Toshiro wants to increase the conversion rate of his Shopping campaigns without increasing his budget. He should use:
Correct Answer
enhanced cost-per-click (ECPC)
Key takeaways
Enhanced CPC adjusts existing bids by how likely a click is to convert.
It works within your current budget, which is what the question asks for.
Maximise clicks buys volume and generally lowers conversion rate.
Why is this the correct answer?
Enhanced CPC sits on top of manual bidding and adjusts each bid according to how likely that particular click is to convert. Because it is shifting the same money towards better auctions rather than asking for more, spend stays within the existing budget while the proportion of clicks that convert rises — which is precisely what improving conversion rate without extra budget means. The other strategies either chase volume or change what you are optimising for rather than refining an existing bid.
Why are the other options wrong?
target return on ad spend (ROAS)
Target ROAS optimises towards revenue returned per unit of spend. It is a value strategy rather than a conversion rate one, and it needs reliable conversion values to work.
maximize clicks
Maximise clicks spends the budget on as many clicks as possible without regard to conversion likelihood, so it usually reduces conversion rate.
target cost-per-acquisition (CPA)
Target CPA controls what you pay per conversion. It can be an excellent strategy, but it governs cost per conversion rather than the share of clicks that convert.
Other sites list a different answer
Several exam-answer sites give the answer as maximize clicks. We believe that is wrong.
Maximise clicks buys as many clicks as it can within the budget, with no regard to whether those clicks convert — so it typically pushes conversion rate down, not up. The explanation published alongside that answer even says so, describing the strategy as getting as many clicks as possible within your budget. Enhanced CPC is the strategy built for this exact situation: it raises the bid when a click looks likely to convert and lowers it when it does not, working inside the budget you already have.
Frequently asked questions about this topic
How is ECPC different from fully automated bidding?
ECPC starts from the bids you set and nudges them, so you keep a hand on the wheel. Target CPA and target ROAS set the bid entirely, using your target as the instruction. ECPC is often the stepping stone between manual bidding and full automation.
Does ECPC need conversion tracking?
Yes. Every conversion-aware strategy depends on conversions being tracked accurately, because the adjustment is based on predicted conversion likelihood. Without that signal there is nothing to enhance.
Official documentation: https://support.google.com/partners/answer/6268626
Topics in this question
About the Shopping Ads Certification
The Shopping Ads Certification checks that you can run retail campaigns end to end: product data in Merchant Center, linking it to Google Ads, and choosing between Standard Shopping and Performance Max to drive sales and value.
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