This is a question we hear all the time. And rightly so: your strategy determines how bids are set, and it’s a big part of your Google Ads success.

The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. We analyzed over 16,000 accounts to determine when advertisers tend to make the switch. The benchmarks will help you to decide when to change strategy, based on your own data.

For more context, check out the companion article What’s the most popular Google Ads bid strategy?

When to change from Max Conversions to Target CPA

Target CPA bidding launched in 2007 and was originally called Conversion Optimizer. You needed at least 300 conversions per month in a campaign to try it.

Machine learning has improved dramatically since then. That means you no longer have to meet a minimum threshold. However, many PPC managers report that the bid strategy doesn’t work well with low data levels.

Your campaigns will have their own thresholds. After all, a campaign with 10 keywords and 15 conversions/month is much more predictable than a campaign with 10,000 keywords and 30 conversions/month.

We began by examining the average conversions per campaign, per month. It soon became apparent that the top 30% of campaigns were skewing the numbers. Medians showed more clearly when companies transition from one bid strategy to another.

Here are the average and median conversions per campaign, per month. If you’re using Max Conversions, this data can help you decide when to make the switch.

Quick reminder:

• Average: Take the total conversions divided by the number of campaigns. High-performing campaigns can skew these numbers.
• Median: Order the values from lowest to highest, then find the middle value. A few exceptionally high numbers won’t skew the median.

Once a campaign exceeds 30 conversions per month, it’s more likely to use Target CPA than Max Conversions. This is what PPC experts have long suggested. It reflects how most accounts are being managed.

When to change from Max Conversion Value to Target ROAS

The goal of Max Conversion Value is to maximize your campaign revenue. ROAS isn’t a consideration for bid purposes.

With Target ROAS, Google sets bids to try to meet your ROAS goals. As budgets increase, many advertisers adjust their bid strategies to achieve consistent returns. We combed through the data to pinpoint the most common time for this change.

Average or median revenue per campaign isn’t a reliable guide for this switch. Here’s why: the median revenue for Target ROAS campaigns is almost three times higher than Max Conversion Value campaigns.

To find a helpful benchmark, we also examined ROAS, conversion values, campaign costs, checkout amounts, and conversions. The only consistent factor between the two bid strategies was the number of conversions per month.

Determining how many conversions advertisers have before switching bid strategies is tricky. The average conversions for Max Conversion Value are much lower than the median for Target ROAS.

However, campaigns with at least 73 conversions per month are more likely to use Target ROAS.

Here’s what we see from our advertisers based on campaign revenue per month:

• Under $4,000: Max Conversion Value bidding is the primary strategy
• Between $4,000 and $9,000: Both are used equally
• $9,000 to $24,500: Target ROAS is more common than Max Conversion Value, but both are used
• Over $24,500: Target ROAS is the primary bidding strategy

What does this mean in practice? This switch isn’t straightforward. However, this data suggests waiting until you have at least 25-50 conversions and $4,000 monthly revenue.

With at least 73 conversions and $9,000 in revenue per month, more advertisers use Target ROAS than Max Conversion Value.

With $24,500 in revenue and 91 conversions per month, you should likely be using Target ROAS bidding.

About the data

This article is based on data from 16,825 search campaigns over three months in 2025. We used the same filtering criteria as in our match type study. You can see the full details here.

Wrap-up

There’s no single point at which to switch from Max to Target bidding. The right time depends on your campaign size, data quality, and how predictable your conversions are.

From our analysis:

• Campaigns often shift from Max Conversions to Target CPA once they reach around 30+ conversions per month.
• Campaigns typically move from Max Conversion Value to Target ROAS once they exceed about $9,000 in monthly revenue and 70+ conversions.

These are benchmarks, not rules. Sparse data or inconsistent tracking can easily mislead automated bidding systems. Always test before switching.

Finally, keep brand and non-brand data separate. Brand campaigns can inflate averages and distort your performance benchmarks. Segmenting them ensures your bidding strategy reflects true campaign behavior.

Follow us for more PPC research and insights, like:

• What’s the most popular Google Ads bid strategy?
• The complete match type performance study: The best match types by bid method