The Bid Simulator is a diagnostic tool in Google Ads that estimates how changes to your bids, budget, or target goals (like Target CPA or Target ROAS) might have impacted your performance over the last seven days. It gives you a look into a hypothetical “what if” scenario without actually spending money.
The location of the Bid Simulator data varies depending on what level you are simulating (Campaign, Ad Group, or Keyword) and the bidding strategy you are using.
The Icon in the Data Tables
For Manual CPC and basic Smart Bidding strategies, the Bid Simulator is accessed via a dedicated icon in the performance tables.
How to Use the Icon:
Find the relevant Campaign, Ad Group, or Keyword.
Look for the Bid Simulator icon (which typically looks like a small graph ).
Click the icon. A window will pop up showing the estimated results (clicks, cost, impressions, conversions) across a range of bid values.
Note
The Bid Simulator icon will be grayed out with a slash through it if the campaign, ad group, or keyword lacks sufficient historical data (usually at least 7 days of activity) to provide a reliable estimate. This often happens with brand new or extremely low-volume keywords.
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