Bidding Strategies

Target CPA vs Maximize Conversion Value: Cost Cap or Revenue Goal

In short: Target CPA is the cost field inside Maximize Conversions, holding an average price per conversion and treating every conversion as equal. Maximize Conversion Value ignores conversion count and pursues total revenue, paying more for auctions predicted to produce larger orders. They cannot coexist in one campaign because they belong to different parent strategies.

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

Target CPA

Bids automatically toward a chosen average cost per conversion, letting individual conversions land above or below that number.

It now lives as a target field inside Maximize Conversions rather than a standalone strategy. Google bids up on auctions it expects to convert near your target and backs off elsewhere, so a target far below recent actual CPA simply throttles volume. Set it close to what the account already achieves, then move it in increments and let the learning period settle before judging the outcome.

Full definition

Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

 Maximize Conversion ValueTarget CPA
Optimizes forTotal conversion value within the budget.Conversion count at a stated average cost.
Where it livesA standalone strategy.A target field inside Maximize Conversions.
Values requiredYes, real and varied.No; every conversion counts the same.
Cost per conversionAllowed to rise when a bigger order is predicted.The constrained variable.
Constraint availableTarget ROAS, entered as a percentage.The target CPA itself.
Failure modeA hard-coded conversion value, which makes the strategy pointless.A target below achievable CPA, which throttles delivery.

What actually separates them.

01

A target CPA caps the average price of an outcome; value bidding deliberately breaks that cap whenever the predicted order justifies it.

02

Target CPA belongs to Maximize Conversions and cannot be applied to Maximize Conversion Value, so choosing one determines the parent strategy too.

03

Value bidding needs a working value stream in conversion tracking, which is a data project, while a target CPA needs only a reliable conversion action.

04

Under a target CPA the campaign avoids expensive segments; under value bidding it seeks them out when they buy more, which usually reorders the whole traffic mix.

05

Reporting has to change with the strategy, since a value bidding campaign that looks expensive on cost per conversion can be the more profitable of the two.

Which one should you use?

Use Maximize Conversion Value when

  • Order values vary widely and real amounts reach the account with each purchase.
  • Margins differ enough by product that counting conversions misstates the outcome.
  • Offline imports carry scored lead values or closed deal amounts.
  • You would rather have fewer large orders than many small ones.

Use Target CPA when

  • Every conversion is worth about the same, such as a booked call or demo request.
  • Finance manages to a cost ceiling per acquisition rather than a margin ratio.
  • No usable value exists at conversion time and none is being built.
  • Volume is modest and a value model would have too little signal to work with.

Common questions.

Can I cap cost per conversion while running value bidding?

Not with a target CPA, which belongs to Maximize Conversions. Value bidding constrains through target ROAS instead, and a portfolio strategy adds bid limits if you need a hard price ceiling. Bear in mind that capping price fights the strategy, since the auctions predicted to produce the largest orders are usually the expensive ones.

My CPA jumped after moving from a target CPA to value bidding. Should I revert?

Not on that number alone. Value bidding is allowed to pay more per conversion when it predicts a larger order, so rising cost per conversion alongside rising revenue is the design working. Compare conversion value against spend over a full conversion window, and only revert if total value did not move with the cost.

Which is safer for a lead generation account?

A target CPA, unless leads are scored. Lead gen conversions usually arrive with no value attached, so value bidding has nothing to differentiate them and collapses into conversion counting. If you can score leads by qualification rate or import closed deal amounts, value bidding becomes the stronger option, but that has to come first.

Or stop choosing between them.

AdFlint picks the setting, writes the ads, and keeps optimizing inside the Google and Meta accounts you already own.

Try AdFlint freeSee how it works

Related comparisons

All comparisons