Google Shifts Budget-Capped Campaigns Towards Higher CPA Targets
Google has made a significant change to its budget-capped campaigns, allowing them to optimize towards their target cost-per-acquisition (CPA) rather than being limited by their daily budget. This change is specific to five campaign types: Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Travel campaigns.
The previous behavior of budget-capped campaigns was that they would spend up to their daily budget but deliver a lower CPA than the target set by the account owner. With this new change, the campaign will now aim for the target CPA, even if it means spending more to achieve it. This means that advertisers can expect their reported cost-per-conversion to rise as the campaigns try to meet the target CPA.
However, it's essential to note that the total spend will not increase, as the daily budget still caps it. This change is part of a gradual rollout that started on August 17, 2026, and will continue over several weeks.
In related news, charities are losing traffic to Google AI answers, with Blood Cancer UK experiencing a 53% drop in page views for its leukaemia content. The charity's associate director, Kate Keightley, noted that while AI can provide an instant summary, it can't replace the reassurance and understanding that comes from speaking to someone who has been through something similar.