Google Changed How Your Bids Work on August 17 (Most Advertisers Haven't Noticed)
Since August 17, 2026, budget-limited campaigns with Target CPA or Target ROAS no longer beat your target: they aim at it. If your real CPA was better than your target, your costs may quietly rise. Here is the fix.
On August 17, 2026, Google Ads changed the behavior of its target-based bid strategies: Target CPA, Target ROAS and, for Demand Gen campaigns, Target CPC. The change was announced in the Google Ads help center and picked up by trade press during August, and it affects one specific but very common group: campaigns that are limited by budget.
If none of your campaigns has shown the "Limited by budget" status in the last 12 months, you can stop reading: nothing changes for you. If some have, this update can move your real costs, and it deserves ten minutes of your attention.