Value-based bidding (Target ROAS) has been available for years.
It lets you assign dollar values to different conversions so Google can prioritise higher-value outcomes.
So in theory, it solves the same problem…
However, in practice, most lead gen accounts cannot use it!
Target ROAS requires roughly 90 conversions in a 30-day window to function properly.
You need to assign monetary values to every conversion event.
And you need those values to be accurate and consistent, which means your CRM data has to be clean, your pipeline stages have to be standardised, and your sales team has to be disciplined about updating records.
So… problem, most lead gen businesses do not meet these requirements.
Not because they are bad at marketing… But, because they are normal-sized businesses with normal-sized pipelines and 15 to 40 leads a month, not 90.
Journey-aware bidding has a lower bar… perfect!
It works on Target CPA campaigns, which most lead gen accounts already run.
It needs 30 conversions in 30 days, not 90… Plus, it does not require you to assign dollar values.
It infers the relationship between journey stages and outcomes.
This is the key and meaningful difference.
It opens up smarter bidding to a much wider range of lead gen advertisers.
Google states a minimum of 30 conversions in a 30-day period for the algorithm to have enough signal. That is your primary conversion action, not your pipeline stages. If you are generating fewer than 30 leads a month from Google Ads, the system will not have enough data to learn effectively.
If you sell something with a long consideration period (B2B services, financial products, education, healthcare), set your click-through attribution window to 90 or 120 days and your view-through window to 30 to 60 days. The default 30-day click window will miss conversions that take longer to close, and the algorithm will learn from incomplete data.