What is Target ROAS in Google Ads?

Google says you'll need to set values for the conversions you're tracking before you can apply it, and it sets a minimum by campaign type: for Search and Shopping campaigns, at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days at the conversion tracking level. It says some conversions may return a higher ROAS and some a lower one, but all together Google Ads will try to keep your conversion value per cost equal to the target. Google also says setting a target that's too high may limit the amount of traffic your ads may get, and that if you want more conversion volume you can consider gradually reducing the Target ROAS.

It bids on the Conversions and Conversion value columns. Google says the Include in 'Conversions' setting decides whether individual conversion actions are in those columns, so your bid strategy will only optimise based on the conversions you've chosen to include. It adds that Smart Bidding will learn across all conversion actions reported in the Conversions column, even if they're configured for different goals. Starting in June 2026, Google is relabelling Maximise conversion value with a Target ROAS as Target ROAS, and says the underlying bidding behaviour remains exactly the same.

What follows is our reading rather than Google's. Because the strategy chases value, an included action counts in proportion to the value it reports, so a sign-up given a token value beside full-price sales adds far more to the conversion count than to the value the strategy is chasing. Adding or removing it moves Cost/conv. much more than it moves what the bidder is trying to buy, which is why we judge a Target ROAS campaign on Conv. value/cost against its average target, not on its cost per conversion.