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Google Ads is expected to introduce a new bidding option called Journey Aware Bidding in 2026, primarily designed for search campaigns utilizing Target CPA. This approach aims to support complex, multi-step purchase journeys starting from search efforts.
Jyll Saskin Gales shared details about this development on a professional platform, explaining that Journey Aware Bidding essentially functions like micro-conversions but without requiring the manual setup of those micro-actions. She illustrated this concept with a diagram showing how the bidding system can follow a customer’s path through various stages—such as leads, marketing qualified leads (MQLs), sales qualified leads (SQLs), opportunities, and closed deals—by integrating all these conversion points.
Her explanation emphasizes that currently, Smart Bidding relies solely on primary conversions for optimization. However, with Journey Aware Bidding, secondary conversion actions can influence bidding decisions without counting as conversions themselves. To utilize this, advertisers need to import all relevant conversion actions along the lead-to-sale spectrum into Google Ads, ensuring they are properly categorized—options include contact, request quote, submit lead form, book appointment, qualified lead, or converted lead.
Once set up, the system will continue to optimize for the main goal, such as qualified leads or sales, but it will also take into account additional touchpoints along the customer journey to refine bidding strategies. This method could effectively replace previous solutions like lead scoring combined with value-based bidding or micro-conversions, offering a streamlined way to enhance campaign performance.
While there may be some initial issues as the feature rolls out, many see this as a promising advancement for lead generation efforts and are interested in testing its capabilities in the near future.
Further discussions on this topic are available in industry forums, highlighting ongoing interest and experimentation with this innovative bidding approach.
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