Can you use location bid adjustments with smart bidding in Google Ads?

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need more leads from one specific location, but your Google Ads campaigns target a broader area? It's a common challenge, and it brings up an interesting dilemma: How do you handle location bid adjustments when using automated bidding strategies, like Maximize Conversions?

The truth is, when you're using Smart Bidding, you can't use manual location bid adjustments. Smart Bidding is designed to optimize bids in real-time based on a vast array of signals, and your manual bid adjustments get overridden. It may be tempting to stick with manual CPC to regain control, but is that the most effective long-term solution?

My philosophy with Google Ads is to work with the automation, guiding it towards your goals rather than trying to force outcomes manually. In this article, we'll explore some strategic approaches to address this location-based imbalance while leveraging the power of Google Ads automation.

Here's what we'll cover:

• Understanding why Smart Bidding makes manual location bid adjustments ineffective.

• An overview of the core Smart Bidding strategies.

• Utilizing conversion value rules or offline conversion tracking to signal higher-value leads from specific locations.

• Leveraging Target ROAS bidding to prioritize locations based on their assigned value.

• Exploring the strategy of separate campaigns with a shared budget and varying target bid strategies.

Understanding Smart Bidding: Why Location Bid Adjustments Don't Work

Smart Bidding strategies are designed to use machine learning to optimize for conversions or conversion value. They're incredibly powerful because they consider a huge range of contextual signals present at auction time to set the right bid for each and every user.

Location is just one piece of that complex puzzle, and Smart Bidding is constantly adjusting bids based on all these factors simultaneously to hit your target. A static manual bid adjustment just can't compete with that real-time optimization, which is why even if you add location bid adjustments to a campaign that is using Smart Bidding, they will be ignored.

A Quick Review: What are the 4 Smart Bidding Strategies?

There are four conversion-focused smart bidding strategies in Google Ads. They are:

• Maximize Conversions: This is often your starting point. It tells Google to spend your budget to get you as many conversions as possible. With Maximize Conversions, all bid adjustments will be ignored, except for a -100% device bid adjustment, which simply tells Google not to advertise on that specific device type.

• Target CPA: This is the "sister" strategy to Maximize Conversions. It tells Google to get you as many conversions as possible at your desired level of efficiency, your Target CPA. With Target CPA, device bid adjustments don't actually adjust your bids, but rather adjust your target. For example, a -50% mobile bid adjustment with a $100 Target CPA will set your mobile Target CPA at $50.

• Maximize Conversion Value: This strategy works similarly to Maximize Conversions, but instead of optimizing for the number of conversions, it optimizes for conversion value. This is crucial if some conversions are worth more to your business than others (e.g., selling a $1,000 item versus a $10 item). It ignores all bid adjustments, except a -100% device bid adjustment.

• Target ROAS: Similar to Target CPA, this strategy aims to get you as much conversion value as possible at your desired level of efficiency, which is your Target ROAS (calculated as conversion value divided by cost). A Target ROAS of 150% means you want to get $1.50 back for every $1.00 you spend. It ignores bid adjustments, except for a -100% device bid adjustment.

What You Can Do Instead: Strategic Alternatives for Location Prioritization

Since direct location bid adjustments don't work with Smart Bidding, we need to influence the automation in smarter ways. Here are some strategic approaches to achieve your location-based lead generation goals:

Option #1: Inflating Conversion Value for Location Prioritization

When you're using Smart Bidding, the algorithms focus on getting you the most conversions or conversion value within your set budget. To influence the automation to prioritize leads from a specific location, a powerful tactic is to signal that those conversions from that location are more valuable.

You can achieve this in a couple of ways:

• Conversion Value Rules: Google Ads allows you to set rules that adjust the value of a conversion based on certain criteria, including location. If leads from one location are historically more likely to become high-value customers, you can create a rule to increase their conversion value directly within the Google Ads platform. You might determine this value based on the average customer lifetime value from that location or historical close rates.

• Offline Conversion Tracking: If you track conversions that happen offline (e.g., phone calls leading to sales), you can send conversion data back into Google Ads with different values assigned based on the lead's location. By attributing a higher value to leads from your priority location, you directly inform the system of your preference.

Once you've implemented a system to assign different conversion values based on location, you need to switch to Target ROAS bidding (if you're not already using it). This strategy aims to achieve a specific return on your ad spend. By inflating the conversion value for your desired location, you're essentially telling Google that your ROAS potential in that area is higher, so the automation will then naturally favour the location with the higher perceived value.

Option #2: Separate Campaigns with a Shared Budget

Another effective strategy, particularly when dealing with locations in close proximity, is to create separate campaigns for each location but assign them a shared budget. This allows you to control the overall spending while applying different target bid strategies to each campaign.

For the location where you need more leads, you can set an easier target, such as a lower Target ROAS or a higher Target CPA. This signals to Google that you're willing to be a little less profitable in order to acquire a conversion in that specific area (because those conversions are more valuable to you), which lets the algorithm bid more aggressively. Conversely, for the other, lower priority locations, you can set a tighter target.

By using a shared budget, you ensure that both campaigns receive some visibility. However, the campaign with the more lenient target will naturally be favoured by the automation, leading to a higher volume of leads from that location. This approach allows you to guide Google's efforts without resorting to manual bidding and losing the benefits of automation.

Working Smarter, Not Harder, with Google Ads Automation

The key takeaway here is to think strategically about how you can use the features within Google Ads automation to achieve your specific goals. Instead of trying to override the system with manual adjustments, focus on feeding it the right data, whether through conversion values or different campaign targets, to guide its behaviour. This approach allows you to leverage the power of automation while still prioritizing your specific needs across different locations.