Google Ads introduced a significant change to target-based bidding on August 17, 2026, and businesses using automated bidding may want to revisit settings that have gone untouched for months.
The update applies specifically to campaigns that are marked “Limited by budget” and use Google Ads Target CPA or Google Ads Target ROAS. Google says these campaigns will now operate more consistently toward the efficiency targets advertisers have entered in their accounts. For businesses whose campaigns have recently performed much better than those targets, the change could influence cost per lead or return on ad spend.
The important question is whether the target currently stored in Google Ads still reflects what the business considers acceptable today.
What Changed on August 17?
Target CPA tells Google how much an advertiser would ideally pay for a conversion. Target ROAS tells the platform how much conversion value an advertiser wants to generate for every dollar spent. Google’s automated bidding system then uses those goals, along with auction-time signals, to decide how aggressively to bid.
Before the August update, some campaigns constrained by budget could perform considerably better than their configured targets. A campaign with a Target CPA of $100, for example, might consistently acquire leads for $60 or $70.
Google now says budget-limited campaigns using these strategies will perform more consistently toward the target entered by the advertiser, including after budget changes. Its official explanation of the target-based bidding change includes an example in which a campaign with a $10 Target CPA and a recent actual CPA of $5 may begin delivering closer to the $10 target.
Google is leaving advertisers’ budgets and bidding targets in place. The significance of the update lies in how much influence those existing targets can now have over campaign performance.
Why an Old Target Could Become Expensive
Consider a local contractor that established a Target CPA of $150 several months ago. Since then, the company may have improved its landing pages, refined its keyword strategy and strengthened conversion tracking. Those improvements could have brought the actual cost per lead down to $95.
A $150 target might have received little attention while the campaign continued generating leads well below that level. Under the newer bidding behavior, the gap between the configured target and recent performance deserves closer scrutiny.
The bidding system has been given permission to pursue conversions at a cost of roughly $150. If the campaign is limited by budget, Google may have greater room to bid aggressively while remaining within the efficiency goal the advertiser originally selected.
The same principle applies to Google Ads Target ROAS. A business that has been consistently generating a stronger return than its configured ROAS target should review whether that target still represents the level of performance management expects.
How to Tell Whether Your Account Is Affected
Start by looking at the campaign status. The August change is particularly relevant when a Target CPA or Target ROAS campaign is labeled “Limited by budget.”
Next, compare the configured target with actual recent performance. …
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