How the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module increased ROAS by 90.5% for Freetour.com

Comparing automated and manual bid and budget management across Performance Max and Search campaigns.  

Instead of relying solely on manual bid and budget adjustments, Freetour.com implemented the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module to automate budget allocation and Smart Bidding optimization across its Google Ads campaigns.

To evaluate the module's impact, campaign performance during Spring 2026 was compared with the same period in Spring 2025. The analysis included both Performance Max and Search campaigns managed with the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module and campaigns optimized manually. The results showed lower CPC and CPA, higher conversion rates, and significant ROAS improvements with automated bid and budget management.

About Freetour.com

Freetour.com is a global platform that connects travelers with free walking tours, guided experiences, and local activities across hundreds of destinations worldwide. The platform helps travelers discover authentic experiences while enabling local tour providers to reach customers through digital channels.

Google Ads plays a key role in Freetour.com's customer acquisition strategy. To capture demand across different markets and destinations, the company manages both Performance Max and Search campaigns, each serving different objectives while contributing to overall business growth.

As the account expanded, maintaining efficient campaign performance required more than selecting the right Smart Bidding strategy. Budget allocation, campaign priorities, and continuous optimization became increasingly important for sustaining performance across multiple campaign types.

The challenge

Optimizing bids and budgets at scale

Google Ads Smart Bidding automatically adjusts bids during every auction, but successful campaign management extends beyond auction-time bidding. Advertisers must also decide how budgets are allocated across campaigns and ensure that optimization decisions keep pace with changing campaign performance.

For Freetour.com, manually reviewing campaign performance and adjusting budgets across multiple Performance Max and Search campaigns required significant time and ongoing attention. As campaign activity evolved, maintaining efficiency while controlling acquisition costs became increasingly difficult through manual optimization alone.

The team was looking for a scalable approach that could automate bid and budget optimization while preserving control over campaign performance.

Managing seasonal demand

Seasonality is an important factor in the travel industry. Changes in traveler demand influence competition, advertising costs, and campaign performance throughout the year.

Although spring is generally more stable than peak travel periods, campaign performance still changes as demand develops across the season. This makes continuous optimization essential, particularly for advertisers managing multiple campaigns simultaneously.

To provide a consistent basis for comparison, campaign performance during Spring 2026 was evaluated against the same period in Spring 2025. Comparing identical seasonal periods allows performance improvements to be assessed under similar market conditions rather than across different demand cycles.

Implementing the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module 

To improve campaign efficiency, Freetour.com implemented the G-MOS Bids and Budgets control module across its Google Ads account.

The solution automates bid and budget optimization by continuously evaluating campaign performance and applying optimization decisions according to predefined business settings. Instead of relying on scheduled manual reviews, campaigns can respond more consistently to performance changes while remaining within configured optimization limits.

The solution is designed to complement Google Ads Smart Bidding strategies rather than replace them. While Google automatically optimizes bids during individual auctions, the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module helps advertisers optimize campaign-level bid targets and budget allocation to support overall account performance.

This approach helps advertisers maintain consistent performance across multiple campaigns while reducing the operational effort required for ongoing optimization. 

How performance was evaluated

To evaluate the impact of the G-MOS Bids and Budgets optimization, campaign performance managed with the module was compared with campaigns optimized manually.

The analysis covers Spring 2026 and compares results with the same period in Spring 2025. Both Performance Max and Search campaigns were included to evaluate the overall impact of automated bid and budget optimization.

Performance was assessed using four key metrics:

• Average CPC

• CPA

• Conversion rate

• ROAS

Comparing the same seasonal period provides a consistent basis for evaluating the impact of automated optimization under similar market conditions.

Results

To evaluate the impact of the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module, campaign performance was compared with campaigns optimized manually during the same seasonal period (Spring 2026 vs Spring 2025).

The analysis covered both Performance Max and Search campaigns, evaluating changes in average CPC, CPA, conversion rate, and ROAS. Comparing identical seasonal periods provides a consistent basis for assessing campaign performance under similar market conditions.

Performance Max campaigns

Performance Max campaigns managed with the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module outperformed manually optimized campaigns across every key performance metric.

Performance Max campaigns delivered the greatest improvements during the evaluation period.

ROAS increased by 90.5%, while manually optimized campaigns experienced a 16.0% decline, creating a 106.5 percentage-point difference between the two optimization approaches.

Campaign efficiency also improved significantly. Average CPC decreased by 25.2%, compared with a 58.3% increase under manual optimization. CPA followed the same pattern, decreasing by 36.1%, while manually optimized campaigns recorded a 32.0% increase.

Conversion rate increased by 66.4%, outperforming manually optimized campaigns by 46.5 percentage points, demonstrating stronger overall campaign efficiency alongside lower acquisition costs.

* Difference vs. manual (pp) represents the difference in percentage points between campaigns managed with the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module and campaigns optimized manually.

Search campaigns

Search campaigns also demonstrated stronger performance with automated bid and budget optimization.

Average CPC in Google Ads Search campaigns decreased by 18.5%, while manually optimized campaigns experienced a 34.4% increase. CPA decreased by 27.0%, compared with a 26.5% increase under manual optimization.

ROAS increased by 36.9%, whereas manually optimized campaigns recorded a 15.1% decline, resulting in a 52.0 percentage-point difference between the two optimization approaches.

While the improvement in conversion rate was smaller than in Performance Max campaigns, Search campaigns also achieved stronger overall efficiency through lower acquisition costs and higher return on ad spend.

Key takeaways

Comparing campaigns managed with the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module against manually optimized campaigns revealed consistent improvements across both campaign types.

• Automated bid and budget optimization outperformed manual optimization across both Performance Max and Search campaigns.

• Performance Max delivered the strongest gains, including a 90.5% increase in ROAS, a 36.1% reduction in CPA, and a 25.2% decrease in average CPC.

• Search campaigns also achieved measurable improvements, particularly in ROAS, CPA, and CPC.

• Comparing the same seasonal period (Spring 2026 vs Spring 2025) provided a consistent basis for evaluating campaign performance in the travel industry.

• The results demonstrate the value of continuous bid and budget optimization in supporting Google Ads Smart Bidding strategies.

Conclusion

Google Ads Smart Bidding automatically adjusts bids during each auction, but campaign performance also depends on effective budget allocation and continuous optimization of campaign-level bidding and budget decisions.

To evaluate the impact of automated optimization, Freetour.com compared campaigns managed with the G-MOS Bids and Budgets module against campaigns optimized manually during the same seasonal period.

Across both Performance Max and Search campaigns, the G-MOS delivered measurable improvements in campaign efficiency. Lower CPC and CPA, together with higher ROAS and stronger conversion performance, demonstrate the value of automating bid and budget optimization while maintaining control over advertising spend.

Over the three-month evaluation period, the comparison showed that a structured approach to bid and budget optimization can help advertisers using Google Ads Smart Bidding achieve more consistent performance across multiple campaign types.