What does ‘strategy Limited’ mean in the context of Google Ads?

Short Answer: ‘Strategy Limited’ means that your bid strategy is restricted because the maximum or minimum bid limits you set are being met by multiple keywords or targeting options. This limits how much your bids can be optimized and restricts your spending to stay within your set bid caps, preventing your ads from spending your full daily budget.

Full Explanation

In Google Ads, when a bid strategy is marked as ‘strategy Limited,’ it indicates that the bidding process is constrained by the maximum or minimum bid limits you have set. Multiple keywords or targeting intentions are reaching these set bid limits, meaning the system can no longer increase or decrease bids beyond this cap to optimize your ad performance.

Because of this, the bidding system can’t fully optimize your bids, and consequently, your ads might not spend your entire daily budget. The cap on bids effectively puts a ceiling on what you are willing to pay per click, which in turn limits how much your ads can be shown and, therefore, limits overall ad spend.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

You set a bid strategy with maximum or minimum bid limits for your keywords or target groups.
During the campaign, these keywords or targets frequently hit these bid limits.
The bidding algorithm is unable to adjust bids beyond these limits to find better opportunities.
As a result, your bids become capped and do not fully optimize for ad placements or traffic.
This capping causes your ads to spend less than your full daily budget since bids can’t increase to win more auctions.

Real Examples

While specific examples are not detailed here, envision a situation where multiple keywords in your campaign have their bids capped at the maximum you set. These keywords can’t bid higher in competitive auctions, so your ads either show less or do not use the full daily budget you have allocated.

Common Mistakes

Setting maximum bid limits too low, restricting bid flexibility.
Not adjusting bid caps when competition or costs increase.
Ignoring warnings or indications about bid limits being reached.
Assuming the daily budget will always be fully spent without considering bid caps.

FAQs

Q: Will ‘strategy Limited’ prevent my ads from showing?
Not directly; however, it can reduce the frequency your ads appear because bids are capped.

Q: Can I fix ‘strategy Limited’?
Yes, by adjusting your bid limits to ensure the system can optimize bids better within your budget.

Q: Does ‘strategy Limited’ affect my overall budget?
Yes, it often prevents spending the full daily budget because of bid restrictions.

Key Takeaways

‘Strategy Limited’ means your bidding is restricted by max or min bid limits.
This restriction happens when multiple keywords or targets hit these limits.
Your bidding strategy cannot fully optimize, limiting ad reach and spend.
As a result, your ads may not spend the entire daily budget you set.
To address it, you may need to review and adjust your bid caps for better performance.