How Enhanced CPC worked
Enhanced CPC kept you in control of base bids but let Google raise or lower each one in real time according to the predicted probability of a conversion. If a particular auction looks likely to convert, eCPC bids up, and if it looks weak, it bids down. Unlike Target CPA or Target ROAS, it does not chase a specific efficiency goal, it simply tries to get more conversions from the manual bids you set. That makes it a lighter-touch automation, still anchored to your judgment about base bid levels.
Enhanced CPC was retired for Search and Display
Google ended Enhanced CPC for Search and Display campaigns from the week of March 31, 2025. Campaigns that were not moved to another bid strategy before then are now effectively running on Manual CPC, even if the old setting still shows. Enhanced CPC remains only in Hotel campaigns. If an account you inherit still lists eCPC, treat those campaigns as manual: nothing is adjusting the bids for conversion likelihood anymore.
What to use instead
For a campaign with little conversion history, Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value is the usual replacement, because it needs no target to start. Once the campaign has a steady conversion base, add a Target CPA or Target ROAS so bidding works toward an efficiency goal rather than just volume. Manual CPC is still available where you need full control, for example on a very small budget or a campaign with too few conversions for automation to learn from.
How iClick handles accounts still set to Enhanced CPC
When iClick takes over an account still showing Enhanced CPC, those campaigns are moved deliberately rather than left on what is now manual bidding. Thin-volume campaigns go to Maximize Conversions first; campaigns with a stable conversion history go straight to a Target CPA or Target ROAS set from margin, anchored to recent performance so spend does not collapse.
