Adjusting Keyword Bids

In digital advertising, a keyword bid is the amount an advertiser is willing to pay when someone clicks on their ad after using a specific keyword or keyword phrase in a search query. Adjusting this bid helps optimize advertising campaigns, control costs, and achieve specific goals, such as improved visibility or higher returns on investment. In Backpack, you can manually or automatically adjust bids at the ad group or keyword level within a single account or in bulk across multiple accounts.

In This Article:

Adjusting Bids Within a Single Account

Adjusting Bids in Bulk for Multiple Accounts

Adjusting Bids in Blueprints

Smart Bidding

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Adjusting Bids Within a Single Account

Adjusting the Bid for an Ad Group

Go to Manage in the top menu.
Select an account from the list.
Go to the Ad Groups tab.
Once you are in Ad Groups, look for the Max Bid column—you may need to scroll to the right.
Hover over a bid you'd like to adjust, and click the pencil icon.
Input a new bid, and click Save.

Adjusting Bids for a Keyword

Go to Manage in the top menu.
Select an account from the list.
Go to the Keywords tab.
Once you are in Keywords, look for the bid columns (B, P, E)—you may need to scroll to the right. Here's what the letters stand for:
- B: Broad Match Bid
- P: Phrase Match Bid
- E: Exact Match Bid
Hover over a bid you'd like to adjust, and click the pencil icon.
Input a new bid, and click Save.

Adjusting Bids in Bulk for Multiple Accounts

Go to Manage in the top menu.
Click the checkboxes next to the accounts you want to adjust bids for.
Click Bulk Manage in the blue bulk manage menu.
In the Actions section, select Ad Group or Keyword (to the right of "Update each matching ...").
In the dropdown that appears in the Actions section, select adjusting bids (by percentage) or adjusting bids (by an amount), and continue to the relevant set of directions below.

Note: Bidding actions apply to manual bidding only. Smart bidding campaigns will not be affected.

Adjusting Bids by a Percentage

Click Enter a Value.
Select Increase By or Decrease By.
Enter a whole number for the percent change.
Click Preview to see the updated bid amounts.
(Optional) Click Schedule to specify a date and time to apply the changes.
Click Apply to finish.

Adjusting Bids by an Amount

Click Enter a Value.
Enter a dollar amount number for the bid change. Increases bids with positive numbers and decrease bids with negative numbers.

Click Preview to see the updated bid amounts.
(Optional) Click Schedule to specify a date and time to apply the changes.
Click Apply to finish.

Adjusting Bids in Blueprints

Go to Blueprints in the top menu.
Select a Blueprint from the list—then a campaign and an ad group.
In the Basic section, input or update the value in the Default Bid field. Note: This will impact all ad groups linked to the Blueprint ad group (potentially across accounts).
(Optional) Expand open the Keywords sections, and input a value in the Override Bid field for a keyword, if you want to override the default ad group bid.
Click Save Changes.
Republish, if applicable. Note: This action may update multiple accounts in your portfolio.

Note: If your campaign is set to use an automated / smart bidding strategy, adjusting the default bid at the ad group level or adjusting keyword level bids will be irrelevant.

Smart Bidding

Backpack supports all partner-specific automated bidding strategies. When a campaign has an automated bidding strategy set, the bid columns for each match type in the Keywords table will show as (auto).

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