Is This The End of Google Ads’ Daily Budget Pacing?

Does Google’s latest change mark the end of daily budget pacing as we know it?

Google now features the option to set a monthly budget on search campaigns. This feature was already available for YouTube/TrueView campaigns but has been long-awaited in the digital marketing world for search. Google has heard the cries of all digital marketers spending time each day pacing budgets when they would rather be using that time optimising their accounts.

We’ve only seen this across some accounts so far, so we’re crossing our fingers that this is a gradual roll-out and not just a beta.

One of the greatest limitations of average daily budgets is the time factor and the legwork required in safeguarding the account from overspend and underspend. Sure, if your business is only advertising on the weekend and you only want to spend on those days, then average daily budgets may work best. In other events (such as click-frenzy), the two budget options will work together seamlessly, allowing you to switch from a monthly to a daily budget for promo events & sales to account for spikes in activity, and then switch back to a monthly budget while still expecting to spend up to that set monthly budget amount.

For any business that conducts monthly financial planning and needs guaranteed, accurate monthly spend, monthly campaign budgets are game-changing. Monthly budgets applied to search campaigns will enable account managers to set, and accurately expect, how much a campaign will spend in a month. In short, total control of budgets.

You may have some questions about this feature. Thankfully, we have some answers.

What happens if a monthly budget is changed mid-month?

Don’t stress, if you change your monthly budget at any time, that new monthly budget is the amount you can expect to pay for your campaign that month. This applies when you change the amount of a monthly budget, or when you switch from a daily budget to a monthly budget.

What happens if I launch a campaign mid-month?

Google assures us that if you were to create a campaign on say, the 20th of March with a monthly budget of $310, the following formula applies:

(monthly budget / number of days in March) x (number of days left in March)

In this case, ($310 / 31) x 12 = $120.00.

You could expect to pay, at most, $120 for the campaign.

What would happen if I pause a campaign mid-month?

If you pause your campaign mid-month you can still expect your campaign to spend your monthly budget when you restart your campaign, whether you restart in that same month or another month.

What if my campaign uses ad scheduling?

Whether your campaigns run across 7 days or 1 day per week, your campaign is still expected to spend up to your monthly budget.

Still in its early stages, the monthly budget option is not yet compatible with the following features:

• Google Ads API
• Google Ads mobile app
• Accelerated delivery
• Shared budgets.

We’re excited to see how this update changes the game of budget management. A great feature for both digital marketers and clients alike, ensuring guaranteed and accurate monthly spends, and allowing more time for digital marketers to focus on strategy and account optimisation.

Thanks Google.