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Search campaign stopped spending after switching from Maximize Clicks → Maximize Conversions (Dental lead gen)
Posted by on March 9, 2026 at 3:23 amLooking for some insight from experienced Google Ads folks.
I’m running Google Ads for a dental clinic lead generation campaign. The account is about 2 months old.
Initial setup:
• 1 Search Campaign • 2 Ad Groups: • “Near me / nearby” type keywords • “City name” type keywords • Each ad group has 1 RSA • Traffic goes to dedicated service landing pages (optimized service pages)Month 1 strategy:
• Bid strategy: Maximize Clicks • Budget: sufficient for the keyword set • Results: • Campaign spent consistently • Decent CTR • Some conversions (calls + form leads) • Patients actually walking into the clinicAbout 10 days ago, I switched the same campaign to Maximize Conversions.
First I tried:
• Maximize Conversions with Target CPAWhen spending dropped, I changed it to:
• Maximize Conversions (no target CPA)Problem:
Since switching to Maximize Conversions, the campaign has barely spent anything. Some days it spends under ₹100 even though the daily budget is much higher.
Additional context:
• No major keyword or ad changes • Search volume in the area is definitely present • Campaign used to spend fine under Maximize Clicks • Conversion actions (calls + forms) are still active • Location targeting unchanged • Same landing pages as beforeMy questions:
1. Is this happening because the account doesn’t have enough conversion history for the algorithm to optimize? 2. Could switching the bidding strategy on the same campaign have reset the learning phase? 3. Would it be better to: • Go back to Maximize Clicks • Or duplicate the campaign and start Maximize Conversions on the new one?Would really appreciate any thoughts from people who’ve faced something similar.
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1 Reply
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Give it time. It will do a hard stop and they restart once bidding has been learned—-takes five days
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Pretty common when switching to **Maximize Conversions**. That strategy needs **conversion data and enough volume** to start bidding. If the account doesn’t have consistent conversions, Google may struggle to enter auctions and spending drops.
Things to check:
• Make sure **conversion tracking is firing correctly**
• Ensure the campaign has **recent conversion history**
• Consider using **Maximize Clicks or tCPA after more data**
• Check if **bid limits or audience targeting** got too restrictiveOften the fix is gathering more conversion data before switching fully to conversion-based bidding.
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Yes, it’s a lack of data. Yes, the learning phase reset.
Go back to Maximize Clicks. Don’t duplicate the campaign, that just splits your historical data and makes things worse. Switch back to Maximize Clicks to get the traffic and leads flowing again. Wait until you have a steady baseline of about minimum 30 conversions within a 30-day window before trying Maximize Conversions again (and leave the Target CPA blank when you do).
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