Today, some budget-limited campaigns using target-based bidding can perform more efficiently than the target entered.
For example, a campaign might have a Target CPA of £10, but in practice it has been delivering conversions at £5. In that case, the campaign has been performing better than the target suggests.
After the update, Google says that same campaign may begin delivering closer to the £10 target unless the advertiser changes it. The same principle applies to Target ROAS. If a campaign has been delivering a higher ROAS than the target entered, the campaign may begin moving closer to that stated target after 17 August.
That does not mean every campaign will suddenly perform worse.
It does mean the target entered in Google Ads becomes more important.
If the target reflects what the business actually wants, the update may help with more predictable scaling. If the target is a legacy setting, or if it was deliberately left loose while the budget cap controlled spend, it may need reviewing.
For retailers, this is not just a bidding system update.
It is a commercial target-setting issue.
Some advertisers use looser targets with capped budgets to give Smart Bidding room to find conversions while still controlling spend. If those campaigns have been performing more efficiently than the target entered, that gap may reduce after the update.
That means a Target ROAS that made sense in an old structure may not be the right target now.
For example, if a campaign has been delivering 800% ROAS while the target is set at 500%, the advertiser needs to decide whether 500% is genuinely the level they are happy to scale towards. If it is not, the target should be reviewed before the update takes effect.
This is especially important for retailers where margin, stock position, product mix or promotional activity changes regularly.
Targets should not just reflect what Google can spend towards. They should reflect what the business can afford to sell at.
The first step is to identify campaigns that meet both conditions:
They are Limited by budget, and they use a target-based bid strategy such as Target ROAS or Target CPA.
Google has said the update applies across Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen and Travel campaigns, with Target CPC included for Demand Gen. Google has also confirmed that it will not automatically adjust budgets or bid targets for advertisers.
Once those campaigns have been identified, teams should review:
Google has provided a Bid Target Adjustment Tool, available from 6 July 2026, to help advertisers review historical performance and apply updated targets where needed.
That tool may be useful, but it should not replace judgement.
Targets need to be reviewed in the context of the wider account, recent trading conditions, product performance, stock position and commercial goals.
Google’s update is designed to make campaigns perform more consistently towards the target entered.
That is useful if the target is accurate.
It is less useful if the target is outdated, too loose or no longer aligned with what the retailer actually wants from the campaign.
For example, if a campaign has been achieving a much stronger ROAS than the target set in Google Ads, simply leaving the target unchanged could give the bidding system more room than intended.
That may be acceptable if the goal is to scale volume at that target.
But if the goal is to protect efficiency, margin or product-level profitability, the target may need tightening.
This is why any adjustment should be based on account context, not just a prompt inside Google Ads.
Performance Max needs particular attention because it can serve across multiple Google channels.
Google’s guidance says multi-channel campaign types such as Performance Max and Demand Gen may see shifts in how traffic is distributed across channels after the update.
That does not mean the change is automatically negative.
But it does mean advertisers should monitor traffic quality, conversion quality and product-level performance carefully after 17 August.
If a Performance Max campaign is budget-capped and working towards a looser target, teams need to make sure additional spend is supporting useful activity. The risk is that spend increases towards the stated target, but not necessarily in the areas that are most valuable for the retailer.
For eCommerce campaigns, that means looking beyond account-level ROAS.
Teams should review which products are receiving spend, which products are converting, whether Shopping activity remains commercially useful, and whether traffic quality changes after targets or budgets are adjusted.
For Shoptimised-managed Incremental campaigns, the direct impact is expected to be limited.
That is because we generally avoid applying target-based bidding strategies, such as Target ROAS, to Incremental campaigns.
Where Shoptimised campaigns do use Target ROAS or Target CPA, we will review those targets to make sure they reflect recent performance and align with the wider account target before the 17 August deadline.
The key focus is making sure every target in place is intentional.
If a campaign is set to a specific Target ROAS or Target CPA, that target should represent the outcome the retailer actually wants the campaign to work towards. It should not be a legacy setting that has stayed in the account because the campaign was previously overperforming.
Retailers and agencies should use this update as a prompt to review target-based bidding, not as a reason to make rushed changes.
A practical review should include:
This also fits the wider direction of Google Ads bidding. Automated bidding is increasingly dependent on clear goals, strong conversion signals and bidding strategies that match the actual business objective of the campaign.
Google’s 17 August update is not something every campaign manager needs to panic about.
But it is something worth reviewing properly.
If a campaign is limited by budget and using a target-based bid strategy, the target set in Google Ads is about to become more important. Campaigns that were previously performing better than their stated targets may start moving closer to the target entered.
For some retailers, that may support more predictable scaling.
For others, it may highlight targets that need to be tightened, updated or reconsidered.
The important thing is to make sure targets are deliberate, commercially sensible and based on recent performance, not just historic account settings.
For Shoptimised Incremental campaigns, we do not expect a direct impact in most cases. Where target-based bidding is in use, we will review the setup and make sure targets are aligned with the wider account before the update takes effect.
If you are unsure whether your campaigns could be affected by Google's 17 August update, speak to the Shoptimised Team. We can help review your feed, campaign setup and bidding approach to make sure your Google Shopping activity is ready for the change,
