TL;DR
- Google Ads' Recommended Investment Strategy tab now offers Holistic mode, which shifts budget from weaker campaigns to top performers, and Growth mode, which only adds budget.
- Search Engine Roundtable reported the updated help page on 24 September 2026; the tool can also suggest and apply new Target CPA or Target ROAS values.
- Forecasts are typically based on 7 days, while Performance Planner forecasts up to 18 months and works across manager accounts.
- Unticked or excluded campaigns keep their budget and bid strategy, which matters for brand and offline-conversion campaigns.
Google Ads has rebuilt its Recommended Investment Strategy tool with two budget modes. Holistic mode moves existing spend from underused or less efficient campaigns into your best performers, while Growth mode only adds new budget to top performers and cuts nothing. The change is documented in Google's updated help page, which Search Engine Roundtable reported on 24 September 2026.
The tool lives on the Recommendations page, under an Investment Strategy tab, and it can change budgets and Target CPA or Target ROAS across several campaigns in one click. That makes the mode you choose, and the campaigns you leave ticked, a real decision rather than a cosmetic one. Here is what the Google Ads help page now says, and what to check before pressing Apply all.
What Google changed
According to the help page, "with the latest updates, Recommended Investment Strategy gives you even greater transparency, flexible budget reallocation modes, interactive performance forecasts, and refined campaign controls." The page lists six benefits, and four of them describe the new behaviour:
- Strategic budget allocation. A choice between Holistic and Growth mode for how the extra investment is funded.
- Interactive Performance Graph. A predicted performance curve that moves as you change the spend, which Google says helps find "the point of diminishing returns".
- Integrated target adjustments. The tool can recommend a new Target CPA or Target ROAS alongside the budget change.
- Customisable campaign selection and filters. Filters by conversion action, campaign type or location, plus the ability to untick individual campaigns.
The help page was previously live in a different form (Search Engine Roundtable linked an archived version from October 2025), so the tool itself is not new. The modes, graph, target suggestions and filters are what this update adds or documents.
Holistic mode versus Growth mode
The difference between the two modes is where the money comes from. Google's definitions, side by side:
| Mode | What Google says it does | Can it cut a campaign's budget? |
|---|---|---|
| Holistic (marked Recommended) | Reallocates existing budget from underutilised or lower-efficiency campaigns to top performers, and also allocates your additional weekly spend | Yes |
| Growth | Strictly adds new budget to constrained campaigns that can drive more results | No, Google says there is no reduction to existing budgets |
Google labels Holistic mode "Recommended" and says it "maximizes your overall account efficiency". That is true in the narrow sense the tool measures: more of the chosen metric per unit of spend. It does not account for anything the tool cannot see, which is the main reason to read the proposed cuts line by line.
How the tool works, step by step
The help page sets out six steps:
- Go to Recommendations in the Campaigns menu and open the Investment Strategy tab.
- Choose one goal to maximise: clicks, conversions or conversion value.
- Choose Holistic or Growth mode.
- Enter either an "Additional weekly spend" amount or a desired "Weekly increase" in results (Google's example is "50 more conversions"). Filling in one updates the other, and the Performance Graph redraws as you change them.
- Review the table of eligible campaigns: the suggested new budget (and in Holistic mode, whether it goes up or down), any recommended target change, the estimated weekly impact on your metrics and average CPA or ROAS, and an explanation of why each campaign was chosen.
- Select Apply all, review the summary of the total weekly budget change and estimated uplift, and Confirm. Google says the campaigns update "instantly".
Campaigns are selected by default. Unticking one keeps its existing budget and bid strategy, and the totals recalculate across the rest.
The fine print that matters
The "Keep in mind" section of the help page contains the details that decide whether the tool is safe to use on a given account:
- Eligibility. The tab is available when budget limits at least one performance campaign, or when a campaign could gain "significantly more conversions" at a favourable CPA or ROAS.
- Exclusions are respected. Google says the tool does not modify excluded campaigns, and unticked campaigns keep their budget and bid strategy settings.
- Targets move with budgets if you let them. For Target CPA and Target ROAS campaigns, budget suggestions align with your current targets. If you accept a suggested target change in the tool, the bid target updates alongside the new budget.
- The forecast window is short. Estimates and the curve in the Performance Graph are "typically based on a 7-day forecast" that accounts for recent trends and conversion delays.
Recommended Investment Strategy versus Performance Planner
Google's help page ends with a comparison against Performance Planner, which is the more useful way to decide which tool to open. In short, Investment Strategy is a fast, single-account tool for the next week; Performance Planner is for planning across months and across accounts.
| Feature | Recommended Investment Strategy | Performance Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Forecast | 7 days, interactive graph | Up to 18 months, with seasonality and custom date ranges |
| Budget reallocation | Yes, through Holistic mode | Yes, manual and simulated |
| Target changes | Recommends and applies Target CPA and Target ROAS changes | Simulates and plans bid and target changes |
| Account scope | Single account, under Recommendations | Single account or across a manager account (MCC), under Tools |
What to check before you apply Holistic mode
This section is our analysis of the risks, based on how the tool is described. Google's page does not list them.
- Brand campaigns. Brand search often looks "underutilised" because demand is capped by how many people search your name. A budget cut there rarely shows in a 7-day forecast but can open the door to competitors bidding on your brand. Untick brand campaigns unless you have a reason not to.
- Campaigns measured on something the tool cannot see. If a campaign's real value sits in offline sales, CRM-qualified leads or phone calls that are not imported as conversions, the tool will judge it on incomplete data. Fix the conversion measurement first, or exclude the campaign.
- Long conversion lags. Google says the forecast accounts for conversion delays, but a 7-day window is short for B2B, property, education or high-ticket purchases. Treat forecasts for those accounts with caution.
- Target changes. A suggested Target CPA or Target ROAS change aimed at "capturing more volume" normally means a looser target, which usually raises cost per result. Accept it only if the margin supports it.
- The goal you pick. Maximising clicks, conversions or conversion value will favour different campaigns. If you use conversion value, check that the values are real, not placeholders.
- Record the before state. Apply all updates several campaigns at once. Note the old budgets and targets so you can reverse any single change.
Growth mode avoids most of these risks because it cuts nothing, at the price of needing new money. For many accounts, running Growth mode first on a short list of clearly budget-limited campaigns is the safer starting point.
A related change: budget cuts now come with a forecast warning
Search Engine Roundtable also reported on 24 September that some advertisers now see a projected weekly conversion value and a "limited by budget" warning when they lower a campaign's daily budget. The screenshot came from Thomas Eccel on LinkedIn. It is a separate interface change, but it points the same way: Google's budget tools are increasingly built around forecasts that argue for spending more. The forecasts are useful input. They are not a neutral second opinion.
What this means for Thai marketers
The help page gives no country restrictions, and the tool works per account from the Recommendations page, so Thai advertisers should find it wherever the eligibility conditions are met. Many Thai accounts run a mix of brand search, Performance Max, Demand Gen and LINE- or phone-led lead campaigns where the final sale happens offline. That mix is exactly where Holistic mode's efficiency logic can misread value, so the exclusion and filter controls deserve more attention than the headline uplift figure.
If budgets are tight around year-end promotions such as 11.11 and 12.12, the Performance Planner comparison matters too: a 7-day forecast cannot see a sale event three weeks away. Use Performance Planner for the seasonal plan and Investment Strategy for short-term top-ups. If you want a second opinion on an account before reallocating, our Google Ads management team can review it.
What Google did not say
- When the new modes rolled out, or whether every account has them yet.
- How "underutilised" and "less efficient" are calculated for Holistic mode.
- Whether applying the tool's changes counts as applying a recommendation for optimisation score purposes.
- How the 7-day forecast handles planned promotions or seasonality.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Holistic mode and Growth mode in Google Ads?
Holistic mode moves budget away from underused or less efficient campaigns and into top performers, plus any extra weekly spend you add. Growth mode only adds new budget to top performers and does not reduce any existing campaign.
Where do I find Recommended Investment Strategy?
Go to Recommendations in the Campaigns menu and open the Investment Strategy tab at the top of the page. It only appears when at least one performance campaign is budget-limited or has room for significantly more conversions.
Can I stop the tool from changing a specific campaign?
Yes. Untick the campaign in the recommendations table and it keeps its existing budget and bid strategy; Google says excluded campaigns are not modified.
Will it change my Target CPA or Target ROAS?
Only if you accept a suggested target adjustment in the tool. If you do, the bid target updates at the same time as the new budget.
Is Recommended Investment Strategy available in Thailand?
The help page lists no country restrictions, so it should be available to eligible Thai accounts. Google has not published a rollout schedule for the new modes.
Budget tools that apply changes across a whole account in one click deserve a careful first run. If you would like help deciding which campaigns to protect and which to scale, talk to Relevant Audience.
