Are You Maximizing ROAS with Value-Based Bidding in Google Ads?
In today’s competitive digital advertising landscape, businesses are increasingly shifting from traditional conversion-focused strategies to more sophisticated, value-driven approaches. Google Ads’ Value-Based Bidding (VBB) has emerged as a powerful tool to align marketing efforts with business profitability. In May 2025, Google announced groundbreaking AI-powered agentic capabilities for Google Ads and Google Analytics, revolutionizing how marketers optimize campaigns. These advancements enable advertisers to leverage AI-driven insights for keyword suggestions, creative recommendations, and automated troubleshooting—reducing manual effort while improving performance. However, even with cutting-edge automation, the foundation of successful advertising lies in aligning bidding strategies with business value.
This is where Value-Based Bidding (VBB) comes into the picture. Unlike traditional conversion-focused bidding, VBB prioritizes high-value customer actions—whether it’s completed account openings (as seen with SBI Securities) or high-value leads (as demonstrated by Tryte Group). By shifting from volume-driven KPIs to profitability-driven metrics, businesses can maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) and long-term growth.
This article explores the strategic implementation of VBB, operational best practices, and how AI-powered tools can enhance its effectiveness.
I. Strategic Implementation of VBB for Business Growth
Transitioning from conversion-focused to value-driven KPIs is the first step in leveraging VBB effectively in Google Ads. Many businesses initially measure success based on lead volume, but as they mature, profitability becomes the priority. SBI Securities exemplifies this shift—originally tracking "account applications," they realized nearly half of applicants dropped out before completing the process. By refining their KPI to "completed account openings," they ensured marketing efforts directly supported revenue generation.
Similarly, Tryte Group faced challenges with low-value leads in their recruitment business. Their initial KPI—"number of user registrations"—did not account for placement success rates or fees. By collaborating with their sales team, they identified high-value customer segments (e.g., experienced construction workers) and assigned higher conversion values to these leads. This strategic adjustment allowed Google AI to prioritize bids for users more likely to generate revenue, ultimately improving ROAS.
These cases underscore a crucial lesson: VBB success in Google Advertising depends on selecting KPIs that reflect true business value, not just conversion volume. Marketers must work closely with sales and finance teams to define these metrics, ensuring alignment across departments.
II. Operational Framework for VBB Success
Implementing VBB requires cross-departmental collaboration, data integration, and privacy-compliant tracking. SBI Securities’ success was partly due to their partnership with the Big Data Officer at SBI Holdings, who provided expertise in data analysis and first-party data utilization. Additionally, they adopted KARTE Signals, a first-party data platform, to track offline conversions (completed account openings) and feed this data back into Google Ads—ensuring accurate conversion value reporting without violating privacy regulations.
For businesses with complex sales cycles (e.g., offline-heavy industries), offline conversion tracking is essential. Tryte Group overcame this by segmenting leads based on historical data and assigning conversion values that reflected placement likelihood. They continuously refined these values through iterative testing, ensuring Google AI optimized bids effectively.
Another critical factor is target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) calibration. Setting overly aggressive ROAS targets can restrict reach, while overly lenient ones may dilute profitability. Businesses must strike a balance, adjusting targets based on performance data and market conditions.
III. Measuring and Scaling VBB Performance
Key metrics for evaluating VBB success include ROAS improvement, conversion quality, and customer lifetime value (LTV). Tryte Group’s 16% ROAS increase and SBI Securities’ 13% rise in completed accounts demonstrate the tangible benefits of value-based optimization.
AI-powered tools like broad match keywords and Performance Max (P-MAX) campaigns further enhance VBB scalability. Tryte Group found that switching all keywords to broad match improved ROAS by 31%, as Google AI leveraged contextual signals to find high-intent users. P-MAX campaigns, which automate bidding across Google’s ad inventory, also delivered comparable ROAS to search ads while expanding reach.
Long-term, VBB contributes to sustainable profitability by prioritizing high-LTV customers. Unlike short-term conversion-focused strategies, VBB aligns marketing spend with revenue impact, ensuring efficient resource allocation as businesses scale.
IV. Overcoming Challenges in VBB Adoption
While Value-Based Bidding (VBB) offers significant advantages in Google Advertising, its implementation presents distinct challenges that require strategic solutions. Internal misalignment between sales and marketing teams often undermines success—as seen in Tryte Group’s case, unifying KPIs around placement success rates resolved friction. Businesses must also balance short-term conversion volume with long-term profitability. Over-prioritizing high-value leads may reduce overall conversion volume in Google Ads, necessitating dynamic budget allocation and bid adjustments.
For example, leveraging tools like Topkee’s TTO platform can automate bid optimization based on real-time conversion value data, ensuring equilibrium between scale and profitability.
Industries with offline-heavy models (e.g., financial services, recruitment) face additional hurdles in attributing conversion values accurately. Solutions such as offline conversion imports (used by SBI Securities) and predictive modeling (employed by Tryte Group) are critical.
Topkee addresses these gaps through services like TMID tracking, which customizes URL parameters to trace offline user journeys, and attribution remarketing strategies that segment audiences based on multi-touchpoint behavior. These tools enable businesses to assign precise conversion values even in complex, offline-driven sales cycles.
By integrating cross-functional alignment, adaptive bidding strategies, and advanced tracking methodologies, businesses can overcome VBB adoption barriers and unlock its full potential.
V. Future-Proofing Marketing with AI and VBB
The fusion of AI-driven automation and strategic marketer oversight is redefining digital advertising efficiency. Google’s innovations—such as broad match keywords, Performance Max (P-MAX) campaigns, and smart bidding algorithms—enable marketers to delegate execution to AI while focusing on high-level strategy. However, AI’s effectiveness hinges on precise human guidance, including conversion value definitions, ROAS targets, and audience segmentation priorities. For example, Topkee’s TTO tool streamlines this process by automating conversion event tracking and synchronizing data with Google Ads, ensuring AI operates with accurate inputs.
To refine VBB strategies, integrating multi-touch attribution models and incrementality testing is critical. These methodologies quantify the incremental impact of ads across touchpoints, isolating their true contribution to conversions. Topkee’s attribution remarketing solutions exemplify this by analyzing user behavior data to identify high-value channels and tailor remarketing campaigns—boosting conversion rates by over 70% for targeted segments.
Ultimately, fostering a data-driven organizational culture is the cornerstone of scalable growth. Success stories like SBI Securities and Tryte Group highlight how cross-functional collaboration—between marketing, sales, and data teams—transforms VBB from a tactical tool into a profitability accelerator. Tools like Topkee’s advertising report analysis further empower teams by providing ROI breakdowns and actionable insights, aligning budgets with high-impact initiatives.
Conclusion: VBB as a Profitability Catalyst
Value-Based Bidding represents a paradigm shift in digital advertising—moving from conversion volume to conversion value as the core performance metric. The success stories of SBI Securities and Tryte Group highlight how aligning KPIs with business goals, leveraging AI-driven automation, and fostering cross-functional collaboration can drive measurable profitability gains in Google Ads.
As AI continues to evolve, VBB will become even more powerful—but its success depends on strategic marketer input. Businesses ready to embrace this approach should consult with Google Ads specialists to tailor VBB strategies to their unique needs.
