u/NorskBavian

This shit is eating me alive, something I am missing here?!?!

Before August 17, we ran Shopping with a 300% tROAS target while actually achieving 3,000–4,000% ROAS.

It sounds backwards, but it worked extremely well. The low target allowed Google to bid aggressively, giving us great Shopping rankings and high volume while, paradoxically, actual ROAS stayed 10x+ above the target.

300% target → aggressive bidding + high volume → 3,000–4,000% actual ROAS.

After August 17, everything changed. Sales dropped significantly, rankings got worse and competitors we previously outranked started appearing above us.
Our Google rep suggested moving tROAS closer to our actual 3,000–4,000% ROAS.

We never tested that because I can’t see how a 4,000% target could possibly behave anything like a 300% target. Surely it would make Google much more conservative, reduce auction participation and kill volume.

We instead tested Maximize Conversion Value without a target, but it didn’t seem aggressive enough.

We’re now testing Maximize Conversions, segmented more heavily by product margins. This definitely seems more aggressive than Max Conversion Value, but CPC and Shopping visibility are still below what we had before August 17.

So here’s what I’m trying to understand:

Could the solution simply be going back to 300% tROAS, but giving the campaign enough budget so it’s NOT limited by budget?

Would that allow tROAS to bid aggressively again while still optimizing toward value?

Or has something fundamentally changed in how tROAS behaves, meaning the old 300% target → 3,000–4,000% actual ROAS setup simply can’t be recreated anymore?
And if that’s the case, what are people using instead – Max Conversions, Manual CPC, Maximize Clicks?

Our goal isn’t to force Google to maintain 4,000% ROAS.

We want to recreate the aggressive bidding, Shopping visibility and volume that produced that 4,000% ROAS in the first place.

Anyone who massively overperformed a low tROAS target before August 17 figured this out?

Before August 17, a popular strategy was to set a relatively low tROAS and let Google massively overperform it. For example, 400% tROAS could sometimes deliver 1,000–5,000%+ ROAS.

Since August 17, tROAS is being treated much more literally. We’re seeing significantly higher CPCs and ROAS much closer to the actual target.

So I’m wondering:

Is the old low-tROAS strategy dead?

And is Maximize Conversion Value without a tROAS target now the better strategy for e-commerce?

Anyone else seeing this?

Our CPC was around $1.30 before August 17th, but since then it has gradually increased. Yesterday and today we’re suddenly at $11–12 CPC.

We’ve been running 400% tROAS, and the campaign has been massively overperforming. Now Google is recommending 5,000% tROAS.

I’m worried that increasing it that aggressively will completely kill the campaign.

Anyone else seeing this? What the hell is going on?

Our CPC was around $1.30 before August 17th, but since then it has gradually increased. Yesterday and today we’re suddenly at $11–12 CPC.

We’ve been running 400% tROAS, and the campaign has been massively overperforming. Now Google is recommending 5,000% tROAS.

I’m worried that increasing it that aggressively will completely kill the campaign.

Anyone else seeing this? What the hell is going on?