Experiment context
Hypothesis. Higher bids were expected to increase impression share and top positions, adding traffic and transactions despite CPC growth.
How the test ran. The analysis uses Google Ads plus GA4 / calculated metrics for the 04.06–24.06 window.
Traffic split. 50/50.
Visual summary
The bid increase produced different regional decisions, so rollout should be segmented rather than global.
Performance results
| Campaign | Impr. | Clicks | Cost | CTR | Avg. CPC | Search impr. share | Impr. (Abs. Top) % | Impr. (Top) % | Transactions | First purchasers | CPO | CAC | CR (click-transactions) | CR (click-first purchasers) | NS coeff | NS FP | NS CAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| google_search_eu_game-2_service3_c1_test-bids-2705 | 6,829 | 1,024 | 3,443$ | 14.99% | 3.36$ | 77.93% | 66.40% | 87.05% | 138.00 | 46.00 | 24.95$ | 74.85$ | 13.48% | 4.49% | 1.54 | 70.84 | 48.60$ |
| google_search_eu_game-2_service3_c1 | 5,674 | 858 | 2,299.20$ | 15.12% | 2.68$ | 71.51% | 57.82% | 85.52% | 128.00 | 43.00 | 17.96$ | 53.47$ | 14.92% | 5.01% | — | 66.22 | 34.72$ |
| Change, % | 20.36% | 19.35% | 49.75% | -0.86% | 25.37% | 8.98% | 14.84% | 1.79% | 7.81% | 6.98% | 38.90% | 39.98% | -9.66% | -10.37% | — | 6.98% | 39.98% |
| google_search_de_game-2_service3_c1_test-bids-2705 | 2,906 | 502 | 2,178.47$ | 17.27% | 4.34$ | 79.60% | 54.09% | 83.37% | 52.00 | 21.00 | 41.89$ | 103.74$ | 10.36% | 4.18% | — | 32.34 | 67.36$ |
| google_search_de_game-2_service3_c1 | 2,373 | 421 | 1,438.73$ | 17.74% | 3.42$ | 73.96% | 42.35% | 85.06% | 74.00 | 17.00 | 19.44$ | 84.63$ | 17.58% | 4.04% | — | 26.18 | 54.96$ |
| Change, % | 22.46% | 19.24% | 51.42% | -2.65% | 26.90% | 7.63% | 27.72% | -1.99% | -29.73% | 23.53% | 115.48% | 22.58% | -41.07% | 3.60% | — | 23.53% | 22.58% |
| google_search_us_game-2_service3_c1_test-bids-2705 | 5,284 | 767 | 4,035.37$ | 14.52% | 5.26$ | 65.16% | 53.63% | 84.63% | 105.00 | 45.00 | 38.43$ | 89.67$ | 13.69% | 5.87% | — | 69.30 | 58.23$ |
| google_search_us_game-2_service3_c1 | 4,234 | 656 | 2,594.86$ | 15.49% | 3.96$ | 63.23% | 44.39% | 87.99% | 141.00 | 41.00 | 18.40$ | 63.29$ | 21.49% | 6.25% | — | 63.14 | 41.10$ |
| Change, % | 24.80% | 16.92% | 55.51% | -6.26% | 32.83% | 3.05% | 20.82% | -3.82% | -25.53% | 9.76% | 108.83% | 41.69% | -36.31% | -6.13% | — | 9.76% | 41.69% |
Result. EU: successful—roll out the higher-bid strategy. DE: unsuccessful—return to control bids because incremental traffic did not convert. US: mixed—use an intermediate bid increase to improve auction coverage without exceeding target CAC.
Conclusions
Overall verdict: regional rollout. Apply the higher-bid strategy in EU. Return DE to control bids because incremental traffic did not convert into sufficient transactions. In US, use an intermediate bid increase: auction coverage can be improved, but the full test bid risks exceeding target CAC. Increase auction buyout only where the baseline coverage is insufficient and the higher bid produced a measurable efficiency or volume benefit.