From August 17, 2026, the bidding logic in Google Ads is changing, and most advertisers will only find out when their performance drops. How can this be prevented?
What exactly is changing in Google Ads from 17.8.2026?
Until now, there was an unwritten rule that most experienced PPC specialists knew: if a campaign was Limited by budget and had a Target ROAS set, Google often delivered a higher ROAS than you set.
The logic behind this was simple - Google wanted you to see good numbers and raise the budget. Therefore, with a limited budget, it didn't push the bid to the maximum and only selected the most effective conversions. As a result, the campaign brought more purchases and a higher conversion value for the same spend than would correspond to the set target.
This behavior ends on August 17, 2026. Google officially states that bidding will be "more consistent and predictable". In practice, this means one thing: the campaign will bid to deliver exactly the set Target ROAS - no more.
This means one thing: without intervention in the target or budget, the campaign will no longer bring additional value. The bonus that many have become accustomed to - cheaper purchases and higher returns for the same spend - ends with this change.
Who does the change affect?
The update will primarily affect accounts where there is a difference between the set target and the actual performance of the campaign. The larger this gap, the more significantly the bidding behavior will change after August 17.
Specifically, it concerns campaigns that meet three conditions simultaneously:
- use the Target CPA or Target ROAS bid strategy (also Target CPC for Demand Gen),
- have been in a Limited by budget state for at least part of the period in the last 12 months,
- belong to the campaign types Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, or Travel.
App, Video Reach, and Video View campaigns will not be affected by the update. Display and Hotel campaigns are already running on the new bidding logic.
What does this mean for your campaigns in practice
- If a campaign historically exceeded its target (for example, you had a Target CPA of €10, but it actually delivered for €5), after August 17, performance will move closer to the set €10.
- If you adjust the budget, performance will no longer fluctuate as you were used to. Bidding will optimize consistently to the target regardless of whether you increase or decrease the budget.
- If you have a Performance Max or Demand Gen campaign, it may also change how traffic is distributed among individual channels within the campaign.
Bid Target Adjustment Tool: what it is and how to work with it
From July 6, 2026, a new tool is available directly in the Google Ads interface: Bid Target Adjustment Tool. You can find it as a notification in the account or directly in the settings of campaigns that have been Limited by budget for at least part of the period in the last 12 months.
The tool will show you for each affected campaign:
- the currently set Target CPA / ROAS
- the actual CPA / ROAS for the last period
- a suggestion on what target to adjust to maintain current performance
What are the options?
Practical step-by-step guide on what to do
1. Find out which campaigns are "Limited by budget" and have target-based bidding
The fastest way is through the Bid Target Adjustment Tool notification, alternatively through campaign segmentation by status over the last 12 months. If you have an MCC with dozens of accounts, do it systematically - otherwise, you might miss something.
2. Calculate the actual economic target for each affected campaign
Not "how much Google delivers today", but "what CPA/ROAS is still interesting for us at full auction price". This is the most common mistake we see - advertisers set a target at a level that was created thanks to Google's artificial bid lowering. That target after 17.8. may not be realistic.
3. Consider increasing the budget for campaigns that work
The new logic says: budget and target will no longer influence each other. This means that if you have a campaign with a good ROAS and limited by budget status, after 17.8. you can increase the budget without your ROAS dropping.
4. If you have a strictly fixed budget and want volume, switch to Maximize conversions / Maximize conversion value
This strategy becomes an interesting alternative in the new world for those willing to sacrifice stable CPA/ROAS for maximum conversion volume at a fixed budget.
5. Prepare for impacts in the main e-commerce season
The rollout will probably not be "overnight", but gradual. The change in bidding will start to manifest itself precisely during the back-to-school and ramp-up to the autumn - main e-commerce - season. That is, in a period when CPC is rising anyway.
Be prepared today
If you are not sure which campaigns you have under control and which might surprise you after August 17, we are happy to look at your account. Our specialists, together with FLUIDUM - our team of AI agents- can quickly identify campaigns with the largest difference between the set and actual target across the entire portfolio, evaluate the impact of the update, and propose specific target values for each of them.
The next three weeks are the best time for this - before the effect of the update starts to overlap with the seasonal CPC growth and it will no longer be clear in the reports what is what.
