Target CPA vs Manual CPC: Which Google Ads Bid Strategy Should You Use?

If you’ve ever stared at your Google Ads dashboard wondering whether to go with Target CPA or Manual CPC, you’re not alone. Both are solid options, but they’re pretty different. So, which one’s better? Well, it depends. Let’s break it down in plain English so you can decide what’s best for your campaign.

Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is like putting your Google Ads campaign on autopilot. You tell Google, “Hey, I want to pay $50 per lead (or whatever your goal is),” and Google’s algorithm does the rest. It adjusts your bids in real-time to get you as many conversions as possible at that target cost.

The best part? It’s hands-off. You don’t have to micromanage bids because Google’s AI does the heavy lifting. It’s also great for scaling if you’ve got a steady flow of conversions. Plus, it saves you time—perfect if you’re juggling a million other things and don’t have hours to spend on bid adjustments.

But here’s the catch: Target CPA needs data to work. You need at least 15-30 conversions in the last 30 days for the algorithm to do its thing. And while it’s convenient, you’re giving up some control. Trusting Google to make decisions can sometimes feel like handing your car keys to a teenager. Oh, and when you switch to Target CPA, your campaign might go through a “learning phase” where performance can be a little wonky.

Manual CPC (Cost Per Click) is the old-school way of doing things. You set your max bid for each keyword, and you’re in full control. Want to bid

$2 on one keyword and $5 on another? Go for it. It’s like driving a manual car—you’re in the driver’s seat.

The upside? You’ve got total control. You decide exactly how much you’re willing to pay for each click, and you can see exactly where your money’s going. It’s also super flexible, making it great for testing new keywords or targeting specific audiences.

But here’s the downside: it’s time-consuming. You’ll need to keep a close eye on performance and tweak bids regularly. And as your campaign grows, managing bids manually can get overwhelming. Plus, you’re on your own—no fancy algorithms to optimize for you.

Here’s the deal: there’s no “best” strategy—it all depends on your campaign. If you’ve got a solid campaign with consistent conversions and want to scale without a ton of effort, go with Target CPA. But if you’re just starting out, love having control, or are in testing mode, Manual CPC could be the way to go.

Not sure which one to pick? Run an A/B test using Google Ads’ Experiments feature. Try Target CPA on one campaign and Manual CPC on another, and see which one performs better. Data doesn’t lie!

At the end of the day, both Target CPA and Manual CPC have their place in your Google Ads toolkit. If you’re all about efficiency and scaling, Target CPA might be your best friend. But if you’re a hands-on advertiser who loves control, Manual CPC could be the way to go. Either way, the key is to keep testing, learning, and optimizing.

It's also worth noting that you can set a max CPC bid limit if you use Target CPA portfolio bid strategy. I go into more detail in this blog post. While I haven't thoroughly tested it yet, I get the feeling Target CPA bid strategy works better if it's not limited in how much it can bid.