Target CPA is like buying a car and telling the salesman the highest price you’re willing to pay right at the beginning. Of course they’re going to sell you the car at that price, but you could’ve gotten it for less.

Technically true, but if you’re not using Target CPA, then you’re leaving conversions on the table. Google’s bidding solutions crush companies like Marin and Kenshoo for one main reason: Google optimizes at the search query level.

Every third-party solution can only optimize at the keyword level. It’s a limitation Google has built into the ecosystem; they have an inherent edge. Suppose a user is searching for new windows for their house. Your keyword is “home windows”. That keyword is what bid management tools will train their algorithms against. They’ll have you download a year’s worth of keyword performance data to train their systems.