Bidding Strategies

Maximize Conversions vs Target CPA: One Setting Apart

In short: These are no longer two separate strategies. Target CPA is an optional field inside Maximize Conversions: leave it blank and Google spends the full budget chasing the most conversions at whatever the auction demands, fill it in and Google holds an average cost per conversion, buying fewer conversions in exchange for cost discipline.

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

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

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 Conversions	Target CPA
What it is now	The bid strategy itself.	An optional target field inside that strategy.
What limits spend	The daily budget - the strategy is built to spend it in full.	The target, which can leave budget unspent by design.
Volume vs cost	Most conversions the budget can buy, cost floats.	Fewer conversions held near a cost you named.
Data needed first	Working conversion tracking and steady volume.	The above, plus a CPA the campaign has actually achieved.
Best moment to use	New automated campaign, or when volume matters more than unit cost.	Once data is stable and cost needs a ceiling.
Failure mode	Spends the whole budget on a badly defined conversion action.	Aspirational target below actual CPA, which throttles delivery.

What actually separates them.

Setting a target CPA does not switch strategies; it adds a constraint to Maximize Conversions.

Without a target, the budget is the only real control lever, and the strategy is designed to consume it.

With a target, the campaign will deliberately under-spend when it cannot find auctions it predicts will convert near your number.

Removing the target hands pacing back to the budget and typically raises both conversion volume and cost per conversion.

A target CPA is an average, not a cap: individual conversions land above and below it every week.

Which one should you use?

Use Maximize Conversions when

The campaign is new and has no CPA history worth targeting yet.
You are deliberately gathering conversion data so you can set a defensible target later.
Budget is the binding constraint and you want it fully deployed.
Lead count or appointment count matters more than unit cost this quarter.

Use Target CPA when

The campaign has consistent recent conversion data and you know the CPA it reaches.
Spend is outrunning the value of the conversions it is buying.
Finance has a cost-per-lead ceiling the campaign has to respect.
You are scaling budget and want unit cost anchored as volume rises.

Common questions.

Is Target CPA still a separate bid strategy in Google Ads?

No. It was folded into Maximize Conversions as an optional target field. Older campaigns, exports, and third-party dashboards may still carry the Target CPA label, and the bidding behavior is the same, but in the interface you now choose Maximize Conversions and then decide whether to enter a target.

Will adding a target CPA cut my spend?

Often, yes. Without a target the strategy spends the whole budget; with one it declines auctions predicted to exceed the target, so under-delivery is the normal symptom of a target set below what the account actually achieves. If spend collapses, raise the target toward recent actual CPA rather than raising budget.

What should the first target be?

Start at or slightly above the CPA the campaign already produces over a recent, representative period, then tighten in steps. Starting below historic performance asks the bidder to find auctions it has never seen, and the usual outcome is lost volume without the cost improvement you were after.

Or stop choosing between them.

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

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