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Google Changed Smart Bidding. Your PPC Vendor Owes You an Explanation

September 2, 2026

Google Ads just changed how Smart Bidding behaves on budget-limited campaigns, and it did not bury the note. If you're running target CPA or target ROAS, the algorithm now leans harder into hitting that number, whether or not your account's actual history supports it. Google was upfront about the mechanics: campaigns will bid more aggressively toward the target, budget-limited or not.

Say that again with a leasing budget attached and it stops being a footnote.

Most apartment PPC runs on a fixed monthly number. Most of those campaigns are budget-limited on purpose, because nobody hands Google a blank check to fill units. That's the exact condition this update targets. So if your target CPA was set a year ago, back when performance looked different, the algorithm isn't going to ease into the new reality with you. It's going to chase the old number harder. In practice that means burning daily budget faster, or overpaying per lead to hit a target your market already left behind.

Here's the thing that should actually bother you.

It's not the change. Google announced it. The question is whether your agency or your in-house person moved your targets to match, or just let the campaigns keep running while the algorithm quietly got more aggressive underneath them.

"We're monitoring it" is not an answer here.

Monitoring is not a target CPA. Ask for the number.

Source: AdExchanger, August 31, 2026