Understanding Google Ads Bid Strategy Status 2026

Are you also having difficulty understanding the Google Ads bid strategy status for your automated bidding strategies? Well, you are not alone. Globally, many advertisers face this challenge when they are reviewing their campaign performance. 

The status may appear small and easy to overlook, but it carries an important meaning in the broader context of campaign management. It indicates whether your automated bidding strategies are performing as expected or not. 

If you fail to understand what this status means, it can negatively affect your campaign performance. Over time, this lack of clarity may also result in inefficient bidding decisions and poor budget allocation.

But the good news is that this blog will simplify the concept of Google Ads bid strategy status for you. It will help you understand: 

1. What the Google Ads bid strategy status means
2. Common bid strategy statuses (eg, Enabled, Learning, Limited, etc.)
3. How to check the status in your Google Ads account, and much more. 

So, are you ready? Let’s quickly start. 

What Is “Bid Strategy Status” in Google Ads?

The Google Ads bid strategy status shows the current state of your campaign’s automated bidding strategy. It indicates if it is performing normally or if there are any issues that need to be resolved from your side. 

In practical terms, the bid strategy status tells you if:

• Your smart bidding strategy is actively optimizing bids 
• Learning from all the recent changes
• Limited by certain constraints such as inventory, budget, etc. 
• Paused or inactive 
• Or misconfigured due to any setup problems 

Note: Bid strategy statuses are not supported for Hotel campaigns.

How to Check Google Ads Bid Strategy Status? 

Before we walk through the process of checking your Google Ads bid strategy status, it’s important to note the following:

• In Google Ads, a bidding strategy can be either a standard strategy, which applies to a single campaign, or a portfolio strategy that applies to multiple campaigns.
• To view the status for both types of bidding strategies, the process is the same. 

Here’s how to view your Google Ads bid strategy status:

1. Open your Google Ads account. 
2. From the left-hand side menu, click on the ‘Tools’ icon. 
3. Click on ‘Budget and bidding’ and once it expands, select ‘Bid Strategies.’

4. You will see two menus named ‘Portfolio bid strategies’ and ‘Account strategies.’ By default, ‘Portfolio bid strategies’ opens first. Below it, Google will provide you with a tabular overview of all the portfolio bidding strategies in your account.

5. For each strategy, you can check the ‘Status’ column, which will highlight its current state. 

Also, if you hover over the text (of the status), Google will show you a dialog box where you can learn more about the status. 

Note: In the table, there will be a ‘Bid strategy type’ column. It will show you the bid strategy of the campaign, even if it’s not a portfolio bid strategy. So, both standard and portfolio bid strategies and their statuses appear in the same view.

Complete List of Google Ads Bid Strategy Statuses (And Their Meaning and What You Should Do) 

Now, we’ll cover the different Google Ads bid strategy statuses that Google can show in your account, explain what each one means, and outline the actions you should take next.

Inactive 

The ‘Inactive’ status indicates that the bid strategy is not active. This can happen when: 

• Your campaigns are paused, or if there are no campaigns that use that particular bidding strategy. 
• All the keywords or ads using that particular bid strategy are currently paused. 
• You had a prepaid budget which exhausted. 

Next Steps

The next steps for this bid strategy status depend on your advertising goals.  

• If you have paused certain campaigns, keywords, or ads using a particular bid strategy, and want to resume them, you can do so. The status will update automatically. 
• If no campaigns use the bidding strategy for which you are seeing the inactive status, and you want to attach one, then you can do that as well. That will also change the status.
• And, in case your prepaid budget has been exhausted, you can add more funds, and that will resolve the issue. The status will change to ‘Active’ if there are no further issues. 

Active 

The ‘Active’ status shows that your bid strategy is active and running smoothly. It basically means that your bid strategy is optimizing your bids to help you achieve your specific advertising and business goals. 

Next Steps

For this Google Ads bid strategy status, no further action is required from your side unless you want to pause a strategy. 

Learning 

You will notice the ‘Learning’ status after you make changes to your bid strategy. During this time period, Google Ads adjusts bids based on the new data, which is why minor performance fluctuations may also occur. 

This status can appear primarily for these reasons: 

• You created or reactivated the bid strategy recently. 
• You changed a setting for the bid strategy. 
• New campaigns, ad groups, or keywords have been added or removed from the bidding strategy that is showing the ‘Learning’ status. 

Pro tip: Whenever you see the ‘Learning’ status for a bid strategy,  hover over it. Google Ads will show which one of the three reasons discussed above triggered the ‘Learning’ status.

Next Steps 

There is no action required from your end after you see the ‘Learning’ status for any of the bidding strategies. 

However, please note that until this status changes, key metrics will vary, and measuring campaign performance is not recommended. 

Limited 

The ‘Limited’ status indicates that the bid strategy is active, but its performance is constrained due to one of the following factors: 

1. Inventory: Your bid strategy is limited because of the available search volume. In other words, your ads can only show for a limited number of searches, as not enough users are searching for what you are targeting.

Next steps: You should try to broaden your targeting by adding more relevant keywords, Dynamic Search Ads, broad match keywords, etc. 

2. Bid limits: Your Maximum or Minimum bid limits might be restricting Google’s algorithms from optimizing your bids. 

This simply means that Google wants to raise or lower your bids, but it cannot. This can be because your maximum bid might be too low or your minimum bid might be too high. 

Next steps: If you are not satisfied with the performance of your bid strategy, consider increasing the maximum bid limit or decreasing the minimum bid limit. 

3. Budget constrained: This indicates that many of the keywords that are using this bidding strategy are limited by budget (hitting their daily budget limits). As a result, Google cannot raise bids even if there is an opportunity to drive more conversions. 

Next steps: Increase the budgets that are associated with this bidding strategy. 

4. Bidding strategy: Limited by bidding strategy only applies to campaigns, and it simply means that the type of bidding strategy you are using is holding campaign performance back. 

Essentially, Google Ads can see opportunities to improve results (eg, get more conversions). However, your current bidding strategy doesn’t allow enough flexibility. 

Next steps: This bid strategy status occurs when you are not using a fully automated bidding strategy. To resolve this, Google will ask you to consider upgrading to one so that you can get more conversions at a similar CPA or conversion value at a similar RoAS. 

Additionally, Google will also provide you with a tailored recommendation in the “Status” column of your campaigns. 

Misconfigured

Misconfigured status indicates that a configuration issue exists with your bidding strategy, preventing it from functioning properly. Essentially, something in your setup is incompatible or not up to the mark for your chosen bidding strategy. 

There are two primary causes of the ‘Misconfigured’ status: 

1. Misconfigured Due to Shared Budgets 

You will notice this status when certain automated bidding strategies (such as Maximize Clicks, Maximize Conversions, or Maximize Conversion Value) share a budget with another bid strategy. 

To prevent this from happening, all campaigns that are in the same shared budget should use the same portfolio bid strategy. 

Below, we are also sharing a list of where the misconfigured status can show up, and what steps you must take to resolve each of those issues. 

Standard (Campaign-Level) Bid Strategy is Misconfigured 

If you find that your standard bid strategy appears to be misconfigured, it simply means that a campaign shares budget with campaigns that are not all within the same portfolio bid strategy. 

To fix it: 

• You must remove the shared budget from that campaign, or 
• Add all campaigns within the shared budget to a single portfolio bid strategy

Here’s what you can do: 

1. Open your Google Ads account, and click on the Campaigns icon. 
2. Then, click on the ‘Campaigns’ drop-down and select ‘Campaigns.’
3. Open the bid strategy report. 
4. Click on ‘Fix it.’
5. Google Ads will then filter and display campaigns that use the same shared budget.  
6. You will then have to select all the listed campaigns using the checkbox at the top. 
7. Click on ‘Edit’ and then select the ‘Change bid strategy’ option. 
8. Further, you will have to add your campaigns to a single portfolio bid strategy. You can do that by selecting one of the following from the dropdown menu: 

• Maximize clicks 
• Maximize conversions 
• Maximize conversion value 

9. Choose ‘Use a portfolio strategy’ and “Create a new portfolio strategy.” 
10. Add a name, review settings, and apply the changes.

Note: All campaigns sharing the same budget must use one portfolio strategy. You can also remove the shared budget if needed.

Portfolio Bid Strategy is Misconfigured: 

This status occurs when a portfolio bid strategy shares budgets with campaigns that are using different bid strategies. 

To resolve this, you have two options: 

1. You can either remove those campaigns from the shared budget or 
2. Include them under the same portfolio bid strategy.

For that, you need to: 

• Follow the same steps used earlier to fix a misconfigured Standard (campaign-level) bid strategy.
• After you add campaigns to a single portfolio bid strategy and click ‘Using a portfolio strategy,’ you will have to select “Use existing portfolio strategy.” 
• After that, you must select the original portfolio strategy that was marked “Misconfigured.” 
• And just click on “Apply.”

That’s it. 

2. Misconfigured (Conversion Setting) 

Automated, conversion-focused bid strategies (such as Target CPA, Target RoAS, etc.) require conversion data to optimize bids with precision and accuracy during each auction. However, when you don’t have the right conversion actions configured, bidding performance suffers. And this is when the ‘Misconfigured (Conversion setting) status appears. 

Below, we are sharing some of the common reasons why your conversion tracking settings might be affecting the performance of your bidding strategies. And, we will also go through the steps you can take to resolve each of these issues. 

Note: If you use cross-conversation and encounter any of these issues, you will need to resolve them in your Google Ads Manager account.

Missing App Install Conversion Actions 

This status will appear when your bid strategy targets app installs, but you don’t have any conversion action (app installs) that the strategy can use. 

Next steps

If you haven’t already, then you should first create an app install conversion action for either of the two operating systems: Android or iOS. 

However, if you have already set up mobile conversion tracking, then check for the following settings:

1. Verify if the conversion action is enabled 

• Open your Google Ads account and then click on the ‘Goals’ icon. 
• Go to the Conversions drop-down menu and then click on ‘Summary.’
• Select the specific conversion action (app install in this case) and verify its status:
  • If it is enabled, you will see a green dot to indicate this. 
  • If it is removed, you will see a red X. To enable it, click on ‘Edit’ and then ‘Enable.’

2. Verify the “Include in ‘Conversions’” setting is checked 

• In your Google Ads account, click on the ‘Goals’ icon. 
• Again, go to the Conversions drop-down menu and select ‘Summary.’
• Click the name of the conversion action (related to app install) and then navigate to the ‘Include in “Conversions’” column.
  • If that column is marked “Yes,” then no action is required from your side. 
  • If it is “No”, then mark it “Yes.”

Missing Phone Call Conversion Actions 

You will see this Google Ads bid strategy status when your strategy targets phone calls, but call conversions are not available. Due to this, the strategy lacks bidding signals. 

Next steps

If not done already, you must set up conversion tracking to track calls that come from ads. If call tracking is already set up, follow the same steps mentioned above to verify: 

• If the conversion action is enabled.  
• And if the “Include in ‘Conversions’” setting is also checked. 

Missing Website Conversion Actions 

This status appears when your bidding strategy is targeting website actions, but website conversion actions are missing. 

Next steps 

If you haven’t already, then set up conversion tracking for your website. If that’s already done, then just verify if the conversion action is enabled, and that the “Include in ‘Conversions’” setting is checked. 

Importance of Tracking Google Ads Bid Strategy Status 

Now, let’s look at why tracking the status of your Google Ads automated bidding strategies is important.

First and foremost, the status helps you understand whether your automated bidding strategies and campaigns are on track performance-wise. If they aren’t, it points you toward what needs to be fixed so your advertising efforts don’t suffer.

This allows you to make informed decisions during performance reviews instead of relying on guesswork.

The Google Ads bid strategy status also helps you interpret campaign performance metrics in the right context. If conversions, CPA, or other key metrics look unusual, the status often explains why.

For example, a Learning status indicates that Google’s algorithms are still adjusting bids, so some performance fluctuations are expected. Similarly, a Limited status can highlight constraints such as budget issues or bid limits that are holding the strategy back.

Having this context enables you to take the right corrective steps and avoid unnecessary changes that could negatively impact campaign performance.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways 

Google Ads bid strategy status helps advertisers clearly understand the health and performance of their automated bidding strategies.

Here are the key takeaways from this blog:

• The bid strategy status shows whether automated bidding is working as expected or is facing issues. It can signal learning phases, limitations, or setup problems that affect overall campaign performance.
• You can check the bid strategy status from the Tools section under Budget and bidding in your Google Ads account. Both standard and portfolio strategies appear in one place, making it easier to monitor performance.
• Common Google Ads bid strategy statuses include Active, Inactive, Learning, Limited, and Misconfigured.
• Regularly tracking bid strategy status helps you assess whether your campaigns are moving in the right direction and interpret performance data with the right context. This allows you to make informed decisions instead of relying on guesswork.

Over to you. 

FAQs

1. What does the bid strategy learning status mean in Google Ads?

The learning status means Google Ads is adjusting bids after recent changes. Performance may fluctuate until enough data is collected.

2. What is a portfolio bid strategy in Google Ads? 

A portfolio bid strategy applies one automated bidding strategy across multiple campaigns. It helps manage bids consistently using shared performance goals.

3. What are the main types of bidding strategies in Google Ads?

Google Ads bidding strategies are built around campaign goals like conversions, traffic, visibility, and video engagement. Each strategy controls how Google sets bids during ad auctions.

Common options include Target CPA and Target ROAS for conversions, Maximize Clicks and Manual CPC for traffic, Target Impression Share and vCPM for visibility, and CPV for video views.

4. What is automated bidding in Google Ads?

Automated bidding uses Google AI to set bids automatically based on your campaign goals. It helps increase clicks, visibility, conversions, or conversion value without manual bid adjustments.