What factors influence your bidding decisions the most (e.g., competition, keyword relevance)?

Awesome question—smart bidding decisions are never made in a vacuum. They're based on a mix of performance data, competitive signals, user behavior, and business priorities. Here's a breakdown of the top factors that influence bidding decisions the most, with examples:

🧠 Top Factors That Influence Bidding Decisions
1. 🔍 Keyword Intent & Relevance
High-intent, high-converting keywords (like "buy running shoes online") deserve higher bids.

Low-relevance or research-phase terms may get lower bids or be excluded.

Why it matters: Not all clicks are equal—relevance = better ROI.

2. 📈 Historical Performance Data
Metrics like CPA, ROAS, CVR, CTR, and Quality Score are key.

If a keyword or audience consistently performs well, it justifies higher bids.

Example: A keyword with a 12% CVR and low CPA? Raise the bid to capture more volume.

3. 🎯 Campaign Goals
Your objective shapes your entire bid strategy:

Conversions → Optimize for CPA

Revenue → Focus on ROAS

Traffic → Prioritize CPC and volume

Visibility → Impression Share is king

4. 🧭 Competition / Auction Insights
Tools like Google Ads' Auction Insights help you understand:

Who you're competing with

If you're being outbid

How often you're showing in top positions

Action: If competitors are consistently outranking you, consider increasing bids or improving Quality Score.

5. 📱 Device, Location & Time Performance
Bid differently by:

Device (e.g., mobile users convert better? Boost mobile bids)

Geo (e.g., Texas gets 30% better ROAS? Increase bids there)

Time (e.g., weekdays outperform weekends? Use time-based modifiers)

6. 🧬 Audience Segments
Custom intent, in-market, remarketing, and lookalike audiences often outperform generic traffic.

Higher bids for warm audiences can improve conversion rates dramatically.

Example: Remarketing users may get a +20% bid modifier.

7. 📦 Product Margins or Customer LTV
Products or services with high profit margins or lifetime value can support higher bids.

Why? A $300 customer is worth more than a $30 one—even if the CPA is higher.

8. 📊 Budget Constraints
If budget is tight:

Focus on top-performing keywords

Lower bids on expensive or underperforming terms

Use shared budgets + portfolio bid strategies to optimize across campaigns

9. ⏱️ Seasonality or Promotions
During sales or peak seasons:

Increase bids to stay competitive

Adjust target CPA/ROAS to allow for higher volume

Use seasonality adjustments in Smart Bidding

10. 🧪 Experiment Results / A/B Testing
Bidding decisions are often guided by test outcomes:

"Does bidding +20% for mobile users improve conversion rate?"

"Do branded keywords still convert when we drop bids 30%?"

⚙️ TL;DR Decision-Making Framework
When evaluating a bidding decision, I ask:

Is this keyword/audience/context aligned with my goal, profitable, and scalable—given competition and past performance?

If the answer is yes, I raise bids (or relax targets).
If it's iffy, I lower bids, apply exclusions, or test alternatives.