Target Impression Share
Paid MediaAlso: Impression Share Bidding · TIS
Quick definition
Target Impression Share is a Google Ads automated bidding strategy that sets bids to try to show your ad for a chosen percentage of eligible searches, either anywhere on the page, in the top block, or at the absolute top position.
How it varies across Australia
Businesses chasing absolute top position typically pay a steep premium over top-of-page targets, and that premium varies widely by category. Brand-defence campaigns in competitive Australian categories often run this strategy at high targets deliberately, while prospecting campaigns rarely justify it.
See acquisition benchmarks across Australian industries →What it actually means
Target Impression Share (TIS) tells Google Ads to bid whatever it takes, up to your ceiling, to appear for a set share of eligible auctions. You choose where you want to show up: anywhere on the results page, the top block, or the single absolute top position. You choose the percentage. Google's automated bidding does the rest.
The strategy has one clear use case: brand protection. If a competitor is bidding on your business name and you want your own ad above theirs every time someone searches for you, TIS at a high target on absolute top position is the tool built for exactly that job.
Outside brand defence, TIS gets misused constantly. Marketers see a low impression share number in their account and treat it as a problem to fix, when in reality low impression share on a broad, high-cost keyword is often the correct, profitable outcome. Chasing visibility on terms with poor conversion rate or high CPA just because the impression share number looks bad is how budgets disappear without moving revenue.
TIS competes conceptually with Target CPA and Target ROAS, both of which optimise toward an outcome. TIS optimises toward a position. Those are different jobs and mixing them up is the most common mistake in the category.
Target Impression Share optimises for being seen. It does not optimise for being paid.
How to calculate it
Impression share = Impressions received ÷ Total eligible impressions
Worked example. Your ad was eligible to show 10,000 times last month for your target keywords. It actually showed 6,500 times. Impression share = 6,500 ÷ 10,000 = 65%. If your target was 80%, Google Ads will raise bids until it closes that gap or hits your bid ceiling.
The Australian context
Australia's smaller auction pool means impression share can swing hard from small budget or bid changes, more so than in larger markets like the United States. A single well-funded competitor entering a niche Australian category can crater your impression share overnight, which makes TIS attractive for defensive campaigns but risky as a blanket strategy across a whole account.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
When should I use Target Impression Share?
Mostly for brand defence campaigns where you need to consistently outrank a competitor bidding on your business name. It's built for guaranteeing visibility, not for improving conversion efficiency on prospecting terms.
What's the difference between Target Impression Share and Target CPA?
Target Impression Share bids to hit a visibility percentage regardless of cost per outcome. Target CPA bids to hit a cost-per-conversion goal regardless of visibility. They optimise for different things and shouldn't be used interchangeably.
Does a low impression share mean my campaign is underperforming?
Not necessarily. Low impression share on a broad or expensive keyword can be the correct outcome if chasing more visibility would push your CPA past what the customer is worth. Check CPA and ROAS before assuming impression share is the problem.
Why is my cost per click so high on Target Impression Share?
The absolute top position setting commands the steepest premium in the Google Ads auction. If your target is set high on that position, Google will raise bids aggressively to hit it, regardless of the resulting cost per click.
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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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