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The Campaign Started With a
₹20 CPI Target. I Delivered ₹4.89.

A live-streaming app running Google Ads app-install campaigns. The campaign was set up to a ₹20 target cost per install. I halved the target, then delivered at half of that again.

BunnyLive Mobile App & Live Streaming · Google Ads App Campaign · January – March 2026
₹20
The campaign's original target cost per install
₹4.89
Delivered cost per install across 42,442 installs

76% below the original target. I tightened the target CPA from ₹20 to ₹10 mid-flight, then delivered ₹4.89 — half the revised target again, across 42,442 installs.

The Result
₹4.89
Blended cost per install, against a ₹20 original target — 76% below
42,442
App installs
delivered
51%
Below the revised
₹10 target CPA
7.36%
Install conversion
rate
The Problem & What I Changed

The Problem

The campaign was configured to a ₹20 target cost per install. A target CPA is a ceiling — automated bidding will spend up to whatever number it is given, so a campaign set to ₹20 will tend to settle near ₹20. Inheriting that setting is not a strategy. The question was how far below it this campaign could actually run.

What I Changed

  • Target CPA — halved from ₹20 to ₹10, forcing the algorithm to find cheaper install inventory rather than settling at the inherited ceiling
  • Location targeting — concentrated on the geographies actually converting to installs
  • Conversion tracking — verified so install signals were clean; app campaigns are entirely signal-driven and a noisy feed caps efficiency permanently
  • Budget allocation — spend moved continuously toward the cheapest converting inventory
  • Ongoing testing — iterated on the campaign rather than letting it settle at its opening cost
₹2.08L managed spend ₹4.83 best month CPI 3 months sustained, not a single spike ~472 installs per day
MonthInstallsSpendCPIvs ₹20 target
January 202614,646₹72,061₹4.92−75%
February 202615,370₹75,678₹4.92−75%
March 202612,426₹59,969₹4.83−76%
01

A target CPA is a ceiling, not a forecast. Automated bidding will spend up to whatever number you give it. Leave the opening target untested and that is roughly what you will pay.

02

App campaigns are signal-driven before they are creative-driven. Verify the install conversion feed first — everything downstream inherits its quality.

03

Inherited settings are assumptions, not constraints. The ₹20 target was in the account when I arrived. Testing it downward cost nothing and returned most of the result.

04

Efficiency has to hold to count. ₹4.92, ₹4.92, ₹4.83 across three consecutive months is a level the account can run at — not a good week.

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Figures from the client's Google Ads ad group report, January – March 2026. Cost per install and install volume as reported by Google Ads. The ₹20 figure is the campaign's original target CPA as configured in the account, not an independently verified category benchmark. All amounts INR.