Aaron Young | Google Ads | Define Digital Academy

We Analyzed 305 Google Ads Campaigns... Here’s What We Found

Google Ads made a significant change on August 17th, 2026, altering how smart bidding functions, particularly for target CPA and target ROAS when budgets were limited. While Google promised this would enable scaling with confidence, it came with a crucial caveat: sufficient data within individual campaigns. Overly complex account structures often limit this essential conversion data, leading to unpredictable results and hindering the promised scalability. The speaker shares insights from analyzing 305 campaigns before and after this date, focusing on data volatility. The core finding is that more conversion data within individual campaigns leads to more predictable outcomes. This is crucial for businesses spending significant amounts on Google Ads, as it impacts their ability to confidently scale budgets. The August 17th change, a platform-wide event affecting all advertisers, removed a loophole where limited-budget campaigns with a target ROAS of, say, 200% might perform at 400-500%. Now, the algorithm strictly targets the set ROAS, causing performance drops for those who hadn't set realistic targets.