood and has been retired on Search and Display. Target Impression Share ignores conversions entirely and bids up to a ceiling you set until it reaches a chosen position and share of impressions. One was a performance nudge, the other is a visibility purchase.

By the AdFlint research team · Fact-checked against current Google and Meta platform behavior · Last reviewed July 2026

Enhanced CPC

Legacy Google setting that raised or lowered manual bids at auction time based on conversion likelihood, now retired for Search and Display.

eCPC sat between manual and fully automated bidding, nudging your max CPC on each auction. Google wound it down and moved Search and Display campaigns onto Manual CPC, so campaigns still labeled eCPC in older exports no longer receive the adjustment. If a strategy document still references it, the current equivalent is Maximize Conversions with or without a target CPA, not a manual bid with a multiplier.

Full definition

Target Impression Share

Sets bids to reach a chosen share of impressions at a chosen page position, bounded by a maximum CPC ceiling you define.

You pick absolute top, top, or anywhere on the results page plus a percentage, and Google bids whatever is needed up to your ceiling. It is a visibility strategy, used mostly for brand defense and specific competitive terms where presence matters more than efficiency. The mistake is running it on non-brand terms with a high ceiling, since it buys position whether or not those impressions ever convert.

Full definition

Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

 Enhanced CPCTarget Impression Share
Status todayRetired for Search and Display.Live and supported.
GoalMore conversions from the same manual bids.A named position and share of eligible impressions.
Conversion dataRequired for the multiplier to act.Not used at all.
Cost controlYour base bid, adjusted at auction.A maximum CPC ceiling you must set yourself.
Where it belongsHistoric performance campaigns.Brand defense and a short list of must-win terms.
Replacement pathMaximize Conversions, with or without a target CPA.No replacement needed.

What actually separates them.

01

eCPC moved bids toward auctions predicted to convert, while target impression share moves them toward whatever position costs, regardless of outcome.

02

Target impression share keeps bidding up on terms that have never converted, a behavior eCPC's conversion weighting specifically avoided.

03

The max CPC ceiling is the only cost lever on target impression share, and it is the setting most often left far too generous.

04

A campaign migrated off eCPC now runs Manual CPC, which is a fixed price rather than a position chase, so the comparison people actually face is Manual CPC against target impression share.

05

The successor to eCPC is a Smart Bidding strategy; target impression share is not a performance strategy and should not be treated as an upgrade from it.

Which one should you use?

Use Enhanced CPC when

  • Reading performance history from before the wind-down.
  • Auditing a plan that still names eCPC as the configured strategy.
  • Reconciling third-party reports carrying stale labels.
  • No live configuration decision remains.

Use Target Impression Share when

  • A competitor is bidding on your brand and being absent from the top slot is costly.
  • A handful of high stakes commercial terms where missing the impression loses the deal.
  • A launch window where share of voice is genuinely the objective.
  • You have set a firm max CPC ceiling and will watch spend while it runs.

Common questions.

Can Target Impression Share replace eCPC on a performance campaign?

No. eCPC weighted bids by conversion likelihood; target impression share ignores conversion data completely and buys position instead. On non-brand terms that means paying for prominence on queries that have never produced a sale. The performance successor to eCPC is Maximize Conversions, optionally with a target CPA.

Should brand campaigns that ran eCPC move to Target Impression Share?

Sometimes. If a rival is bidding on your name and you were manually raising bids to hold the top slot, a position target automates that chase, provided the ceiling is deliberate. If nobody is attacking the term, a modest fixed bid usually holds the slot for less, and a position target simply raises what you pay.

Does buying more impression share improve Quality Score?

No. Impression share is bought with bids; Quality Score reflects expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience. Paying for position can mask a weak Quality Score temporarily, at a price, but the underlying diagnostics do not move because of a bid strategy change in either direction.

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