What is the difference between lowering ROAS target and turning on Smart Bidding Exploration?
Lowering ROAS targets will generally increase bids uniformly across all matched queries. This often doesn’t significantly increase traffic diversity
By contrast, enabling Bidding Exploration will directly inform the Smart Bidding algorithms to bid higher on select pockets of traffic, with the goal of capturing additional valuable performance.
Should I think of Smart Bidding Exploration as a new match type? Like a broader broad?
No. Think of targeting (keywords, DSA, AI Max) as a fishing pond, full of available traffic (fish). Turning on Smart Bidding Exploration won't change the size of the pond, or the types of fish swimming in it. Instead, think of bidding as the fishing rod and reel that you can use to capture those fish. Turning on Smart Bidding Exploration is essentially upgrading your gear to ensure you're actually catching the fish that you're already eligible to catch.
How long should I enable Bidding Exploration for?
It’s recommended that you enable exploration for at least 6 weeks to understand the impact. Monitor performance to determine how long beyond that you’d like to continue exploring.
Can I view the net new queries/search terms/search categories that were reached by Smart Bidding Exploration?
- The best way to assess this is to view traffic diversity within the Bid Strategy Report. If you’re running a campaign experiment , you can compare the traffic diversity of the control and trial arm by opening the respective bid strategy reports in separate windows.
- You may also view a breakdown of what those search categories were within the Search Terms Insights report on the Insights page. Keep in mind: Some search terms may have been filtered out for privacy reasons.
Does my campaign need to use 100% broad match keywords in order to be eligible for Smart Bidding Exploration?
It’s recommended that the majority of the campaign traffic is opted into broad targeting. This can be broad match keywords, Dynamic Search Ads, or AI Max for Search. These targeting types will give the best performance outcome along with Bidding Exploration.
What if I enable Smart Bidding Exploration in a campaign that isn’t using broad match or DSA?
Exploration works best on broad targeting (this can be broad match keywords, Dynamic Search Ads or AI Max for Search). The product is designed to explore longer tail queries, which means it functions ideally with broad match. But it’s OK if other match types are also present in the campaign.
Is there a learning period associated with Smart Bidding Exploration?
Once enabled, Smart Bidding Exploration will immediately take effect. While there is no learning period explicitly due to Smart Bidding Exploration, please note that it may take some time for bidding systems to learn which traffic sources are valuable (in part due to conversion delay). This ramp up period may be 1-2 weeks in cases where a significant amount of new valuable traffic is identified via Smart Bidding Exploration.
What if I’m a Search Ads 360 user?
- Search Ads 360 support: Search Ads 360 customers are eligible and can enable this via campaign level bidding or Google Ads portfolios via the Google Ads UI at this time. We expect a closed Search Ads 360 beta to support Google Ads Bidding exploration in Search Ads 360 portfolios explicitly for Search Campaigns within the Search Ads 360 portfolio (Estimated to be available in-line with Google Ads Open Beta Launch).
- Search Ads 360 customers should reach out to their Search Ads 360 teams to express interest.
- Search Ads 360 advertisers with access to the Search Ads 360 multi-target portfolios alpha can alternatively utilize multi-target portfolios to create a Search-only sub-portfolio with adjusted ROI targets. Note: multi-target portfolios won't include the special backend benefits that go after more diverse traffic that Exploration offers.
- Note: Floodlights are compatible. Smart Bidding Exploration is agnostic to conversion source.
After I have turned off Smart Bidding Exploration, will Smart Bidding retain what it learned?
Yes. Smart Bidding will leverage available historical data.
What if I raise my ROAS target by around 10% and then enable Smart Bidding Exploration? Will I make use of the volume benefits without sacrificing ROAS performance?
This approach is discouraged, as it will limit Smart Bidding Exploration’s ability to increase traffic diversity. By increasing ROAS targets while simultaneously enabling Smart Bidding Exploration, there will be fewer opportunities for the algorithm to identify new high performing traffic.
Will Smart Bidding Exploration work with data exclusions?
In the event that performance is impacted by a conversion outage and you need to apply a Data Exclusion, you may choose to disable Smart Bidding Exploration until performance stabilizes.
Is Smart Bidding Exploration compatible with seasonal adjustments?
Yes.
Does Smart Bidding Exploration work with portfolio bid strategies that are at the Manager Account (MCC) level (also known as cross-account bid strategies)?
Yes. Note that if you enable Smart Bidding Exploration for a portfolio, it will apply to all campaigns within that portfolio
Will Smart Bidding Exploration work with shared budgets?
Yes.
Will Smart Bidding Exploration be made available for Maximize Conversion Value (for example, without a target ROAS)?
No. Max Conversion Value is intended for customers who have a finite daily budget. Smart Bidding Exploration is intended for advertisers with uncapped budgets who are comfortable with accepting a lower ROAS in order to scale performance. This feature will not be relevant for Max Conversion Value, which doesn’t leverage a target.
Should I think of Smart Bidding Exploration as a new match type? Like a broader broad?
No. Think of targeting (keywords, DSA, AI Max) as a fishing pond, full of available traffic (fish). Turning on Smart Bidding Exploration won't change the size of the pond, or the types of fish swimming in it. Instead, think of bidding as the fishing rod and reel that you can use to capture those fish. Turning on Smart Bidding Exploration is essentially upgrading your gear to ensure you're actually catching the fish that you're already eligible to catch.
What happens if my budget becomes constrained after enabling Smart Bidding Exploration?
Smart Bidding Exploration is designed to function within bid strategies that are not limited by budget. In the event that the budget becomes constrained, the Smart Bidding Exploration mechanism on the backend will be disabled. For best results, avoid budget capping.
Will Smart Bidding Exploration activation appear in change history within Google Ads?
Yes.
What if I enable Smart Bidding Exploration but my ROAS performance goes down?
Remember that when enabling Smart Bidding Exploration, you are opting into an effective ROAS performance approximately 10% lower than the original campaign target. If you began with a target of 200%, Smart Bidding Exploration would make your new effective target 180% in order to provide room to prospect new sources of traffic. It can help to wait to assess performance until you have at least 50 conversions.
Can I use CPC bid limits while Smart Bidding Exploration is enabled?
This isn’t recommended as it limits your ability to capture traffic.
Does Smart Bidding Exploration respect ad group level ROAS targets?
Yes, but keep in mind that the new allowable ROAS target will apply to the ad group level overrides as well. For example, if you’ve opted into a 10% lower ROAS, this will effectively lower all ad group level targets by 10% as well.
Why am I able to view traffic diversity reporting even though I haven’t enabled Smart Bidding Exploration yet?
All Target ROAS search strategies will have the option to view traffic diversity reporting in the Bid Strategy Report, even if they don’t have Smart Bidding Exploration enabled for that strategy.
