Seasonal Bid Adjustments in Google Ads Explained

Anirban Sen
Mar 21
6 min read

Updated: Mar 22

What They Are: Temporary bid changes for specific periods based on predictable demand spikes.
Why Use Them: Boost visibility, conversions, and budget efficiency during busy seasons like Black Friday or back-to-school.
How to Set Them Up: Adjust bids by percentage, define time frames, and focus on high-performing campaigns.
Best Practices: Start small (10-15% changes), monitor performance daily, and set clear start and end dates.

Timing Your Seasonal Adjustments

Spotting Seasonal Trends

Take a close look at your performance data from the past 12–24 months. Pay attention to metrics like conversion rates, CTR, costs per conversion, and search volume trends. Use tools like Google Ads' Time Comparison feature to identify patterns across weeks, months, quarters, and years.

Here’s what to watch for:

Pinpoint natural sales peaks and slow periods.
Track when users are most engaged.
Keep an eye on changes in acquisition costs.
Notice predictable keyword surges.

Once you’ve identified these trends, align your bid strategies with your busiest sales periods.

Ideal Times for Bid Adjustments

Timing is everything when it comes to bid adjustments. Plan around major shopping events, industry-specific opportunities, and even weather conditions.

Key Shopping Events

Black Friday/Cyber Monday: Late November
Holiday season: Mid-November through December 24
Back-to-school: Mid-July to mid-September
Prime Day: Dates vary, but typically mid-July

Industry-Specific Timelines

Fashion: Seasonal transitions like Spring/Summer or Fall/Winter collections
Electronics: Around new product launches
Home & Garden: Early spring (March–April)
Fitness: New Year’s resolution season (December 26–January 31)

Weather-Driven Adjustments

Summer gear: Start 4–6 weeks before peak season
Winter equipment: Begin in early fall
Rain gear: Adjust based on regional weather forecasts

Start your adjustments 7–10 days before the peak period. Keep them active during the event and gradually scale back over 3–5 days once it’s over.

When and How to Set Up Seasonality Bid Adjustments in ...

Setting Up Bid Adjustments in Google Ads

Seasonal bid adjustments can fine-tune your campaigns to match peak periods. Here's how to set them up in Google Ads.

Finding the Adjustment Tools

Navigate to your campaign settings.
Select "Advanced settings" from the left-hand menu.
Under the Bidding section, click on "Adjustments".
From the dropdown menu, choose "Seasonal adjustments".

How to Configure Seasonal Bid Adjustments

When setting up seasonal bid adjustments, precision is key. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Define the Scope

Decide whether you want to apply adjustments to individual campaigns, campaign groups, or specific ad groups. Use historical performance data to guide your choices.

2. Set the Parameters

Adjust your bids by a percentage (anywhere from -90% to +900%).
Choose a duration, which can range from 1 to 14 days.
Add a buffer period by scheduling your adjustments to start 15 minutes before peak activity.

Tips and Best Practices

Percentage Adjustments

Start small with a 10-15% increase.
Avoid exceeding 50% unless your data strongly supports it.
Test minor changes (5-10%) before major events to gauge their impact.

Campaign Prioritization

Focus on campaigns that have consistently performed well during seasonal peaks.
Avoid applying adjustments to experimental or brand-new campaigns.

Monitoring and Automation

Check your metrics daily to ensure your adjustments are working as intended.
Use automated rules to set bid caps and prevent overspending.
Set up alerts to quickly identify and respond to performance shifts.

Once everything is in place, link your adjustments to sales events and track the results to refine your strategy further.

Maximizing Seasonal Adjustment Results

Aligning Adjustments with Sales Events

To get the most out of your seasonal campaigns, sync your bid adjustments with major sales events to improve product-level ROAS.

Increase bids ahead of big events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, using historical data to guide your strategy.
Gradually raise bids as holiday shopping ramps up to capture early interest.
Lower bids strategically to attract post-holiday clearance shoppers.
Coordinate bid changes with your promotional calendar to maximize visibility.

Once your bid strategy is in place, make sure your budget can handle these shifts effectively.

Smart Budget Planning

Adjust daily spend limits to reflect expected performance during seasonal peaks.
Focus larger budgets on high-traffic events, ensuring you’re competitive when it matters most.
Set automated rules to monitor spending and avoid exceeding your budget.
Use automation to manage campaign expenses efficiently during busy periods.

Keeping Tabs on Performance

After setting your budget, keep a close eye on performance metrics to fine-tune your campaigns as needed.

Key metrics to track include ROAS, CTR, conversion rate, and CPC. These will help you measure the effectiveness of your adjustments.

Some best practices for performance tracking:

Check performance often during high-traffic periods to stay on top of trends.
Evaluate product-level ROAS to see which items are driving the best returns.
Study customer behavior patterns to uncover valuable insights.
Compare current results with historical data to spot opportunities or issues.

Daily performance reviews during peak times allow for real-time bid adjustments, ensuring you stay competitive.

To push your campaigns even further:

Optimize product feeds for Google Shopping to improve visibility.
Use intent-based keyword strategies to align with shopper behavior.
Analyze customer actions to refine targeting.
Shift budgets dynamically based on live performance data.

These tactics can help you achieve stronger outcomes and improve your campaign results significantly.

Mistakes to Avoid

Setting Unrealistic Increases

Aggressive bid changes can drain your budget fast without delivering matching results. Here’s how to manage bid increases more effectively:

Start with adjustments in the range of 10-25% of your base bid.
Test changes for 48–72 hours before making further tweaks.
Regularly check your average CPC to ensure adjustments are working.
Set maximum bid limits to keep costs under control.

For instance, if your usual CPC is $1.50, try increasing it to $1.75 instead of jumping to $3.00 right away. This cautious approach helps you stay in control while testing how the market reacts.

Missing End-Date Updates

Forgetting to reset seasonal bid adjustments can hurt your campaigns once the peak period is over. This is a common mistake but easy to avoid with proper planning.

Here’s how to stay on track:

Set clear end dates for all seasonal adjustments.
Use automation to revert bids to standard levels.
Keep a timeline of adjustments and set reminders for reviews.
Add calendar alerts for any manual updates you need to make.

Pro tip: Set bid reversion dates 24-48 hours after the seasonal event ends. This lets you capture late shoppers without extending high-cost periods unnecessarily.

Depending Too Much on Adjustments

Relying heavily on bid adjustments can limit your campaign’s overall performance. While they’re useful, adjustments are just one part of the bigger picture. Ignoring other factors can hurt your results.

Here’s what else to focus on:

Campaign Structure: Split campaigns for seasonal and year-round products to boost performance.
Landing Page Quality: Make sure seasonal landing pages are designed to convert visitors.
Ad Copy Relevance: Update your ad text to match seasonal themes and promotions.

Bid adjustments work best when paired with other optimization efforts. To get the most out of your campaigns, think beyond bidding and aim for a well-rounded strategy that includes testing and refining every part of your funnel.

Summary

Main Points

Seasonal bid adjustments can help improve your Google Ads performance during peak shopping times. Here's what you need to focus on:

Timing Is Key: Match bid adjustments to historical data and major sales events.
Start Small: Begin with a 10-25% increase in bids to manage costs effectively.
Holistic Approach: Pair bid adjustments with a solid campaign structure, engaging ad copy, and optimized landing pages.
Leverage Automation: Use automated rules to handle bid changes and rollbacks efficiently.
Keep Budgets in Check: Set bid caps and keep an eye on CPCs to avoid overspending.

With these tips, you’re ready to take actionable steps to fine-tune your campaigns.

Getting Started

Here’s how to put your strategy into action:

1. Review Historical Data

Dive into your account’s performance data from the last 12-24 months. Focus on:

Conversion rate patterns
Seasonal traffic spikes
Cost fluctuations during high-demand times

2. Build an Adjustment Calendar

Using your data, outline seasonal events and plan bid adjustments:

Highlight major shopping seasons like Black Friday and Christmas
Add industry-specific busy periods
Set clear start and end dates for each adjustment phase

3. Test and Optimize

Begin with a smaller campaign to fine-tune your approach:

Pick a campaign that’s already performing well
Make modest bid adjustments
Monitor daily metrics closely
Document your findings to refine future strategies

Start small, track your progress, and scale up as you see results.