---
title: Which bidding strategy is correct?
description: Which bidding strategy should I be using in a Google Ad Grant account? Start new campaigns on Maximize conversions.
---
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October 14, 2026
# Which bidding strategy is correct?
## In a Google Ad Grant, start campaigns on Max conversions
Each campaign you set up has to be assigned a bidding strategy. This instructs Google how you want to bid to get clicks.
If you were setting up a paid Google Ads account then you'd have more options, but Ad Grant rules say you must use a conversion-based bidding strategy.
Let's keep this simple. Don't use any of these bidding strategies: **Manual CPC**, **Maximize clicks**, **Target impression share**. Not only are they not supported long-term in an Ad Grant account, they will cap your bids at a useless $2 and your ads won't get shown much.
Changing bidding strategy can reset the machine learning and adversely affect performance. Give it time (months, not days) to learn and optimize.
### Maximize conversions
This is the simplest and usually the best bidding strategy to choose. It enables the system to bid as high as it needs, and is likely to lead to greater spend of the daily budget as well as more conversions.
You do not need to have a history of conversions before using this strategy. But you must have first set up conversion tracking on your account.
### Target CPA
Essentially the same as Max conversions, except that it aims to keep the cost per conversion below a dollar amount that you set as a target.
If your account is already spending the daily budget most days, and you know how much it costs on average to get a conversion, then it might make sense to switch to Target CPA to squeeze more conversions out of the budget.
But it's not generally a good idea to start on Target CPA because in a new account you have no data yet to indicate how much a conversion might cost.
### Maximize Conversion Value
This strategy aims to spend your budget to get as much revenue as possible. This strategy is more useful than Max conversions if the value of each conversion is different.
You could try this bidding strategy if your campaigns are focused on donation or shopping conversions where a monetary value is tracked. You could also assign different $ values to non-revenue conversions such as signups, to indicate how much each one is worth to your organization.
### Target ROAS
This is Max conversion value with a target. ROAS stands for Return on Actual Spend. If you spend $1 and get $2 in revenue, that's a 200% return. This bidding strategy aims to achieve the ROAS that you set.
It is very unusual for an Ad Grant account to get a positive return on spend, so set the target percentage accordingly. If you set the target too high, the campaign is unlikely to spend.
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