Manual vs. Automated Bidding: What’s the Difference?

A Clear Breakdown for Business Owners Running Paid Ads

When setting up a paid media campaign on Google Ads or Meta, one of the first decisions you’ll face is how to bid. And if you’re not sure whether to choose manual or automated bidding, you’re not alone.

At Root Company, we’ve worked with clients on both strategies—and in many cases, a hybrid approach works best. But before you can decide what’s right for your business, you need to understand the difference.

This guide breaks down manual vs. automated bidding, explains when to use each, and outlines how they affect your ad performance and budget.

What Is Manual Bidding?

Manual bidding means you set your own maximum cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) for each keyword, ad set, or audience. You control how much you’re willing to pay per action.

Pros of Manual Bidding:

• Full control over bids and budgets
  
• Useful for testing and learning phases
  
• Can help keep costs low in niche or low-competition markets
  
• Great for advertisers who want to micromanage performance
  

Cons of Manual Bidding:

• Labor-intensive: you must monitor and adjust bids regularly
  
• No access to machine learning or smart optimization
  
• Can miss out on valuable traffic if bids are set too low
  
• Difficult to scale efficiently across many campaigns
  

Best for: Experienced advertisers, tight-budget accounts, or highly targeted campaigns where precision matters more than scale.

What Is Automated Bidding?

Automated bidding uses machine learning to adjust your bids in real time based on the likelihood of a conversion or other desired action. You tell the platform your goal (leads, sales, clicks, etc.), and it sets the bid dynamically.

Common automated strategies:

• Maximize Conversions
  
• Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
  
• Maximize Clicks
  
• Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
  
• Enhanced CPC (semi-automated hybrid)
  

Pros of Automated Bidding:

• Saves time and reduces manual effort
  
• Uses real-time signals (device, time of day, user intent) to improve performance
  
• Ideal for scaling campaigns with large datasets
  
• Continuously improves as more data is collected
  

Cons of Automated Bidding:

• Less control over individual bids
  
• Can overspend without clear boundaries if not monitored
  
• Requires clean conversion tracking to be effective
  
• May underperform during the learning phase
  

Best for: Advertisers with consistent conversions, mature campaigns, or larger budgets who want to let the algorithm optimize toward results.

Key Differences at a Glance

Which One Should You Use?

Here’s how to decide:

Use manual bidding if:

• You’re in a learning phase and want to test specific keywords or audiences
  
• Your conversions are inconsistent or you don’t have tracking set up yet
  
• You want to cap costs tightly while you test messaging or positioning
  

Use automated bidding if:

• You have consistent, clean conversion data
  
• You’re scaling up and want to increase efficiency
  
• You want to optimize toward real business goals (leads, sales, ROAS)
  
• You’re running dynamic campaign types like Performance Max (PMax) or Advantage+ Shopping
  

Not Sure Which Bidding Strategy Is Right for You?

Manual and automated bidding both have their place in a smart ad strategy. Manual gives you control; automated gives you scale. The best approach depends on your goals, budget, and campaign maturity.

At Root Company, we help businesses choose the right bidding strategy—and evolve it as their campaigns grow. Whether you’re launching your first ads or optimizing an established account, we’ll help you strike the right balance between control and performance.

Let’s audit your current campaigns and show you where to improve—without wasting budget.

Book your free strategy call now »