How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Set a target cost per lead (target CPA) in Google Ads
Updated October 11, 2026
20 minutes, then 1 to 2 weeks to settle
Set a target CPA from your real cost per lead: the campaign's spend divided by the leads in your own records. First make sure its Conversions column counts each lead once. Then open the campaign's settings, change its bid strategy to Target CPA, enter the amount and save.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Read-only access cannot edit campaigns.
- Your own lead count for the last 30 days, from a CRM, call log or inbox, and the campaign's spend for those days.
- Conversion tracking already in place. Google requires it before Target CPA can be set up.
- A daily budget you could live with doubling on some days. Google recommends being comfortable spending up to 2 times your average daily budget.
Make the Conversions column count each lead once
Target CPA aims at the cost per conversion in the Conversions column, so fix what that column counts before choosing a number.
- Click Campaigns, open the Settings tab, select the campaign and expand Conversion goals. Hover over each goal to see which of its actions are set to Primary.
- Back in the campaigns table, set the date range to the last 30 days, click Segment above the table, and under Conversions choose Conversion action. Compare the total with your own lead count for the same days.
- If Google's count runs well above yours, look for two actions recording one lead (a call counted by Google and by a call tracking import, a form counted by the Google Ads tag and a GA4 import) and for actions that are not leads, such as map directions. The how-tos listed below fix each one.
A column that counts each lead twice shows a cost per conversion half the real cost per lead. A target taken from it is half the real cost per lead the day the count is fixed, and Google's recommended target, which it bases on the campaign's average CPA from the last 30 days adjusted for conversion delays, carries the same error. Where only some leads count twice, bidding also values those leads at double.
Work out the target from your own numbers
Start the target at what a lead costs today in your own records, not at the figure the Conversions column shows.
- Divide the campaign's spend for the last 30 days by the real leads it brought in. A worked example: $3,000 in spend and 40 leads in your records is a $75 cost per lead.
- Use that figure, or one close to it, as the first target. Google says a target that is too low may cause you to forgo clicks that could result in conversions, resulting in fewer total conversions.
- If Google suggests a target far below your real cost per lead, go back to the counting in the first part.
Set the target in the campaign's bidding
Make the change once in the campaign's settings, then leave it alone while bidding learns.
- In Campaigns, click the campaign's name, open its settings and change the bid strategy there, one of the routes Google's Target CPA page lists.
- Choose Target CPA and enter your amount. During Google's 2026 renaming, some screens may still show Maximize conversions with a Target CPA, which works the same way.
- Click Save. Where Google offers Save as experiment, it runs the new setting against the original campaign first.
- For one target across several campaigns, tick them in Campaigns, click Edit, then Change bid strategy, create a portfolio strategy and click Apply.
Google describes a standard 7 to 14 day learning phase and says frequent changes to budgets, targets or conversion goals during it reset the learning window.
Check it worked
After two weeks, add the Avg. target CPA column from the Performance category to the campaigns table and compare it with Cost / conv. Google recommends judging against the average target, over periods with at least 30 conversions.
Then divide spend by your own lead count. If Google's cost per conversion is on target but your real cost per lead is not, something new is counting in Conversions.
Why might a budget-limited campaign cost more per lead since August 17, 2026?
From August 17, 2026, Google says a budget-limited campaign on Target CPA that has been beating its target now delivers closer to that target: one with an $80 target getting leads at $50 may drift toward $80. Google won't adjust the target for you, so lower it toward recent cost per lead to keep it.
Should each ad group or device get its own target?
Google allows ad group targets but says they aren't recommended, since they can restrict Smart Bidding. Device bid adjustments change the target itself: with a $75 target, +40% on mobile makes the mobile target $105.