The August 17, 2026 bidding change: why your CPC jumped and what to do

What changed

Before, a campaign limited by budget could quietly beat its target: it rationed the budget and picked the cheapest auctions. Now it aims at the target itself. Google's example: "If your campaign's Target CPA is $10, but your recent actual CPA performance is $5, your campaign now delivers more closely to a $10 actual CPA." It covers Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, Display, Hotel and Travel campaigns. App campaigns and video reach and view campaigns are out.

How to see it in your account

• Compare cost per click and cost per conversion before and after the change, same number of days on each side.
• Look at campaigns with a target and limited by budget. Those are the ones that move. Campaigns without a CPA or ROAS target should not.
• If position went up while cost went up, you were not pushed out by competitors: your campaign started bidding higher to reach its target.

The four options

Google lists these:

1. Move the target to what you really get. "Update your target to $5 to maintain your recent performance or to a target CPA of your choosing based on your business goals."
2. Raise the budget. Performance now settles at the target, so more budget buys more conversions at that target.
3. Switch strategy to Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value.
4. Keep the target if it really is what a conversion is worth to you.

The mistake to avoid

When ROAS falls, the reflex is to lower the Target ROAS. That goes the wrong way: a lower ROAS target means you accept paying more per sale. The same with CPA: raising Target CPA "to give it room" tells Google to spend more per conversion.