Your top-of-search bids are wrong. You're probably overpaying by 20-40%. Most br
By Gabriel Caceros · May 21, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Your top-of-search bids are wrong.
You're probably overpaying by 20-40%.
Most brands set a top-of-search bid modifier and forget it.
50%. 75%. 100%. Whatever the agency suggested at onboarding.
That's not bidding. That's guessing.
Here's the bid laddering process we run on every high-intent keyword.
The principle:
There's a floor where your CVR holds. Below that floor, your ad doesn't show top of search and CVR drops. Above that floor, every dollar of bid is wasted.
The job is to find the floor.
The process:
Week 1 — Baseline
Pick your top 5 highest-revenue keywords (exact match). Pull 30 days of data. Note current bid, top-of-search %, CVR, CTR, ACOS.
Don't change anything yet. You need a stable baseline.
Week 2 — Drop 15%
Reduce bids by 15% on those 5 keywords. Hold for 7 days.
Watch:
→ Did top-of-search % stay above 70%?
→ Did CVR stay within 1.5 percentage points of baseline?
→ Did impressions hold within 10%?
If yes to all three: you were overpaying. Stay at the new bid.
If no: you found the floor. Bump back up 5%.
Week 3 — Drop another 10%
If week 2 held, drop another 10%. Same monitoring.
Most accounts I've run this on can absorb a 15-25% bid reduction on top keywords without losing position.
Real example — pet supplement brand:
Keyword: "joint supplement large dogs"
Starting bid: $2.40
Starting CVR: 14%
Starting ACOS: 22%
Week 2 (bid $2.04):
→ TOS: 78% (was 81%)
→ CVR: 13.8%
→ ACOS: 19%
Week 3 (bid $1.85):
→ TOS: 74%
→ CVR: 14.1%
→ ACOS: 17%
Week 4 (bid $1.65):
→ TOS: 58%
→ CVR: 11.2%
Found the floor. Backed up to $1.85.
Net result on five keywords: 23% lower bids. ACOS down 5 points. Revenue flat. Annual savings: $34K.
The framework:
Start with exact-match keywords with 30+ days of stable data
Drop 15% in week 2, monitor TOS %, CVR, and impression volume
If all three hold within tolerance, drop another 10%
When CVR drops below 1.5 points or TOS falls under 60%, you've found the floor
Set bid 5-10% above the floor — that's your sweet spot
Re-run the test quarterly. Auctions move.
What you're doing is finding the price the auction actually charges, not the price your competitors fear.
Those are different numbers.
Bid laddering isn't sexy. But it's the highest-ROI optimization most brands never run.
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