Take the simple quiz
August 17th Google change · One question. Five options.
On 17 August 2026, Google began changing how affected budget-limited campaigns bid towards CPA and ROAS targets. In its example, a campaign with a $10 CPA target and a recent $5 actual CPA moves closer to the $10 target. The rollout finished on 27 August.
Affectionately nicknamed the "monkey claw update" here at Fire Pixel: you asked for a $10 CPA target, and the bidder now takes that request more literally.
Google describes several ways to respond. This quiz turns those choices into one business question. The wording is mine. The $10 target and $5 CPA are Google's example.
The question
You run a Search campaign on Target CPA. Your target is $10. Your budget is fixed at $500 a day and you spend it in full. The campaign has been delivering conversions at $5.
- Fixed daily budget
- $500
- CPA target
- $10
- Recent actual CPA
- $5
Suppose the same campaign now delivers at $10. That is 50 conversions instead of 100, for the same money. For this question, each conversion is equally valuable.
You want as many conversions as $500 a day will buy. What do you do?
A simplified scenario, not a prediction for every account. The $500 budget is our addition to Google's example.
You chose 1: Keep the target at $10.
That keeps the efficiency target. It does not directly express your goal: the most conversions from a fixed $500.
You chose 2: Set the target to $5.
That can preserve recent performance. But it turns the recent average into a target, when the question asks for maximum volume from a fixed budget.
You chose 3: Set the target to $7.
That makes sense if $7 reflects a real business constraint. The quiz gives you a budget constraint and a volume goal, not a $7 efficiency requirement.
You chose 4: Remove the target. Switch to Maximise conversions.
Yes. This is the objective you asked for: seek the most conversions from the available budget. The achieved CPA still needs checking.
You chose 5: Increase the budget.
That answers a different question. More budget may buy more volume, but the $500 in this question is fixed.
The answer is 4
The question was specific: you want as many conversions as a fixed $500 a day will buy. Remove the CPA target and use Maximise conversions. That is the strategy whose objective matches the question.
Start with the problem. The budget is fixed. Conversion volume is what you want to maximise. A separate CPA target adds another requirement: pursue volume while aiming for that average cost. If that requirement does not come from the business, why put it in the account?
If you are limited by a fixed budget and want the most conversions it will buy, remove the target. Let the budget do its job. You have already identified the limit: the money available to spend. You do not need to invent a second one in the target box.
This is my recommendation for the objective in the quiz. It is not a promise that a real campaign will beat every alternative. Here is what each answer asks the bidder to do.
1. Keep the target at $10
Keep asking the bidder to aim for a $10 average CPA. In the quiz, that means 50 conversions from $500, against the 100 you previously got at $5. The arithmetic is exact; the outcome in your account is something to measure. Leaving a target in place is a decision about what you want, even if you make it by doing nothing.
2. Set the target to $5
Try to preserve the recent average. This can work. But a historical outcome is not automatically your business constraint. If the target becomes too restrictive, you can lose volume or leave budget unspent. The reason to choose $5 should survive the question: would I reject additional conversions above that average even if I still had budget available?
3. Set the target to $7
Choose a different efficiency goal. If $7 follows from your margins, close rate and acceptable acquisition cost, it may be sensible. If it is just a compromise between $5 and $10, it does not answer the question. You have picked a number before deciding what should constrain the campaign.
5. Increase the budget
Answer a different question: how can I buy more volume at my chosen target? That can be a good commercial decision when profitable demand and funding are available. It does not solve this quiz, because the $500 budget is fixed.
Telling someone whose budget cannot increase to increase it is not a solution. For that advertiser, the job is to get the most from the budget they actually have.
4. Remove the target
Ask the bidder to seek the most conversions from the available budget. You give up the separate CPA objective. The resulting average will depend on the auctions and the campaign's inputs; neither $5 nor $10 is guaranteed. Judge the result on conversion volume, quality and spend together.
When I would keep a target
Keep or adjust the target when acquisition cost is the real business constraint and you would rather leave money unspent than miss your required average economics. That is a different objective from maximising volume from fixed spend.
Google's "Limited by budget" label describes campaign delivery. It does not tell you whether the business also requires an efficiency target. The recommendation above follows from a fixed budget and a volume objective together.
A Target CPA is an average the bidder aims for, not a hard cap on the cost of each conversion. Individual conversions can cost more, and the achieved average can miss the target. A genuine profitability limit still needs monitoring.
Conversion quality matters too. If ten enquiries are worth less than one qualified opportunity, maximising raw enquiry count is the wrong objective. Fix the conversion inputs first. Where reliable values differ, consider Maximise conversion value instead.
First principles, before the crowd
I do not start with the setting everyone else recommends. I start with what the business is buying, what it can afford and what actually limits growth.
For this quiz, the answer follows from three facts: the budget is fixed, the conversions are treated as equally valuable, and volume is the goal. Change those facts and I will change the recommendation. A popular setting does not get a free pass, and neither does my preferred one.
That is how I approach advanced Google Ads: work out the economics, give the bidder a useful objective, then check the result against the business. Following the crowd is no substitute for being able to explain why a setting belongs in your account.
Why this matters now
The August change makes it worth revisiting targets that were entered and forgotten. A target that once appeared harmless can now matter more to delivery. In this example, moving from $5 to $10 halves the conversions from the same spend. Your account's actual effect needs checking.
Before changing a live campaign, check its conversion goals, economics and budget. After a change, allow for conversion delay rather than judging it on a single day's numbers. The longer explanation of the target box goes deeper into the argument.
Put your own account through the same question
If you cannot explain where your target came from, that is where I would start. I can check your targets against your unit economics, conversion quality and actual budget, then explain what I would change and why.
Book a call about your Google Ads targets
Check the sources
The $10 target and $5 recent CPA come from Google's example. The fixed $500 budget and quiz are ours. Google's documentation describes the available strategies; the recommendation for this scenario is my reasoning.
- Google: the August bidding change and available options
- Google: rollout FAQ and fixed-budget guidance
- Google: how Maximise conversions works
- Google: Target CPA aims for an average
Sources checked 12 September 2026.