New Google Bidding Strategy (2026 Update): Full Breakdown + What to Do

Right now, if your ad budget on Google is too small to spend fully, Google’s bidding system sometimes lets your campaigns perform better than the target you set (e.g. cheaper than your Target CPA, or higher ROAS that your Target ROAS). Sounds ideal, right?

Well, buckle up, because as of August 17th 2026, Google is officially closing that loophole, and if your campaigns have been quietly overperforming due to this budget-constraint anomaly, that ‘bonus’ performance will disappear… unless you update your targets to match what you’re actually seeing now.

What Will The New Google Bidding Strategy Affect?

In practical terms, it affects Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Travel campaigns run through Google Ads or Search Ads 360, as well as Demand Gen campaigns managed via Display & Video 360. Importantly, only campaigns currently flagged as ‘Limited by budget’ will see any change – if your budget isn’t a constraint, your campaigns will continue behaving exactly as they do now. Target Impression Share, Target CPC outside of Demand Gen, and manual CPC strategies are all unaffected.

What Should Advertisers Expect?

Google will not automatically adjust your budgets or targets on your behalf, which on the one hand is great (who wants Google messing with their account?), but also means that any changes needed are on you.

If your campaigns have been overperforming their stated targets, that extra performance may shift back toward your actual target once the update rolls out, unless you update your targets beforehand to reflect that improved performance. On the spend side, there’s no need to worry about budgets creeping up – daily and monthly caps will still be respected.

That said, advertisers running multi-channel campaigns like Performance Max or Demand Gen may notice some reshuffling in how spend is allocated across channels. Planning tools such as Performance Planner will be updated to reflect the new behaviour, but expect some forecast inaccuracy during the transition window between August 17th and August 31st.

What Actions Do Advertisers Need To Take?

As the old saying goes, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail,’ and in this case, that couldn’t be more true. It’s important that before these changes take effect, advertisers take the necessary actions to ensure that their account performance stays stable and on track:

• Review “Limited by budget” campaigns using target-based strategies (especially ones beating their targets);
• Update targets to reflect recent actual performance;
• Alternatively, consider Maximize Conversions/Conversion Value if you want maximise ROI within a fixed budget;
• Give budget ‘buffer’ room if you want to preserve efficiency;
• Avoid unrelated changes (like data exclusions or bid limits) purely in reaction to this update;
• Wait 1–2 conversion cycles after making target changes before evaluating results.

What Do Our Experts Say?

As always, there’s no real way of knowing how the change will affect individual accounts – but taking certain steps to avoid any overwhelming effects is the best course of action. Circus PPC Executive, Rob Appleton, advised:

“The changes are going to change how TROAS and TCPA levers control aggression, meaning that keeping a close eye on where your target performance is vs actual will be more important than ever. Poorly kept tROAS and tCPA targets may cost you wasted spend if not properly controlled.”