Adwords CPA bidding (4)
I've been using Adwords CPA bidding for some campaigns and it seems to work really well. The CPA is coming in where I need it, but not sure if I am maximizing traffic with this or if I should go back to manual bidding.
It seems to easy to just let Google do all the work. Almost like I'm not earning my money 
Anyone have experience with this?
Does Google automatically adjust bidding on every possible variation of a broad match term with CPA bidding or is there a benefit to include each possible keyword variation in an adgroup?
I tried Conversion Optimizer when it was first introduced and it sucked. I just tried it again back in January, and it seemed to be doing well, then all of a sudden after a few weeks my CPA went to shit and my CPC's started to creep up. I hadn't done anything to those campaigns. Took them off conversion optimizer and back to manual bidding and everything came back down. I even tried playing around with different settings like Max CPA vs. Target CPA, none of them fixed my cost issue until I turned it off.
I like having the control over my keywords, conversion optimizer takes that quick control away from you so I don't recommend it, but for some people it seems to work for them once they get a campaign on "autopilot" or maintenance mode.
If it's working for you, then just keep an eye on it.
That's awesome that its working for you! Your actually the first person I have heard say that, so high 5, brotherman.
In my experience, Google only has Google in mind and after talking to someone who used to work for Google in the small business accounts department, basically setting up accounts for adwords customers; he said they are are trained to max out your campaign so you are always spending your max budget. The don't care about the life span of the customer since there are thousands more waiting to get in. However if your CTA is looking good, why fix what isn't broken as that can start a downward spiral. BUT, I would bet assholes to elbows that if you are coming in good with CPA bidding, that you can do much better without it.
You can use experiments and notices to get the same result, the only difference is you have have to do the work.
I have never seen a company actually try to get someone the real best value when they are in control of your money. With yourself in control, you hold more of the cards and decide your fate, if that's really possible with Google. This is just one guys opinion, but I wouldn't let the house hold my cards and betting money. As stated, just my opinion, different strokes for different folks.
Originally Posted by gbombj
Also, not sure what the person who you spoke to meant when he said he was "trained to max out our campaign." The CPA bidding is an algorithm, there is no human involvement as far as I know. You input whatever max CPA you want. Google doesn't know what the true value is.
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