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Maximise Conversions always beats Maximise Clicks, even from a cold start

The myth that will not die is that new Google Ads campaigns need a Maximise Clicks warm-up before switching to Smart Bidding.

The old recipe

Launch a new campaign on Maximise Clicks. Let it collect 15, 30 or 50 conversions. Then switch to Maximise Conversions, Target CPA, Maximise Conversion Value or Target ROAS.

This advice is still repeated in audits, courses, forums and agency playbooks as if Smart Bidding needs to complete an apprenticeship under Maximise Clicks.

It does not. The warm-up phase solves yesterday's version of Google Ads.

Google now says to skip the warm-up

In March 2026, Google Ads published unusually direct guidance: go straight to the bidding strategy the campaign should ultimately optimise towards. Its accompanying article explicitly says advertisers no longer need to build a bank of conversion data before starting Smart Bidding.

Google Ads Product Manager Carlo Buchmann put it plainly in the Ads Decoded cold-start discussion:

“Generally you can start with the bidding strategy that you want to optimise towards.”
Excerpt from Google Ads, Budgets, bidding & AI-powered campaigns: Best practices for 2026. Watch the full original on YouTube.
Read the clip transcript

Ginny Marvin: Do you need to have conversion data to start using Maximise Conversions or target CPA in a new campaign or account?

Carlo Buchmann: Generally, you can start with the bidding strategy that you want to optimise towards. The system will learn as new conversions or conversion value comes in and adjust quickly.

And the second part to mention is especially when you are thinking about an existing account that is already set up and has campaigns running. Smart Bidding trains and learns across conversions in your entire account.

A new campaign may have new keywords and a new target, but it is not an isolated campaign that has to start from scratch.

Why Maximise Clicks is the wrong training strategy

Maximise Clicks is not a waiting room for Smart Bidding. It has a specific objective: generate as many clicks as possible within the available budget.

That is not the same objective as generating conversions, qualified leads, revenue or profit. Google can satisfy Maximise Clicks by finding cheaper auctions and more click volume. There is no reason to assume the traffic distribution preferred by a click-maximising algorithm is the distribution a conversion-maximising algorithm would have chosen.

The old sequence therefore begins by asking Google to optimise toward the wrong result. Then, after spending money on that result, it asks Google to change jobs.

I would use Maximise Clicks only if clicks were the outcome I genuinely wanted and I had no intention of switching later.

Smart Bidding does not start with an empty brain

Modern Smart Bidding is not limited to the conversion count inside one new campaign. Google says its models use query-level information beyond the individual bid strategy and can construct initial conversion-rate models even when little or no campaign data exists.

It can also learn from relevant history elsewhere in the account. A new campaign may have new keywords and a new target, but it is not necessarily an isolated machine starting from zero.

This is the part the old 15-conversion rule misses. More high-quality conversion data still improves performance and makes evaluation easier. But a Maximise Clicks phase is no longer the admission ticket to conversion-based bidding.

The requirement is good tracking, not a click warm-up

Starting with Smart Bidding does not mean turning it on against any conversion action available and hoping for the best. Google’s newer guidance makes the prerequisite clear: conversion tracking must be in place, and the primary action needs enough expected volume while remaining a meaningful indicator of quality.

For ecommerce, that can mean accurate purchase values. For lead generation, it may mean bidding toward a qualified lead rather than waiting months for a sparse closed-sale event. The signal should be as deep in the funnel as possible without becoming too delayed and rare to guide bidding.

The question is not “Have I collected enough clicks first?” It is “Have I told Google what a valuable outcome looks like?”

How I would launch a new Search campaign now

  • Install and test conversion tracking before launch.
  • Choose the conversion or value action the campaign should ultimately optimise.
  • Start with the relevant Smart Bidding strategy rather than a temporary click objective.
  • Avoid an unrealistically tight CPA or ROAS target that prevents the campaign entering auctions.
  • Allow at least one full conversion cycle before judging performance or making major changes.
  • Review lead quality, revenue and CRM outcomes rather than trusting the platform conversion count alone.

Why the myth refuses to die

Google's own documentation has not always moved in one direction at the same speed. One Maximise Conversions help page still recommends a baseline of 15 conversions and suggests that a brand-new campaign consider Maximise Clicks first.

Meanwhile, Google’s March 2026 product-team video and official follow-up article say the opposite in unusually explicit language: skip the warm-up and launch with the strategy you ultimately want.

That contradiction explains why the old advice survives. But when current product managers explain how the current system works, I give that more weight than a legacy paragraph preserved in the Help Centre.

The rule now

Do not spend the first phase teaching Google that you want clicks when what you actually want is conversions.

Start with Smart Bidding. Feed it a conversion action that reflects the business goal. Give it enough budget and enough time to experience a complete conversion cycle. Then improve the signal as better revenue, margin or qualified-lead data becomes available.

Maximise Clicks is a click strategy. It is not a training strategy for Maximise Conversions.

Sources

Check your Smart Bidding signal