Starting from October 2024, Google ads will phrase out Enhanced CPC (ECPC) for new search & display campaigns. Existing campaigns using ECPC will continue to operate with this bid strategy until March 2025, but following this all-existing search and display ads campaigns using ECPC will be migrated to manual CPC bidding.
ECPC is a form of smart bidding that uses a wide range of signals to automatically adjust your manual CPC bids for clicks that seem more likely to get a lead, sale or conversion.
Google’s Stance:
In an email to affected advertisers, Google stated:
“We’ve launched more sophisticated machine learning-driven bid strategies like Maximise conversions with an optional target CPA, and Maximise conversion value with an optional target ROAS. These strategies have the potential to deliver comparable or superior outcomes. As we transition to these improved strategies, search and display ads campaigns will phase out Enhanced CPC”
What This Means For Advertisers?
This update signals Google’s continued shift (or push!) to more automation.
In the next few months, advertisers which rely on ECPC will have to evaluate their options. Whether to retain control through using Manual CPC or to test more automated bid strategies like Google recommend.
We recommend you start getting prepared now for a smooth transition come March 2025:
- Reassess bid strategies across all accounts.
- Review conversion actions, as these will directly influence more automated bid strategies.
- Prepare for the transition, allow time to test new bid strategies before the phasing out in March 2025.
At House of Performance, we often use ECPC as our starting bid strategy when launching a new campaign, it allows us to have control over the CPC but also, when necessary, google can step in to increase when it is more likely to have a favourable outcome. The option now will be to resort back to manual CPC or test launching campaigns with fully automated bid strategies, such as maximise clicks or maximise conversions. We will continue to test these to find the best outcome for each individual client. As always with PPC, we need to adopt new changes which come are way, as they are here to stay!
The Big Picture…
As we have noticed over the last year, google is pushing the reliance on machine learning with the likes of Broad Match & Performance Max, so in our opinion this is just another stepping stone on the road to automation.
