since we're all here to make conversions, wouldn't you want your ad with the highest conversion rate to be favored? Sure, the clicks are good 'cause that's how we make conversions, but conversions are what we're going for.
Sure, the more clicks we get, the higher the chances of making a conversion...but aren't a lot of us trying to maximize ROI? Who cares how much we sell if I get a 1% return? It's not worth the time.
You can find those options under Campaign Settings. They are set to automatically optimize by default which I hate because Google's interpretation of optimized is different than mine.
that's the problem - they say they'll show my best performing ads the most often, which to me means the ads with either the highest conversion rate or lowest cost per conversion.
Instead, my ads with the highest click through rate are given priority. I have one ad with a 29% conversion rate, but the one with the 3% conversion rate is favored because the CTR is higher.
Google needs to change their informational page about ad optimization to say "We'll show the ad that gets the most clicks." Stop B.S.ing us.
* Optimize: this setting will take the ad with the best (highest) click-through-rate and display it more often - REGARDLESS of conversion rate.
* Rotate: will do literally just that - give your ads an even (relatively) rotation.
The rotate option combined with careful, manual account management will be the only way to "optimize" your account for conversions.
Hope that helps to clarify!
-John
