How do bid adjustments work for placements?
Part of Google Ads placements
The short answer
In Google Ads Display campaigns, a placement bid adjustment raises or lowers the ad group bid for one site by a percentage from minus 90 to plus 900. Google lists Manual CPC and Viewable CPM as strategies that allow it. Smart Bidding strategies do not support manual adjustments; they vary bids by site through an auction time placement signal.
Key takeaways
- Google allows targeting method bid adjustments, including placements, from minus 90 percent to plus 900 percent, and multiplies them with other adjustments up to a combined cap of plus 900 percent.
- Manual CPC and Viewable CPM allow placement adjustments; Enhanced CPC is no longer available for Display since the week of March 31, 2025, and Smart Bidding does not support manual adjustments.
- An ad group cannot use percentage adjustments and custom bids on the same targeting method, so a buyer picks one way to bid by site in each ad group.
- Demand Gen does not support bid adjustments, and Google asks advertisers to remove ad group bid modifiers before migrating a Display campaign.
Can you set bid adjustments for placements in Google Ads?
Definition
- Placement bid adjustment
- A percentage increase or decrease applied to an ad group's bid when an ad is eligible to show on one targeted placement. Google's range for targeting methods, which include placements and topics, is minus 90 to plus 900 percent.
Yes, in Display campaigns with a bid strategy that accepts them. Google's bid adjustments page (opens in a new tab) defines a bid adjustment as a percentage increase or decrease in your bids and says advertisers can set bid adjustments for topics, placements and other targeting methods. The add and edit placements page (opens in a new tab) puts the control in the placement table: tick the placement, choose Edit, then Change bid adjustments. The same menu offers Change max. CPC bids and Change max. CPM bids, which are a different tool.
| Method | How it works | Set by | Strategy needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placement bid adjustment | A percentage on top of the ad group bid when the ad shows on that placement | The advertiser, per placement | Manual CPC or Viewable CPM |
| Custom placement bid | A fixed max. CPC or max. CPM for one placement, used before the default bid | The advertiser, per placement | Custom bids turned on for placements; one targeting method per ad group |
| Smart Bidding placement signal | Bids set at auction time, with Web placement among the signals | Google's automated bidding | Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value |
Google's Display bidding features page (opens in a new tab) draws the line between the first two. When an ad is eligible to show, Google Ads first checks for a custom bid and falls back to the ad group default when none applies. Custom bids can be set on only one targeting method within each ad group, and an ad group can't have bid adjustments and custom bids for the same targeting method.
Which bid strategies allow placement adjustments?
Google's Display bid page (opens in a new tab) says advertisers using Enhanced CPC, Manual CPC or Viewable CPM can also set bid adjustments. One of those three no longer exists. Google's Enhanced CPC page (opens in a new tab) says that effective the week of March 31, 2025, ECPC is no longer available for Search and Display campaigns, and campaigns not moved to another strategy before the change effectively run on Manual CPC.
| Bid strategy | Placement adjustments | What Google's pages say |
|---|---|---|
| Manual CPC | Yes | Named on the Display bid page as allowing bid adjustments |
| Viewable CPM | Yes | Named on the Display bid page as allowing bid adjustments |
| Enhanced CPC | Not available | No longer available for Display since the week of March 31, 2025 |
| Target CPA, Target ROAS | No | Smart Bidding; a manual bid adjustment won't be supported |
| Maximize conversions, Maximize conversion value | No | Smart Bidding; a manual bid adjustment won't be supported |
| Maximize clicks | Not named | The Display bid page does not list it among strategies that allow bid adjustments |
Demand Gen is a separate case, and it matters now that Display campaigns are moving into it. In June 2026 Google began a phased rollout of a migration tool that moves Google Display Ads campaigns to Demand Gen. Google's migration page (opens in a new tab) lists bid adjustments and Manual CPC as not supported in Demand Gen and says to remove any ad group bid modifiers before migrating a campaign.
How do bids affect delivery on a selected site?
A bid adjustment changes what the ad group offers on a site, not whether the site is available. Google's placement targeting page (opens in a new tab) says advertisers compete with others on placements they select, and that popular sites or videos may need higher bids to get impressions. A higher bid makes the ad more competitive on that site; it does not reserve the inventory. For placements that get no impressions at all, see the guide to a placement not serving.
Adjustments stack. The bid adjustments page says that when several apply, they are typically multiplied together, that combined adjustments can't exceed a 900 percent increase, and that the lowest possible combined adjustment is minus 90 percent. A placement adjustment therefore interacts with any device, location or schedule adjustment already on the campaign.
Fictional example
How two adjustments combine on one impression
An ad group runs on Manual CPC with a default max. CPC of $1.00. One targeted news site carries a placement adjustment of plus 50 percent, and the campaign carries a mobile device adjustment of plus 20 percent.
On a mobile impression on that site, the adjustments multiply: $1.00 times 1.5 times 1.2 gives a max. CPC of $1.80. On a desktop impression on the same site, only the placement adjustment applies, for $1.50. These are bid ceilings, not prices paid or results.
When should a placement get a higher bid?
Google ties higher placement bids to evidence. Its page on evaluating Display performance (opens in a new tab) tells advertisers to look for placements that have performed well and where ads could show more often with an increased bid. The placement targeting page gives the reverse case too: you may increase the bid for just one site, and reduce it for another placement that isn't providing as many conversions.
The limits on that evidence come from Google as well. The where ads showed help page (opens in a new tab) says performance data in the report is generally not statistically significant and that over optimizing campaigns from it is not recommended. The Display bid page suggests waiting a few days after the first bid and a couple of weeks before making too many changes.
Before raising a placement bid
- The campaign runs on Manual CPC or Viewable CPM, not a Smart Bidding strategy.
- The ad group does not already use custom bids for placements.
- The placement has run long enough to judge, with a date range of at least a couple of weeks.
- The site's results were compared with the ad group's other placements, not read alone.
- Existing device, location and schedule adjustments were multiplied in to see the combined ceiling.
- The campaign is not about to migrate to Demand Gen, where bid adjustments are not supported.
- The change, its percentage and its reason were written in the campaign notes with the date.
How do automated bids treat placements?
Smart Bidding sets its own bid in each auction and does not take manual percentages. Google's Smart Bidding page (opens in a new tab) describes optimizing for conversions or conversion value in every auction, which it calls auction time bidding. Its list of signals includes Web placement (Display only), described as Google Ads optimizing bids based on which site placement the ad appears on.
If you make a manual bid adjustment to your automated Smart Bidding strategy, it won’t be supported.
The same Smart Bidding page records a naming change: starting in June 2026, Maximize conversions with a Target CPA became Target CPA, and Maximize conversion value with a Target ROAS became Target ROAS, with the underlying bidding behavior unchanged. On those strategies, the controls a buyer keeps over sites are which placements the ad group targets and which it excludes, not how much each one is worth.
What does a placement bid setup look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
An immigration law firm in Ottawa and Gatineau
An unnamed immigration law firm serving Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec, runs a Display campaign on Manual CPC that targets an approved list of local news, newcomer settlement and career sites, in English and French ad groups.
After a few weeks, the planner compares placements within each ad group. Two settlement guide sites look stronger than the rest across the period, so she sets a plus 30 percent adjustment on each and writes down the date and reason. A business news site that has served steadily without conversions gets minus 30 percent rather than removal.
Because the account has a mobile adjustment of plus 20 percent, she multiplies it in to confirm the combined ceiling. The agency has the campaign on its list for the Demand Gen migration, so she also notes that these adjustments must be removed first. No performance figures are implied.
How does PlacementGraph prepare the placement list that bids are set on?
What should a buyer check after changing placement bids?
After a placement bid change
- Change history shows the adjustment on the intended placement and ad group.
- No other targeting method in the ad group uses custom bids that conflict with the change.
- A review date is set at least a couple of weeks out, per Google's Display bid page.
- Any site meant to stop serving was excluded, not given a minus 90 percent adjustment.
For the difference between narrowing reach and bidding only, see targeting and observation. For the Demand Gen move, see the Display to Demand Gen migration guide, and for how placements fit each campaign type, see the Google Ads placement targeting hub.
Frequently asked questions
Can a minus 100 percent adjustment block a placement?
No. Google's range for targeting method adjustments, including placements, runs from minus 90 to plus 900 percent, and minus 100 is only available for devices. A site with a minus 90 percent adjustment can still serve at a lower bid. To keep ads off a site, add it as a placement exclusion instead.
Why is Change bid adjustments missing for my placements?
Two settings can explain it. Google says an ad group can't have bid adjustments and custom bids for the same targeting method, so custom placement bids rule out percentages. And Smart Bidding strategies such as Target CPA do not support manual adjustments. Check the ad group's custom bid setting and the campaign's bid strategy.
What happened to placement adjustments on Enhanced CPC campaigns?
Google says ECPC has been unavailable for Search and Display campaigns since the week of March 31, 2025, and campaigns not moved to another strategy effectively run on Manual CPC. Manual CPC is one of the strategies Google names as allowing bid adjustments, so check the adjustments still make sense under it.
Do placement bid adjustments survive a migration to Demand Gen?
No. Google's migration page lists bid adjustments as not supported in Demand Gen and tells advertisers to remove any ad group bid modifiers before migrating. Manual CPC is not supported there either; Google lists Target CPC as its replacement. Record the adjustments before removing them, since the migrated campaign will not carry them.
Sources
- About bid adjustments (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About bidding features in Display campaigns (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Choose a bid for your Display Network campaign (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About Enhanced CPC (ECPC) (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Add, edit, and copy placements (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About placement targeting (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About Smart Bidding (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Evaluate ad performance on the Display Network (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About the Where ads showed report (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About Display to Demand Gen migration (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.