Google Ads Reverts to Classic Target CPA and ROAS Names—Here’s Why It Could Change Everything for Your Campaigns

Ever wonder why sometimes Google Ads feels like it’s speaking in riddles when it comes to your bidding strategies? Well, buckle up, because Google’s just decided to clear the fog by splitting its Smart Bidding labels into two clear camps: target-based and volume-based strategies. No more scratching your head over confusing terminology — the old “Maximize conversions with a Target CPA” is back as Target CPA, and “Maximize conversion value with a Target ROAS” is reclaiming its throne. This isn’t just a name change for the sake of it; it’s about making life easier for advertisers who want to know if their campaigns aim for pure volume or specific performance targets. The kicker? Nothing’s changing behind the scenes — same bidding behavior, same results, just a cleaner dashboard for all of us to navigate. So whether you’re a seasoned API developer or a hands-on marketer, it’s worth keeping an eye on these updates to keep things running smooth as silk. Curious to see how these tweaks might make your campaign life a little less convoluted? LEARN MORE.

Google Ads is changing how Smart Bidding strategies are labeled, separating target-based bidding strategies from volume-based bidding strategies.

Starting this month, “Maximize conversions with a Target CPA” will once again be called Target CPA, while “Maximize conversion value with a Target ROAS” will return to Target ROAS.

Why we care. The change is designed to make it clearer whether a campaign is optimising for maximum volume or attempting to hit a specific performance target.

The details.

Maximize Conversions remains available for advertisers focused on driving as many conversions as possible within budget.
Maximize Conversion Value remains available for advertisers focused on generating the highest conversion value possible within budget.

What isn’t changing. The update is purely organisational.

Google says there are:

No changes to bidding behaviour
No changes to campaign performance
No changes required from advertisers

Campaigns will continue to bid exactly as they do today.

For API users. Google is also aligning the interface more closely with how bidding strategies are represented in the Google Ads API.

Developers should review integrations, reporting tools, and campaign creation workflows to ensure they correctly recognise standalone TARGET_CPA and TARGET_ROAS strategy types.

Google is encouraging API users to monitor future updates related to:

The BiddingStrategyType enum
Standalone TargetCpa and TargetRoas messages
Optional target settings within MaximizeConversions and MaximizeConversionValue

Bottom line. Nothing changes in how Smart Bidding works, but advertisers may find campaign setup and reporting easier to understand as Google restores Target CPA and Target ROAS as clearly defined standalone strategy names.

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About the Author

Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.In 2008, Anu started her career delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side. Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event – PPC Live and host of weekly podcast PPC Live The Podcast.

She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US, UK, Munich, Berlin), Friends of Search (Amsterdam, NL), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna, IT) and more.