Bidding Strategies

Maximize Conversions vs Maximize Conversion Value: Count or Worth

In short: Maximize Conversions treats every conversion as one unit and buys as many as the budget allows. Maximize Conversion Value reads the value you send with each conversion and buys the biggest total, paying more for auctions it predicts will produce large orders. The switch is a data decision before it is a strategy decision.

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

Maximize Conversion Value

Automated Google strategy that pursues the highest total conversion value within the budget, with an optional target ROAS to constrain efficiency.

It needs genuinely different values passed with your conversions, otherwise every conversion looks identical and it degenerates into Maximize Conversions. Ecommerce accounts and lead-gen accounts with scored leads use it to push toward high-value orders rather than cheap ones. The usual failure is a hard-coded value on the conversion action, which makes the value model meaningless while reports still display a confident ROAS figure.

Full definition

Maximize Conversions

Automated Google strategy that spends the full daily budget chasing the highest conversion count, with an optional target CPA to constrain cost.

Bids are computed at auction time from signals Google holds, and the budget becomes the real control lever because the strategy is built to spend it. Add a target CPA once conversion data is steady and you want cost discipline. The recurring mistake is switching to it while conversion tracking is broken or counting the wrong action, which trains the system to buy more of something worthless.

Full definition

Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

	Maximize Conversion Value	Maximize Conversions
Optimizes for	Total conversion value.	Conversion count.
Data requirement	Real, varied values sent with each conversion.	Working conversion tracking; values optional.
Optional target field	Target ROAS, entered as a percentage.	Target CPA, entered as a currency amount.
Treats conversions as	Different sized outcomes worth different prices.	Interchangeable events worth the same effort.
Expected effect on CPA	Rises, because larger orders justify higher bids.	Held down, since every conversion counts equally.
Failure mode	A hard-coded value on the conversion action, which collapses it into counting.	Optimizing toward a cheap conversion action the business does not value.

What actually separates them.

Value bidding changes which conversions the campaign chases, not just how it bids, so the mix of products, geographies, and audiences usually shifts visibly.

Maximize Conversion Value with one flat value per action is Maximize Conversions with extra reporting, and the ROAS figure it displays is a restatement of conversion count.

A rising cost per conversion under value bidding is expected, which means the yardstick has to change with the strategy or you will judge it as a failure.

Target CPA lives inside Maximize Conversions and target ROAS inside Maximize Conversion Value, so the strategy choice determines which constraint is even available.

Conversion count strategies tend to favor cheap, fast converting segments, which is exactly the traffic value bidding will trade away for fewer, larger outcomes.

Which one should you use?

Use Maximize Conversion Value when

Order values or deal sizes vary widely and real amounts reach the account.
Margins differ enough by product that a conversion count misrepresents the result.
Offline imports carry scored lead values or closed deal amounts.
You are accountable for revenue and return rather than lead volume.

Use Maximize Conversions when

Every conversion is worth roughly the same: a booked call, a demo, a trial signup.
No reliable value can be attached at conversion time, and none is coming soon.
You manage to a cost ceiling agreed with finance rather than a margin ratio.
Conversion volume is modest, and splitting it across value predictions would thin the signal further.

Common questions.

How do I know if my conversion values are good enough for value bidding?

Segment recent conversions by value and look at the spread. If most sit at one number, the value stream is a placeholder rather than data, and value bidding has nothing to work with. You also want values that match what the business recognizes as revenue, in the right currency, with test and duplicate conversions excluded.

Will switching to value bidding reduce my conversion count?

Usually yes. The bidder concentrates spend on fewer, larger conversions, so count falls while total value holds or rises. That is the trade being made deliberately. It only signals a problem if total conversion value falls as well, which normally points to bad value data or a target set above what the account has achieved.

Can I use scored lead values instead of revenue?

Yes, and for lead generation it is often the only way to make value bidding work. The scores must reflect something real, such as qualification rate or historic closed value by segment, and they must vary. Inventing a scale to satisfy the strategy trains the model on your assumptions rather than on your business.

Or stop choosing between them.

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