Google has rolled out enhanced features for its new customer acquisition goals, including bidding for high-value customers and targeting for retention. Many Google Ads strategies still assume that new customers are automatically more valuable. That logic falls apart quickly. Some new customers aren’t worth the cost to acquire, and some existing customers shouldn’t be overlooked. A single purchase doesn’t guarantee long-term loyalty. At the same time, certain previous buyers are much more likely to purchase again than a completely new prospect. This is where Google’s high-value customer and retention-focused bidding goals become important. How high-value customer bidding functions in Google Ads Google relies on predictive bidding models to identify which users are likely to be high-value customers. The main input, however, is the customer match list you upload to your account. To adjust these settings, navigate to the customer lifecycle optimization area under Goals > Summary, then click Edit goal. There, you can assign a higher value to new customers so the system bids more aggressively for those deemed high-value. Google will usually suggest a value based on a higher LTV than your average new customer. Review this suggestion closely and decide how much extra you’re willing to bid for a high-value new customer. After you set this, Google adds that incremental amount as in-platform conversion value, on top of the actual revenue or lead value. If you optimize on cost per conversion, this gap may not be a major concern. But for ROAS-based strategies, the extra value can overstate your campaign’s true ROAS. Google has also added a new column, original conversion…