Some Google Ads accounts are showing a revised bidding-strategy menu in which Target CPA and Target ROAS appear as standalone bidding strategies rather than optional targets set inside Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value. Search Engine Land reported the sighting on 28 July 2026. Google has not announced the change, and the report says the strategies do not appear to work any differently.
What advertisers are seeing in the revised bidding menu
Advertisers have started seeing the new layout during campaign setup, at the point where a bidding strategy is chosen. In the accounts where it appears, Target CPA and Target ROAS sit in the same list as Maximize Clicks, Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Target Impression Share and Manual CPC. The options were first spotted by a Google Ads practitioner who shared the view publicly, and Search Engine Land wrote it up on 28 July 2026.
Until now that selection took two steps. An advertiser picked Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value first, then optionally applied a Target CPA or Target ROAS goal on top of it. In the revised menu the two target-based options are selectable directly, so the nesting disappears.
Google has not confirmed the change
Google has made no announcement about the menu. Search Engine Land's 28 July report frames it as something Google "appears to" be doing, not as a launch, and gives no rollout date because none has been published. Keep that wording in any internal note. This is a sighting in some accounts rather than a documented product change, and accounts that have not received it still show Target CPA and Target ROAS as goals applied inside Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value.
The strategies themselves do not appear to work differently
The change does not appear to alter how the bidding strategies function, according to the 28 July report. What moved is where the option sits in the setup flow, not what the bidding does once it is running. Nobody managing a live campaign should expect different delivery or different costs because of a menu label.
Which makes the practical risk procedural rather than performance-related. If a team's setup checklist, onboarding doc or training screenshot says "choose Maximize Conversions, then set a Target CPA", that instruction now describes a menu some accounts no longer show. A new hire following it will look for a nested field that is not there and may conclude the account is broken.
Why 17 August 2026 keeps coming up
A Google Ads trainer suggested the revised layout could relate to changes scheduled for 17 August, making things clearer for advertisers moving between Target CPA or Target ROAS and Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value. That is one practitioner's reading and not confirmation from Google, so treat it as speculation.
The date is not arbitrary, though. Google is separately changing how target-based bid strategies behave on budget-limited campaigns from 17 August 2026, so mid-August is already marked on the calendar for a bidding change. Whether the interface sighting has anything to do with it is unknown.
Before and after, side by side
The table below sets the long-standing setup flow against what advertisers are reporting in the accounts showing the revised menu, based on the 28 July report.
| Item | Long-standing setup flow | In accounts showing the revised menu |
|---|---|---|
| Selecting Target CPA | Choose Maximize Conversions, then optionally apply a Target CPA | Target CPA listed as its own bidding strategy |
| Selecting Target ROAS | Choose Maximize Conversion Value, then optionally apply a Target ROAS | Target ROAS listed as its own bidding strategy |
| Other options in the list | Maximize Clicks, Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Target Impression Share, Manual CPC | The same options, with Target CPA and Target ROAS alongside them |
| How the bidding functions | Target-based bidding driven by the goal you set | No change reported; described as a presentation change |
| Confirmation from Google | Not applicable | None as of 28 July 2026; the report says Google "appears to" be separating them |
What this means for marketers in Thailand
There is nothing to do in the account today. A Thai agency team or in-house marketer running several Google Ads accounts should expect to see both menus for a while, because the sighting is limited to some accounts and Google has published no rollout schedule. That inconsistency is the part worth planning for, especially where junior staff build campaigns from a written process.
Two cheap moves cover it. First, add a line to the internal Google Ads playbook noting that Target CPA and Target ROAS may appear either as standalone strategies or as goals nested under Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value, and that both routes reach the same place. Second, do it before mid-August, since 17 August 2026 brings a separate change to how target-based bid strategies behave on budget-limited campaigns and you do not want two sources of confusion landing in the same week.
Whichever menu an account shows, the input that decides whether a Target CPA or Target ROAS number is any good is the conversion data feeding it. If the tracking is counting the wrong actions or double-counting them, no menu layout will save the target. A tracking review, and a clean GA4 setup behind it, is a better use of the next two weeks than watching the interface.
Frequently asked questions
Has Google announced that Target CPA and Target ROAS are now separate bid strategies?
No. As of the 28 July 2026 report there is no announcement from Google, and Search Engine Land describes it as something Google "appears to" be doing after advertisers spotted the revised menu in their accounts.
Does my bidding behave differently because of this?
No. The change does not appear to alter how the bidding strategies function; the 28 July report treats it as a presentation change in the campaign setup menu.
Is the new menu live in Thailand?
The source does not state which markets or account types see the revised menu. It reports that advertisers have started seeing it in some accounts, without a rollout schedule or a country list.
Do I have to change anything in my campaigns?
No campaign change is needed. The only real task is documentation: update any internal setup guide that tells staff to find Target CPA nested inside Maximize Conversions, ideally before mid-August.
What is happening on 17 August 2026?
Google is changing how target-based bid strategies behave on budget-limited campaigns from 17 August 2026. A Google Ads trainer suggested the menu change could be connected to that date, but Google has not confirmed any link, so the connection is speculation.
If your Google Ads accounts are managed off a written process, this is a five-minute edit that saves a confused conversation in August. If you would rather have someone check the bidding setup and the conversion data behind it before the mid-August change lands, our Google Ads team can take a look.
