Target ROAS or Maximize Conversions: the bidding choice for a Bangalore business's first Google Ads campaign

A brand-new Google Ads account in Bangalore should run Maximize Conversions first, not Target ROAS or Target CPA. Google's own bidding documentation sets a real data floor before its automated strategies can work reliably, and most new accounts spending under a lakh a month have not crossed it in the first few weeks.

Why not start with Target ROAS?

Target ROAS needs a stated minimum before Google Ads lets its bidding algorithm run on stable ground. For Search and Shopping campaigns, Google's own bidding documentation asks for at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days at the conversion action level before Target ROAS has enough signal to set reliable bids. An account that switches a new Search campaign straight to Target ROAS in its first two weeks is very likely running on far fewer conversions than that, so the algorithm ends up guessing rather than optimising.

Checking where an account stands takes two minutes: open the campaign, switch the date range to the last 30 days, and look at the Conversions column against the "Conv. action" the bidding strategy would use. If that number sits below 15 for a Search or Shopping campaign, Target ROAS is not ready yet, no matter how the campaign has otherwise performed on cost or clicks.

What should a new campaign run instead?

Maximize Conversions, with conversion tracking already switched on. It spends toward your full daily budget while chasing as many conversions as it can get, without needing a cost or value target from day one. Google's help documentation confirms conversion tracking is a requirement to use the strategy at all, not an optional extra.

The catch is exactly what makes it useful: Maximize Conversions will spend close to your full daily budget even in a week when results are thin, so the budget you set is the number to get right, not an afterthought. Once your account has cleared roughly that 15-conversion mark for Search campaigns and you have a real cost or revenue figure in mind, that is the point to try Target CPA or Target ROAS, not before.

How many leads does a small budget produce in a month?

The arithmetic matters more than the setting name. Suppose a lead-generation campaign spends six hundred rupees a day at an average cost per click of thirty rupees: that buys around twenty clicks a day, or roughly six hundred a month. At a landing page conversion rate of two percent, a reasonable middle figure for a local service business, that works out to about twelve leads a month, under the fifteen Target ROAS asks for on Search campaigns. Doubling the daily budget to twelve hundred rupees would roughly double the leads too, which is usually a faster way to clear the threshold than waiting longer at the same spend.

When does Target CPA make more sense than Target ROAS?

Once the volume is there, choose based on what a conversion is worth. Target CPA fits a business where every lead is roughly the same value, a clinic appointment or a course enquiry, because it only needs a target cost, not a revenue figure per conversion. Target ROAS fits a business tracking real transaction values, like an online store, because it needs accurate revenue data attached to each conversion before it can optimise against it.

Getting this wrong in either direction has a cost. Setting a Target ROAS on an account without clean revenue values attached to each conversion gives the algorithm numbers to chase that do not reflect what happened, and it will bid accordingly, sometimes pulling back on the exact clicks that were converting well. Setting a Target CPA too aggressively low before an account has a stable baseline cost per conversion tends to choke volume instead, since the algorithm avoids bids it predicts will miss the target rather than testing its way toward a workable one.

Studio Happens sets conversion tracking up correctly before recommending a bidding strategy change for any Bangalore account it manages, because a Target ROAS switch built on unreliable conversion values performs worse than staying on Maximize Conversions. The performance marketing team watches a new account through this exact sequence, Maximize Conversions first, a Smart Bidding switch once the data supports it.

For what to check once a campaign is spending steadily and bidding strategy is no longer the open question, see when to kill a Bangalore ad campaign for the spend and lead thresholds that matter next.

Frequently asked questions

How many conversions does Target ROAS need in Google Ads?

At least 15 conversions in the past 30 days at the conversion action level for Search and Shopping campaigns, per Google's own bidding documentation. Below that, the algorithm has too little data to set reliable bids.

Does Maximize Conversions need conversion tracking set up first?

Yes. Google Ads requires conversion tracking to be configured before Maximize Conversions bidding can run, since the strategy optimises directly against the conversions it can see.

Is Target CPA better than Target ROAS for a new business?

Neither is better until the account clears the conversion volume both need. After that, Target CPA suits businesses where every lead is worth about the same; Target ROAS suits businesses with real per-order revenue to optimise against.

Studio Happens, Bangalore's go-to affordable digital marketing partner, can help you get started today.