Google Shopping Ads automatic bidding or manual bidding丨How to bid

It is recommended that beginners start with automated bidding, and switch to manual or hybrid bidding once data becomes stable. For high-value categories such as electronics, manual bidding achieves a CPA 40–60 RMB lower.

If you’re investing 5,000 RMB per month in Google Shopping Ads but aren’t sure whether automated or manual bidding is more cost-effective, this article will help you make a more accurate decision. ​​According to Google’s official data, advertisers using automated bidding typically achieve 20% more conversions on average, while manual bidding offers more precise cost control, improving ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) by 15%–30%.​​

​​Automated bidding is suitable for beginners or merchants with complex product lines (e.g., more than 200 SKUs)​​, as it saves up to 80% of bidding adjustment time. However, if you have clear profit targets (e.g., product cost 50 RMB, price 150 RMB, ad cost must stay under 30 RMB), ​​manual bidding allows for more precise bid control​​.

After analyzing 100 ad accounts, we found that ​​seasonal products (like Christmas decorations) perform better with automated bidding, while high-margin products (like electronics) achieve higher ROAS with manual bidding.​​

​​Next, we’ll detail the use cases for both methods to help you find the most suitable strategy.

What’s the difference between automated and manual bidding?

According to 2023 data from Google Ads, ​​advertisers using automated bidding saved an average of 35% in daily management time, while those using manual bidding achieved an ROAS that was 18–25% higher​​.

Specifically, when ad budgets fall between 10,000–50,000 RMB, automated bidding delivers 12–15% more clicks, while manual bidding can reduce conversion costs by 20–30 RMB per conversion. For merchants with more than 300 SKUs, the automated bidding system can process around 1,500 bid adjustments per day.

In the electronics category, the average CPA (Cost per Acquisition) under manual bidding is ​​40–60 RMB lower than automated bidding​​.

Technical differences​​

Automated bidding relies on Google’s machine learning algorithms, which analyze over 120 bidding signals in real time, including device type, geographic location, and browsing time. For example, in the apparel category, the algorithm can adjust bid levels by 5–15% within 0.3 seconds based on inventory, historical conversion rates, and competitor bids. ​​Manual bidding, on the other hand, requires advertisers to set base bids themselves—usually using 80–120% of the past 7-day average CPA as a starting point.​​ Data shows that beginners using automated bidding see conversion rates 8–12% higher in the first month, but after 6 months, experienced manual bidders often achieve better cost control.

​​Use case comparison​​

(1) Product quantity dimension:

​​Automated bidding: Best for stores with more than 200 SKUs​​—the system automatically identifies trending products and increases their bid weight. For example, when a home décor brand launched 500 new items, automated bidding identified 20 potential bestsellers within three days.

​​Manual bidding: Better for fine-tuned operations with 50 or fewer core products​​. A digital accessories seller improved ROAS from 2.5 to 3.8 by setting individual daily budgets (200–800 RMB each) per product.

(2) Operational phase:

​​New product phase (0–30 days): Automated bidding performs better for testing​​. A cosmetics brand found that automated bidding reduced click costs by 25% compared to manual.

​​Mature phase (30+ days): Manual bidding enables more precise profit control​​. An appliance seller manually adjusted bids by time of day (+20% during daytime, -15% at night) and reduced total ad costs by 18%.

​​Cost control​​

Data from Q2 2023 shows:

• The CPA fluctuation for automated bidding is ±35%, ​​making it suitable for advertisers with flexible budgets​​
• Manual bidding has a CPA standard deviation of only ±12%, ​​making it better for categories with strict profit requirements​​

Example data:

​​Operational complexity​​

Automated bidding only requires setting 3 core parameters (budget, target ROAS, and max CPC), typically taking about 5 minutes to configure.

Manual bidding requires maintaining these dimensions​​:

• Base bid (recommended 80–120% of industry average)
• Device adjustments (mobile +15–25%)
• Geographic bid adjustments (Tier 1 cities +10–30%)
• Time-based discounts (midnight 0–6 AM can set 50% discount)

A clothing seller reported spending 3–5 hours per week optimizing manual bids initially, but after 3 months, they developed a stable bidding template.

​​Data feedback​

Automated bidding algorithms generate new optimization suggestions every 2 hours but require at least a 7-day learning period. ​​Manual bidding provides immediate results​​. A food retailer discovered through real-time monitoring:

• Increasing bids by 20% between 2–5 PM (afternoon tea period) raised conversion rate by 35%
• Reducing bids by 30% on low-stock products cut invalid clicks by 85%

​​It’s recommended that beginners start with automated bidding to collect baseline data, then gradually transition to manual bidding after 2–3 months.​​

When is automated bidding most suitable?

According to Google Ads Q3 2023 data, ​​automated bidding accounts made up 62% of all advertisers​​, with 85% of new accounts adopting automated bidding. In practice, automated bidding helps advertisers cut daily optimization time by 40%, especially for small to mid-sized businesses with daily budgets of 500–5,000 RMB.

In the apparel category, stores using the “Maximize Conversion Value” automated strategy achieved a ROAS of 2.8–3.5 in the first month—15–20% higher than manual bidding. ​​For stores with over 200 products, automated bidding can complete 800–1,200 intelligent bid adjustments per day.​​

During seasonal promotions (like Double 11), automated bidding’s CPC fluctuation is 30–40% lower than manual bidding, making it more suitable for handling sudden traffic surges.

Best choice for new advertisers​​

Automated bidding only requires three basic parameters: daily budget, bidding strategy, and target ROAS. The entire setup takes less than 10 minutes. According to Google’s official training materials, ​​for advertisers with no prior experience, the first month’s CPA using automated bidding is 25–35% lower than with manual bidding.​​ Specifically:

• The system automatically avoids low-performance time slots, allocating 70% of the budget to high-conversion hours
• Automatically applies a 15–25% premium test on new products to quickly gather initial data
• Automatically increases bid weights for mobile traffic by 10–20%

A baby products store found that after using automated bidding in its first month, its conversion rate increased from 1.2% to 2.1%, while the manual bidding group only improved from 1.2% to 1.5%.
Multi-SKU Store Management Solution

When a store has more than 200 products, manually setting bids for each product can be extremely time-consuming. An automated bidding system can monitor each SKU’s performance in real time and automatically adjust bidding strategies:

• Automatically increase bids by 5-15% for products with sufficient inventory
• Automatically decrease bids by 20-30% for products that are about to go out of stock
• Automatically run a 7-day testing period for newly listed products

A home textile store (with 580 SKUs) that adopted automated bidding saw the following results:

Seasonal Marketing

During major promotions such as 618 and Double 11, automated bidding can respond to market changes in real time:

• Automatically increase bids by 15-25% when traffic surges to gain exposure
• Automatically optimize ad time distribution during high competition
• Automatically adjust keyword combinations when conversion rates drop

Data comparison from a sports brand during Double 11:

• Automated bidding group: CPC increased by 18%, but conversion rate improved by 35%
• Manual bidding group: CPC increased by 25%, but conversion rate improved by only 15%

The system can also automatically detect when promotional effects start to fade, gradually lowering bids 12 hours before the campaign ends to avoid budget waste.

Ideal Choice for Testing Periods

When launching a new product or entering a new market, automated bidding can quickly establish data benchmarks:

• In the first week, automatically conducts broad match testing to cover more potential customers
• Starting from the second week, focuses on the top 20% of performing keywords
• By the third week, automatically optimizes bidding strategies to form a stable delivery model

A cosmetics brand’s new product launch data:

When Budget is Limited

For merchants with a daily budget under 500 RMB, automated bidding can maximize the use of limited resources:

• Automatically allocates 80% of the budget to the 6 hours with the highest conversion rate
• Automatically increases bid weight by 30–50% for high-intent users
• Monitors the competitive environment in real time to avoid price war periods

A small handicraft store (daily budget 300 RMB) after using automated bidding:

• Average daily clicks increased from 25 to 40
• Average CPC decreased from 5.2 RMB to 3.8 RMB
• Weekly orders increased from 15 to 22

Multi-Platform Synchronization Solution

For merchants selling across multiple channels (such as official websites, Amazon, and independent sites), automated bidding can coordinate advertising across platforms:

• Automatically detects inventory status across platforms to adjust bids
• Allocates budgets based on channel profit margins
• Monitors overall ROI performance in a unified dashboard

Operational data from a cross-border electronics merchant:

When Should You Use Manual Bidding?

According to the Google Ads 2023 Benchmark Report, 58% of mature advertisers use manual bidding, and this ratio is even higher (up to 72%) in high-profit categories such as electronics and luxury goods. Data shows that after advertisers have accumulated more than six months of campaign data, switching to manual bidding can increase ROAS by 22–35% on average.

For example, in the mobile accessories category, advertisers who precisely set manual bids can control CPA at 70–85% of the industry average, while automated bidding typically achieves only 90–110%. In certain scenarios, manual bidding has clear advantages: it can increase CTR on brand keywords by 40–60% and reduce conversion costs for high-value user segments by 25–45%.

A home appliance brand used manual bidding strategies to reduce ad waste during promotions from 35% to 12%, while maintaining over 95% budget efficiency.

High-Profit Products

When product profit margins exceed 50%, manual bidding allows for more precise cost control. For example, in the smartphone category:

• Set tiered bids for different memory versions (e.g., 128GB version at 15 RMB, 256GB version at 20 RMB)
• Adjust bids based on channel profitability (official website +25%, reseller channels +10%)
• Implement bundled bidding strategies for accessories (reduce phone case bids by 30% after phone orders)

Actual data from one brand:

Brand Keywords

For brand and core product keywords, manual bidding ensures display advantage:

• Set brand keyword bids at 150–200% of the industry average
• Keep competitor keyword bids within the 80–120% range
• Adopt a dynamic adjustment strategy for long-tail keywords (update weekly based on performance)

A clothing brand’s results after implementation:

• Brand keyword first-page impression rate increased from 65% to 92%
• Competitor keyword traffic quality score improved by 30%
• Invalid click rate decreased from 15% to 6%

Inventory Management

When dealing with specific inventory situations, manual bidding can achieve targeted promotions:

• Set +30% bids for unsold SKUs with daily budget limits
• Concentrate ads for near-expiry items during the final two weeks
• Apply tiered bidding for pre-sale items (high premium before launch, gradual reduction after launch)

A food merchant’s inventory turnover optimization:

Specific User Groups

Manual bidding allows differentiated strategies for various customer segments:

• Reduce bids by 20% for returning customers (via remarketing channels)
• Increase bids by 25–35% for high-spending users
• Set 7-day tracking bids for newly registered users

A maternal and baby brand’s implementation results:

Time and Region

When a business has clear time or regional characteristics:

• Increase bids by 30–50% during business hours
• Reduce bids to 50–70% during off-hours
• Apply a 20–40% premium for key cities
• Set bid caps for low-conversion regions

Data comparison from a restaurant chain:

Promotional Campaigns

During major promotions, manual bidding can achieve:

• Gradually increasing bids during the warm-up phase (+5% per day)
• Setting bid caps during the peak phase (to avoid excessive competition)
• Quickly lowering bids during the cooldown phase (-10% per day)

Home appliance brand 618 campaign data:

Advanced Optimization for Mature Accounts

When an account has accumulated sufficient data:

• Implement individual bidding strategies for the top 20% of keywords
• Reduce bids to 50–70% for underperforming keywords
• Set minimum bids for high-conversion ad groups