Google Ads adds new customer acquisition reporting
▼ Summary
– Google Ads added a “Report on new customers acquired” option in Customer Acquisition, letting advertisers measure new customer performance without changing campaign bidding.
– The new setting unlocks New customers and New customer value columns while leaving Google’s bidding algorithms unchanged.
– Previously, advertisers used a workaround by selecting “Bid higher for new customers” with a token value of 0.01, which had minimal practical bidding impact.
– The update separates measurement from optimisation, so advertisers can track new customers without making Google prioritize those users in bidding.
– This change reduces reliance on unofficial hacks, aligning with Google’s broader push for more transparent reporting controls and cleaner measurement options.
Google Ads has rolled out a fresh reporting capability inside its Customer Acquisition feature, giving advertisers the ability to track new customer performance without altering how campaigns bid. The newly added “Report on new customers acquired” option effectively eliminates the need for a common workaround that previously allowed brands to view this data.
This update introduces a third selection within Customer Acquisition, joining the existing bidding configurations. When advertisers choose “Report on new customers acquired,” they gain access to reporting on new customer activity while leaving Google’s automated bidding strategies completely untouched.
Once enabled, the setting reveals two new columns: New customers and New customer value. These metrics offer a more transparent look at acquisition results, all without forcing any shifts in how Google optimizes bids.
In the past, advertisers seeking this kind of insight had to pick “Bid higher for new customers” and then assign a nominal value of 0.01. That approach technically influenced bidding, but the minuscule amount meant the impact was effectively negligible. This tactic, originally brought to light by Vasant Chaudhary, became a widely adopted method for pulling new customer reports.
Why this matters. The new option cleanly separates measurement from optimization. Brands that need visibility into new customer acquisition, but prefer not to have Google’s bidding prioritize those users, can now achieve that goal without resorting to a hack.
A broader shift is also underway. Google keeps expanding reporting controls as marketers increasingly focus on customer lifetime value and acquisition efficiency. Offering cleaner measurement tools reflects an ongoing effort to make campaign settings more straightforward and cut down on unofficial fixes.
The takeaway. With this update, Google Ads delivers a simple, direct path to monitor new customer performance without any bidding side effects, effectively retiring the long-standing 0.01 workaround.
The news was first shared by Paid Search expert Thomas Eccel via LinkedIn.
(Source: Search Engine Land)
