Maximise Conversions
Paid MediaAlso: Maximize Conversions Bidding · Maximise Conversions Bid Strategy
Quick definition
Maximise Conversions is an automated bidding strategy in Google Ads that sets bids to get as many conversions as possible within your daily budget. It does not target a specific cost per acquisition (CPA) or return on ad spend (ROAS). It simply tries to spend what you give it as efficiently as the algorithm can manage.
How it varies across Australia
Uptake of Maximise Conversions varies by industry across the Australian market. It tends to perform best for accounts with steady conversion volume and clean tracking, and worst for low-volume or seasonal accounts where the algorithm has little history to learn from.
See acquisition benchmarks across Australian industries →What it actually means
Maximise Conversions is the bidding strategy equivalent of telling a taxi driver 'just get me there fast' without mentioning the fare. Google's algorithm will chase every conversion it can find within your daily budget, adjusting bids in real time based on signals like device, time of day, location and audience. What it won't do is care about cost per conversion or margin.
This makes it a genuinely useful strategy in a narrow set of conditions. If your budget is the binding constraint and you're happy to spend all of it, and your conversion tracking is accurate, the algorithm often finds efficiencies a manual bidder can't match. It's particularly good at exploiting micro-moments, the three-second windows where a specific searcher is unusually likely to convert.
The problem shows up when businesses expect Maximise Conversions to behave like a CPA target. It won't. If your account historically converts at a CPA of $40, switching to Maximise Conversions can just as easily produce a CPA of $70 if that's what it takes to hit conversion volume. This strategy trades cost discipline for conversion volume, and marketers who don't understand that trade get burned on their first billing cycle.
It sits in the same family as Target CPA and Target ROAS but without a ceiling. Those two accept a cost constraint. Maximise Conversions doesn't.
Maximise Conversions will spend your whole budget without ever asking if the conversions were worth it.
How it shows up
You'll usually spot Maximise Conversions in an account by looking at the bid strategy column in Google Ads and seeing cost-per-conversion swing wildly week to week with no visible ceiling. It shows up in budget reports as full daily spend almost every day, since the strategy is designed to use the whole budget rather than pace conservatively. It also shows up in post-campaign reviews as the awkward moment someone asks 'why did our cost per lead jump 60% last month' and the answer is 'the algorithm decided that's what conversion volume cost this month.'
The Australian context
Australian advertisers running Maximise Conversions often hit a ceiling faster than US counterparts simply because the auction pool is smaller. With fewer competing advertisers in most Australian verticals, the algorithm has less price tension to work with, which can mean less predictable cost per conversion swings week to week. Businesses with tight cash flow should be cautious about handing an algorithm an unconstrained mandate to spend a full daily budget, particularly in categories like finance or professional services where a single low-quality conversion can be expensive.
Where people get this wrong
Maximise Conversions vs Target CPA
| Maximise Conversions | Target CPA | |
|---|---|---|
| What it optimises for | Conversion volume only | Conversion volume within a cost ceiling |
| Cost control | None | Bids constrained to hit target cost |
| Best used when | Budget is the constraint, cost is flexible | You have a known acceptable cost per acquisition |
| Risk | Cost per conversion can spike unpredictably | Volume can drop if target is set too low |
Related terms
Common questions
When should I use Maximise Conversions instead of Target CPA?
Use Maximise Conversions when your priority is spending the full budget and generating volume, and you don't have a firm cost ceiling in mind yet. Once you know an acceptable cost per acquisition (CPA), switching to Target CPA usually gives you more predictable spend.
Does Maximise Conversions always spend my entire budget?
It's designed to, provided there's enough auction opportunity available. If your budget is set higher than the algorithm can efficiently spend within your targeting, it may underspend slightly, but the strategy leans toward using the full amount rather than pacing conservatively.
Can I add a target CPA later while using Maximise Conversions?
Yes. Google Ads lets you set an optional target CPA within the Maximise Conversions strategy, which acts as a soft guide rather than a hard ceiling. It's a middle ground between full volume-chasing and strict cost control.
Why did my cost per conversion jump after switching to this strategy?
Without a cost ceiling, the algorithm bids whatever it estimates is needed to hit conversion volume, even if that means a higher cost per conversion than you're used to. This is expected behaviour, not a tracking fault, unless the spike is extreme.
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About New Rebellion
New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
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