Target impression share bidding in Google Ads

This guide is built from Google Ads Help: About Target impression share bidding, About automated bidding, About impression share, About top and absolute top metrics, Get impression share data, Improve your impression share and Create a portfolio bid strategy, plus the Google Ads API reference for TargetImpressionShare. Where we give our own view, we say so.

How every bid strategy compares is in our budgets and bidding guide, and the competitor report built on impression share is in our auction insights guide. This page is only about the strategy that bids for a share of impressions.

What Target impression share does

Google describes Target impression share as "an automated bidding strategy that sets bids with the goal of showing your ad among top ads, the very first ad among top ads, or elsewhere among the results." You choose where on the results page you want to appear and how often, and Google Ads sets your cost-per-click bids to try to hit that share.

A few facts that shape how you use it:

• Search only. Google says Target impression share "is available on the Search Network only". Impression share itself "only includes the Google Search Network (excluding Search Partners)", so traffic from search partners does not count towards the target.
• One campaign or several. It can be a standard strategy in a single campaign or a portfolio strategy shared across several campaigns.
• Automated, not Smart Bidding. Google's portfolio bid strategy definition lists it with Maximize clicks under "Automated strategies", separately from the Smart Bidding strategies (Maximize conversions, Maximize conversion value, Target CPA and Target ROAS). It aims at visibility, not at conversions.

The three placement options

The first setting is where you want the ad to show. Google gives three options:

Option	Google's definition	Metric to watch
Absolute top	"The first ad among top ads."	Search abs. top IS
Top	"The ads adjacent to the top organic search results." Usually above the organic results, but they can sometimes show below them, and the placement "is dynamic and may change based on the user's query."	Search top IS
Anywhere	"Anywhere among search results."	Search impr. share

The third column is our pairing of each option with the matching column in the reports, which Google defines in its top and absolute top metrics article. Note that Google counts an absolute top impression on any results page, not only the first: the first ad among top ads "on the first page or any other page of search results" counts.

What the percentage means

The second setting is the share. Google's example: "if you choose an impression share target of 65% on the absolute top of the page, Google Ads will set your CPC bids to help show your ads on the absolute top of the page 65% of the total possible amount of times they could show."

"Total possible" is an estimate, not a count of every search. Google calculates impression share as impressions divided by total eligible impressions, and eligibility is "estimated using many factors, including targeting settings, approval statuses, and quality." It includes auctions where your ad could show at twice its current bid, but can leave out auctions where you would need a 1,000% bid increase. So the same keyword list can have a different denominator next month if your bids, quality or Google's systems change, and Google says small fluctuations "don't necessarily indicate that action is needed."

Google's own example of a high target is a brand campaign: if you want your ad to show every time someone searches for your brand, you can set 100% and "the system will then try to show your ad on 100% of auctions in that campaign."

The max CPC bid limit

Target impression share has a maximum CPC bid limit, which Google calls "a cap on bids set by this bid strategy." In the Google Ads API it is the cpc_bid_ceiling_micros field, described as "a required field entered by the advertiser", next to location (the placement) and location_fraction_micros (the share, where 1% equals 10,000).

Google warns that "it's important not to set this limit too low. Otherwise it can restrict the bids set by the strategy and prevent you from reaching your impression share goal." The limit is your main protection against cost: the strategy chases a share, not a cost per click or per lead, so without a sensible ceiling a competitive term can get expensive. How what you pay relates to your maximum bid is covered in our Manual CPC guide.

Bid adjustments are not used

Because the strategy sets bids from real-time data, Google says "your existing bid adjustments won't be used." The one exception: you can still set a device bid adjustment of -100% to stop ads showing on a device. You don't need to remove existing adjustments; they are simply ignored while this strategy runs. Device choices are covered in our device targeting guide.

When it fits, and when it does not

Google points to two uses:

• Brand terms. Making sure your ad shows when people search for your business name, as in the 100% example above.
• Visibility against bigger competitors. Google's example is a local shoe store competing with larger stores, using Target impression share "to ensure your brand is showing up when customers are conducting important searches nearby."

Google's bidding basics article puts it the same way: if your campaign targets just the Search Network "and your main goal is to increase your brand visibility, consider using Target Impression Share." It also adds that the strategy "won't be applicable for every situation".

If what you want is leads or sales at a set cost, the conversion-based strategies in our Maximize conversions and Target CPA guides are built for that. Google's FAQ on the August 2026 change to target-based strategies that are limited by budget confirms that change "doesn't impact manual CPC or Target Impression Share bid strategies."

Setting it up

Google says you can create an automated bid strategy with a new campaign, in an existing campaign's settings, or from the Bid strategies page (Tools, then Budgets and bidding, then Bid strategies). For a portfolio strategy shared by several campaigns, Google's steps are:

1. Go to Budgets and bidding in the Tools menu and select Bid strategies.
2. Select the plus button and choose the type of bid strategy.
3. Name the strategy and select the campaigns to include (you can add more later).
4. Enter the settings (for this strategy: placement, target share and max CPC bid limit) and select Save.

You can also select campaigns in the Campaigns table, choose Edit, then Change bid strategy, and create or reuse a portfolio. Google notes that the type of an existing portfolio strategy cannot be changed later; you would use or create a different portfolio instead.

Checking the results

To see impression share in the account, Google's steps are: open the Campaigns table, select the columns icon, open Competitive metrics, tick the impression share columns and apply. The ones that matter here:

• Search impr. share, Search top IS and Search abs. top IS: the share you actually got for the placement you chose.
• Search lost IS (budget): how often ads did not show because the budget ran out. Google says this is available at campaign level only. The top and absolute top versions exist too.
• Search lost IS (rank): how often ads did not show because of poor Ad Rank, which the bid limit or ad quality can cause. Our Quality Score guide covers the quality side.

Google says impression share metrics are updated within 1 to 2 days, and a "—" can mean there is not enough data yet. One trap: Google does not recommend using the top and absolute top impression rates (the share of your own impressions that were at the top) as a bid target, because they "may decrease as bids increase" when higher bids take you into more competitive auctions. The share metrics above are the ones you can bid on.

If the share falls short, Google's general tips are to raise the budget, raise the bid (here, the bid limit), improve ad quality, or narrow regional targets, bearing in mind that narrower targeting shrinks the pool of possible impressions. To see which competitors share your auctions, use the auction insights report.

Our view

This section is our own practice, not Google's guidance:

• We keep Target impression share for a separate brand campaign, where the clicks are usually cheap and the goal really is to be there. On generic terms we prefer to bid for conversions once conversion tracking works.
• We set the max CPC bid limit from what clicks on those keywords cost before the switch, then watch Search lost IS (rank) to see if the limit is holding the share back.
• We pick the placement before the percentage: a modest absolute top target can cost more than a high "anywhere" target.
• With a separate brand campaign, we look at brand exclusions in the other Search and Performance Max campaigns, so the brand searches are handled by the campaign built for them.

FAQ

What is Target impression share in Google Ads?

An automated Search bid strategy that sets your CPC bids to try to show your ad a chosen percentage of the possible times in one placement: the absolute top (first ad among top ads), the top ads, or anywhere on the results page.

Does Target impression share work outside Search campaigns?

No. Google says it is available on the Search Network only, and impression share excludes Search Partners. It can run as a standard strategy in one campaign or as a portfolio strategy across several.

What should I set as the max CPC bid limit?

Google only says not to set it too low, because a low limit can stop the strategy reaching your impression share goal. In our practice we start from what clicks on those keywords cost before the switch, then watch Search lost IS (rank).

Are my bid adjustments used with Target impression share?

No. Google says existing bid adjustments are not used, except that you can still set a -100% device adjustment to stop ads showing on a device. You don't need to remove the old adjustments.

Is Target impression share good for brand campaigns?

It is the use Google gives as its main example: set a 100% target and the system tries to show your ad in every auction in the campaign. For leads or sales at a set cost, the conversion-based strategies are the better fit.

Being visible only pays off when the page behind the ad turns visitors into enquiries. See our website development service and all our services, or read the rest of our guides.