Google Ads offers two broad approaches to bidding: Manual bidding, where you set your own maximum cost-per-click for keywords (more control, more hands-on management), and Automated bidding, where Google’s machine learning adjusts bids in real-time to hit a specific goal. This lesson covers the trade-offs of each approach — manual bidding suits advertisers who want tight control or are just starting with a small budget, while automated bidding generally performs better once a campaign has enough conversion data.