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Maximize clicks

Maximize clicks is a Google Ads bid strategy that sets bids to get as many clicks as possible within the budget, whether or not those clicks lead to orders.

How it works

You set a budget, and Google sets the bid in each auction to buy as many clicks as that budget allows. Orders play no part in the bid: a click that ends in an order and a click that bounces count the same. A fixed budget buys more clicks when each one costs less, so cheap clicks raise the count fastest. You can add a maximum CPC bid limit, the highest bid the strategy may place.

A Standard Shopping campaign can use it as its own strategy or through a portfolio. Performance Max can’t: it bids only with Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value. In the Google Ads API the strategy is called TargetSpend.

Some stores put it on a campaign that has no conversion history yet; choosing a strategy for a new campaign compares the options. It is a start, not a place to stay. Keep conversion tracking on from the first day: when the campaign moves to a strategy that bids for conversions, the orders from these first clicks become its history.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop starts a Standard Shopping campaign for a new range on Maximize clicks and spends 3,000 over 20 days. The strategy buys 1,000 clicks at an average of 3, cheaper than the shop’s usual 5. The clicks bring 15 orders, a conversion rate of 1.5%. Cost per conversion = 3,000 ÷ 15 = 200, against 133 across the shop.

Not to be confused with

  • Maximize conversions — spends the budget to get the most conversions rather than the most clicks, and needs conversion tracking to work.
  • Manual CPC — you set each bid yourself. Under Maximize clicks Google sets the bids, and you can only cap them.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “Clicks got cheaper, from 5 to 3, so the campaign works better.” Right: cost per conversion is the price of a click divided by the conversion rate: 3 ÷ 0.015 = 200 against 5 ÷ 0.0375 = 133. Here the cheaper clicks cost more per conversion, because a smaller share ends in an order.

Sources