An advertiser wants to simulate a what-if scenario involving changes to both their ROAS targets and their budgets simultaneously. Which tool is designed for this long-term planning?
Correct Answer
Performance Planner
Why is this the correct answer?
Performance Planner is the tool designed for this. It builds forecasts from the account's own recent performance and auction data, then lets the advertiser model how results would change at different spend levels and different targets — including moving budget and Target ROAS or Target CPA together, which is exactly the trade-off being described. The output is a curve showing forecast conversions or conversion value at each spend point, so the advertiser can see where extra budget still pays for itself and where returns flatten. Plans can cover multiple campaigns and future date ranges, which makes it a planning tool rather than a reporting one, and recommended changes can be applied directly to the account. It answers the question every advertiser eventually faces: if we loosen the ROAS target and spend more, what do we expect to get back?
Why are the other options wrong?
Recommended Investment Strategy
Recommended Investment Strategy is not a Google Ads planning tool. The forecasting features the question describes live in Performance Planner.
Bid simulator
The bid simulator estimates the effect of a single bid or target change at keyword, ad group or campaign level. It does not model budget and target changes together across a plan period.
Optimization score
Optimisation score rates how well the account is set up and lists recommendations. It does not produce spend-versus-return forecasts for different scenarios.
Real-world example
Before Black Friday, an electronics retailer uses Performance Planner to compare holding Target ROAS at 500% with lowering it to 400% and raising budget by 60%. The forecast shows the looser target delivering 38% more revenue at a still-profitable return, so they plan seasonal budgets around that scenario rather than guessing.
Topics in this question
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