By default, Smart Campaigns use AI automation to determine the minimum and maximum bid settings for optimal performance. However, based on user feedback, we’ve introduced a new feature that allows you to override these automated bid settings with manual values.

In Ads Manager, you’ll now find a dropdown option to select either "Manual" or "Optimized" bid settings for both minimum and maximum bids.

If you choose "Manual," you'll be prompted to enter your preferred min or max bid value. This manual setting will stay active until you switch back to "Optimized."

Important: We recommend using manual overrides only for specific use cases, not across all ad groups.

Here are two scenarios where a manual bid override could be beneficial:

1. Limited Budget:

If your campaign has a strict budget and you need to cap the maximum bid, you can set a manual max bid to ensure bids don’t exceed your desired limit. While this may help control spending, keep in mind that lower bids can reduce ad impressions and potentially hurt sales volume. Use this option only when budget constraints are a primary concern.

2. Aggressive Ad Spend for New Products:

In some cases, you may want to ensure higher bids, especially when launching a new product and seeking more ad placements. For instance, setting a minimum bid above $1 can guarantee visibility, even if AI suggests a more efficient, lower bid. Be cautious with this approach, as it could lead to reduced efficiency in the long run.

While manual overrides provide greater control, keep in mind that AI is designed to optimize your campaigns toward your goals. Overriding these settings can limit the system's ability to make data-driven decisions for optimal performance. We recommend using overrides only for specific, strategic reasons as outlined above.

For most cases, the AI-optimized settings are the best way to achieve your goals.

If you have overwritten a min or max bid setting Flywheel will let you know when this setting is restricting bids for keywords in the ad group. If you set a max bid that is lower than what AI would optimally bid you will see a warning letting you know how many keywords are being restricted based on your input. The same goes for setting a min bid higher than what AI would suggest.