Automated Bidding vs Manual Bidding in Retail Media

Automated bidding vs manual bidding is the choice between letting a retail media network’s algorithm set your CPC bids and setting them yourself. Automated strategies, such as Amazon’s dynamic bids, adjust each bid in real time by the likelihood of a sale. Manual bids stay fixed per keyword until you change them.

Learn more

By Mateusz Drela, CEO of RMIQUpdated · 5 min read

Automated vs manual bidding at a glance

Automated bidding, also called auto-bidding, takes two main forms in sponsored products. Dynamic bid adjustment moves a bid you set up or down in each auction by the likelihood of a conversion. Target-based bidding lets the network set bids to reach a return on ad spend (ROAS) target. Side by side with manual bidding:

Dimension Manual bidding Dynamic bid adjustment Target-based bidding
Who sets the bid You, per keyword or target You set a base bid and the network adjusts it The network, to reach your ROAS target
When it changes When you edit it In each auction, in real time Continuously, toward the target
Keyword control Full Full; targeting stays as you set it On Instacart, the algorithm picks keywords
Main limit Bids go stale between reviews On Amazon, spend per click can double On Instacart, a learning phase after each change
Examples Amazon fixed bids, Instacart manual bidding Amazon dynamic bids, Walmart Connect dynamic bidding Instacart optimized bidding, Amazon rule-based bidding

Amazon warns that up and down can double the bid you enter. Instacart's optimized bidding picks keywords itself, advertisers cannot add or adjust them, and ROAS fluctuates more during a learning phase of about 3 to 7 days after a change.

On Amazon, bids change often. In its August 2026 response to the FTC's lawsuit, Amazon says that on active campaigns from 2019 to 2024, 80% of bid changes on clicked Sponsored Products search ads came within 1 day of a prior change.

Bidding options on Amazon, Walmart Connect and Instacart

Amazon Ads. Amazon's current best-practices guide lists three Sponsored Products strategies: dynamic bids up and down, dynamic bids down only and fixed bids. Fixed bids use the exact bid entered, and placement adjustments can go up to 900%. Amazon states that the final cost per click never exceeds the maximum adjusted bid. Up and down can raise or lower bids by up to 100% for all placements.

Amazon's help center also lists a fourth current strategy, rule-based bidding. The advertiser sets a ROAS goal, and Amazon adjusts base bids for each impression toward it, up to 5 times the adjusted bid. Amazon advises waiting at least 2 weeks for campaign data before setting a ROAS target, and picks a target to maximize sales if none is set.

Walmart Connect. Dynamic bidding is an optimized strategy that adjusts cost-per-click bids up or down in real time. In a 2024 case study, Walmart Connect says it recommended dynamic bidding to a seller for its automatic Sponsored Products campaigns.

Instacart Ads. Advertisers choose maximize-sales optimized bidding, new-to-brand optimized bidding or manual bidding. The optimized settings work toward a target ROAS, and manual bidding combines default keyword bids with overrides.

When to use which: automated or manual bidding

Use automated bidding when sales are the goal and the campaign has history to learn from. Amazon recommends dynamic bids up and down when your key objective is sales, when you want top-of-page placements, when a campaign already performs well, or when it features ASINs with excess inventory or deals. Instacart's optimized bidding needs a target ROAS and time to learn.

Use manual or conservative settings when you need data or control. In 2022, agency JumpFly wrote that fixed bids suit a new product gathering impressions and search data, though it preferred dynamic bids down only for launches and for controlling spend. Instacart recommends manual bidding to help maximize impressions. Manual bids can also make sense for the few keywords you choose to hold at a set price, such as your own brand terms.

On Amazon the bidding strategy is a campaign setting, chosen for campaigns with automatic or manual targeting alike, so one account can run both approaches. Amazon suggests reviewing bids about every 2 weeks under up and down.

Why it matters for brands and sellers

Bids are set at the ad-group level on both Amazon and Instacart. On Amazon, bids apply to all products within an ad group, and on Instacart, keyword bids apply to the entire ad group. Amazon advises grouping products by price range and conversions, so before automating, split products with different prices or conversion rates into separate ad groups. That grouping decides how precise any bid can be, manual or automated.

Each network's automation works inside that network's campaigns, toward the target you give it, so the split of budget across networks stays your call. Automated strategies can raise cost per click, so pair them with a ROAS or ACOS target and watch budget pacing. The Amazon keyword research tool, the Walmart keyword research tool and the Instacart Ads guide help set starting bids.

Frequently asked questions

What is automated bidding?

Automated bidding, or auto-bidding, lets a retail media network's system set or adjust your cost-per-click bid for each auction toward a goal you choose. Amazon's dynamic bids adjust bids using real-time signals, and Instacart's optimized bidding picks keywords and sets bids against a target return on ad spend.

Is an automatic campaign the same as automated bidding?

They are separate settings. Automatic targeting lets the network match your ads to keywords and products. The bidding strategy decides the price you offer, and Amazon lets you choose dynamic bids with automatic or manual targeting. Walmart Connect has recommended dynamic bidding to a seller running automatic campaigns.

What is dynamic bidding on Amazon?

Dynamic bidding lets Amazon change your Sponsored Products bid in real time. With down only, Amazon lowers bids for clicks less likely to convert and never raises them. With up and down, it can raise or lower bids by up to 100% based on the likelihood of a conversion.

What are the benefits of automated bidding?

Automated bidding adjusts each bid to the likelihood of a conversion, so spend moves toward clicks more likely to lead to a sale. It also saves time: Instacart says optimized bidding takes the heavy lifting and guesswork out of keyword bidding. The trade-off is that it needs a clear target and a learning period.

How RMIQ can help you with Auto-bidding vs Manual Bidding

Choosing between auto-bidding and manual bidding in retail media is ultimately a question of control at scale, and RMIQ resolves the trade-off by delivering autonomous precision with managerial oversight across Walmart, Instacart, Amazon, Sprouts, Thrive Market, Target, Uber, and more than twenty additional networks. Its multi-agent AI continuously tunes bids, reallocates budgets, runs A/B tests, refines keyword portfolios, and learns cross-network patterns in real time, eliminating fragmented workflows and outperforming static rules. Rather than toggling settings in multiple dashboards or hand-editing SKU and keyword bids, marketers plan, execute, and track from one unified interface, gaining SKU-level and query-level insights that inform strategy without slowing execution.

For teams favoring manual controls, guardrails, floor and ceiling bids, pacing targets, and approval checkpoints preserve governance; for teams embracing automation, autonomous agents dynamically raise or lower bids to maximize ROAS, with customers seeing average ROAS lifts of 50%+ and up to five dollars in new sales per dollar invested. The platform’s coverage reaches roughly 85% of the U.S. retail audience, so learning compounds quickly and fuels adaptive strategies that travel across networks, categories, and seasons. Operationally, enterprises managing thousands of SKUs achieve scale with consistent playbooks, while emerging brands launch fast—onboarding can start in about five minutes—then graduate from assisted manual tactics to full auto-bidding as confidence grows.

RMIQ’s single source of truth consolidates reporting, anomalies, and recommendations, enabling weekly business reviews to focus on outcomes rather than reconciliation. In short, RMIQ lets you keep the levers that matter while offloading repetitive bid changes, freeing teams to concentrate on creative, assortment, and retail readiness. The result is a pragmatic path from manual to automated bidding that preserves strategy, increases speed, and compounds performance across the retail media ecosystem. With RMIQ, teams standardize governance, accelerate insights, and efficiently scale across retail conditions and demand cycles.

Our Current Partners

We are already helping leading retailers and platforms grow their retail media businesses, including:

Become a partner

Drop your email 

and we’ll show you how to double your retail media ROAS – no strings attached