Google is about to bill you for a number nobody updated

TLDR Marketing is the free daily email with summaries of the most interesting stories in growth, martech, and digital marketing. The tactics worth stealing, minus the digging through LinkedIn.

Every issue is curated by subject-matter experts and lands in your inbox before your morning coffee. A 5-minute read, and you walk into the day already knowing what your competitors are still figuring out.

We cover the channels that move your numbers: paid, SEO, email, social, and ecommerce. Whether you work in B2B or B2C, in-house or agency-side, pick the stories that match your work.

Free, daily, and read by 330K+ marketers. Subscribe for free and let someone else do the digging.

Subscribe for free

Good Morning {{first_name}}!

It’s Monday - and that means it’s time for your CRM Dispatch - an issue where we dig into your digital marketing with a CRM lens. ✨

Last week, an email went out to all Google Ads users with an update. The Target CPA or Target ROAS number you may have entered months ago will now be respected. In other words, if your Target CPA is set to $10 and you’ve been getting leads at $5, get ready for an increase.

So, what does this have to do with your CRM?

Let’s dive in.

Yes, Google may become more expensive for you moving forward. If you’ve been used to getting low-cost leads, you may see fewer leads coming through as Google will start charging you for your Target CPA or Target ROAS - these are set in your account, by the way. You can change them at any time.

And while your lead costs may shift, it really shouldn’t be the focus. What should be the focus is whether a lead converts and how much that conversion means for your business.

You should watch how your close rates shift over the next couple of months with this new change. Does your pipeline mix shift? How does your sales team handle any changes? What about your average deal size?

So, why would Google make this change? Well, maybe it’s been quiet for too long. And this move is a bit self-serving. Charging more for leads, even though they could be getting you cheaper leads. It’s going on the same track as “paid acquisition just got more expensive.”

Let’s be real here - for companies like yours, this has nothing to do with strategy. It’s all timing and not updating your Target CPA or Target ROAS. So if you haven’t updated that number or relied on that number being somewhat accurate and enjoying the lower costs per lead, Google is about to flip your world upside down.

If you do nothing about this, you may feel an impact on your pipeline. If Google is going to start charging you your Target CPA and it’s set to $50, but you’ve been getting leads for $5, you’ll probably feel a slowdown as Google is trying to respect your Target CPA.

Of course, the idea is that these leads are more likely to convert, so it’s important to watch your close rate and amount to ensure you reach your ROAS.

Pull your actual close rate by segment and compare it against every budget-limited Target CPA or Target ROAS campaign. Then, use Google’s Bid Target Adjustment tool before August 17 and readjust your target. The last thing you want is paying for more leads without any closes.

📉 Google's August 17 Change Makes Budget-Limited Campaigns Chase Their Targets — Search Engine Journal breaks down what changes for accounts currently outperforming their bid targets and why the shift isn't opt-in.

🛠️ Google's Official Notice on Target-Based Bid Strategy Changes — The source announcement, including Google's own example of a target CPA moving from five dollars to ten.

📊 The Google Ads Bidding Change: What to Do Now — A practical walkthrough of the Bid Target Adjustment Tool and which campaign types are affected.

🔍 Google Ads August 2026 Bidding Update, Campaign by Campaign — A sequencing guide for auditing budget-limited campaigns before the rollout hits.

📈 New in CRM: A 2026 Mid-Year Update — Why more brands are shifting budget toward retention and lifecycle programs as acquisition costs stay high.

I’ve been on vacation for the past couple of weeks, overseas trying to relax. If you know me personally, you know I have a very hard time doing that. So naturally, I’ve been thinking about this newsletter, how it works, and what’s next.

During a recent sales call with a prospective client, questions were asked about bringing marketing and sales together. This is a marketing newsletter - but sales processes are equally as important to ensure leads are followed up on, nurtured, educated and ultimately (ideally) closed.

So, within the next few weeks, this newsletter will be consolidated into a single newsletter (once per week) and in Q4, we’ll introduce a new newsletter geared towards the sales aspect. Two newsletters on two different days. You decide your subscription.

Google announced last week that they are changing the way they charge you for leads. The cost of ignoring this change? Well, it could be pricey if you’ve been winning under your current cost per lead and have managed to get a lower cost than your Target CPA.

Protect your marketing dollars and your pipeline by addressing this change now.