Google Ads Promotion Mode: rules for short sales

TL;DR

Promotion Mode is in open beta and runs for 3 to 14 days, with a Target ROAS tolerance of 5% to 90% and an optional extra daily budget.
Only standard Search and Performance Max campaigns on campaign-level Target ROAS qualify; portfolio strategies and shared budgets are excluded.
Smart Bidding Exploration is always on during a promotion, and its tolerance adds to Promotion Mode's: 20% plus 20% equals 40%.
Baseline target and budget are locked while a promotion runs, the start date cannot change, and the 2x daily overspend cap still applies.
The help page lists no country restrictions; for Performance Max, exploration covers Search inventory only, with retail due in November 2026.

Search Engine Roundtable reported on 4 November 2026 that Google Ads has posted a full help document for Promotion Mode (Google Ads Help answer 18111661). The page sets out the rules for an open-beta setting that lowers a campaign's Target ROAS by a chosen "ROAS tolerance" of 5% to 90% and can add an optional extra daily budget for a scheduled promotion of 3 to 14 days, after which both settings return to their previous values automatically. It covers standard Search and Performance Max campaigns that use campaign-level Target ROAS only.

What Google published, and what is actually new

Promotion Mode itself is not brand new. In the same report, Search Engine Roundtable noted that the feature had been mentioned before and is still in beta. What is new is a single, detailed help page in the Google Ads Help Center that spells out eligibility, setup steps, limits and how the feature interacts with Smart Bidding Exploration and Seasonality Adjustments. For anyone planning year-end sales, that page is now the reference to check settings against.

The document opens with a note that Promotion Mode "is currently in an open beta". Google describes it as a way to "capture extra traffic and conversions during short-term promotional events", with less manual work than editing targets and budgets by hand before and after a sale.

How Promotion Mode works

Promotion Mode changes two things for a fixed window, then puts them back.

Target ROAS tolerance. You enter a percentage between 5% and 90%. During the promotion, the campaign's effective Target ROAS is lowered by that tolerance, so bidding can accept a lower return to win more traffic.
Extra daily budget (optional). You can add an amount on top of the baseline average daily budget for the promotion dates.

Google also says Promotion Mode is "powered by Smart Bidding Exploration". Every campaign in an active promotion uses exploration, even if the standalone Smart Bidding Exploration setting is switched off. Google says Promotion Mode uses Google's AI to bid on "potentially high-performing search queries".

Google's worked example

The help page walks through a 5-day holiday clearance sale. The baseline campaign runs at a 500% Target ROAS with a $100 average daily budget. The advertiser schedules Promotion Mode for those 5 days with a 20% tolerance and a $50 extra daily budget. During the sale, the effective target becomes 400% and the daily budget becomes $150. After day five, the campaign returns to 500% and $100 without anyone editing it.

The table below sets the example out next to the limits Google lists on the same page.

Google's worked example
Setting	What the Google Ads help page says
Promotion length	3 to 14 days, with a start and end date
Target ROAS tolerance	5% to 90%; example: 500% target with 20% tolerance becomes 400%
Extra daily budget	Optional; example: $100 per day plus $50 becomes $150; not available with campaign total budgets
Eligible campaigns	Standard Search and Performance Max using campaign-level Target ROAS; no portfolio strategies or shared budgets
After the promotion	Target and budget return to baseline automatically; allow 1 to 2 conversion cycles to stabilise if changes were large

Eligibility and requirements

The help document lists these conditions:

Supported for standard Search and Performance Max campaigns.
Supported only for campaigns that use Target ROAS bidding.
Supported only for campaign-level bid strategies. Google says Promotion Mode "is not compatible with portfolio bid strategies or shared budgets currently".
Works with average daily budgets and with campaign total budgets, but the extra daily budget option is not available with campaign total budgets. In that case Google tells advertisers to raise the total budget manually in campaign settings.
Tolerance must sit between 5% and 90%.

On Performance Max, the page says Promotion Mode "will initially be powered by Smart Bidding Exploration for Search inventory only" and that "Retail will be available in November 2026". Google adds that because exploration applies only to search inventory, Performance Max campaigns that serve heavily on other networks "will not see as large of an effect" from the exploration part of the feature.

Campaigns using Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, Maximize Clicks or manual bidding are outside the eligibility list as written, since the page names Target ROAS as the only supported strategy.

How to set it up

According to the help page, the setting sits in campaign settings:

Open Campaigns, then click the Settings icon next to the campaign.
In the "Budget and bidding optimization" section, expand the "Promotion mode" panel.
Tick "Ramp up spend quicker on promotion dates".
Choose a start date and end date between 3 and 14 days apart.
Enter the Target ROAS tolerance (5% to 90%).
Optionally enter an extra daily budget, then save.

Once a promotion is running, the Promotion mode panel shows "On" with its dates, and the Budget column in the campaign table reads "Budget: $X/day (Promotion mode on)".

Rules that will catch people out

Baseline settings are locked during the promotion

Google says all ROAS and budget changes during an active promotion must be made inside the Promotion Mode settings. You cannot change the baseline Target ROAS or baseline average daily budget outside Promotion Mode while a promotion is live. Teams used to nudging targets mid-sale need to make those edits in the Promotion Mode panel instead.

The start date cannot move once it begins

After a promotion starts, the start date is fixed. The end date can still change, as long as the whole flight stays within the 14-day limit. A promotion can be ended early by pulling the end date forward (within the 3 to 14 day range) or by switching Promotion Mode off, which Google says returns the campaign to its original settings.

Lead times

For new campaigns, Google recommends building them at least 48 hours before the promotion so ads are approved and ready to serve. For existing campaigns, it recommends at least one full conversion cycle on a daily budget before applying Promotion Mode, so bidding has enough learning data.

Budget limits still apply

The extra daily budget edits the daily budget for the promotion period, so standard spending limits stay in place. Google repeats that you "will not be billed more than twice your daily budget in a single day". It also warns that if a campaign becomes limited by budget, Smart Bidding Exploration "may stop working", and suggests assigning enough extra daily budget to prevent that. To size it, the page points to the missed opportunity report for past promotions and to Performance Planner for annual campaigns.

No CPC bid limits

Google says not to apply CPC bid limits to the bidding strategy, because they restrict the system's ability to bid on new traffic.

After the sale

Settings return to baseline automatically. If targets or budgets changed substantially, Google asks advertisers to allow 1 to 2 conversion cycles for Smart Bidding to stabilise.

Promotion Mode, Exploration and Seasonality Adjustments

The FAQ on the help page answers the comparisons most account managers will ask about.

On Smart Bidding Exploration, Google describes Exploration as a standalone setting "designed to be enabled indefinitely", while Promotion Mode is time-boxed and adds scheduled target changes plus extra budget. If both are active, the tolerances are added together. Google's example: a 20% Promotion Mode tolerance plus a 20% Exploration tolerance gives a 40% total tolerance. The page does not show the resulting target for that combined case. Applied the same way as Google's single-tolerance example, 40% on a 500% target would give 300%, but that is a calculation from Google's example, not a figure Google states. Google recommends monitoring closely when running both.

On Seasonality Adjustments, the Promotion Mode help page says the two differ in scope and in what bidding aims for. Promotion Mode is scoped to the campaign-level strategy, while Seasonality Adjustments apply at campaign or campaign-type level. With Promotion Mode, bidding aims for the lowered ROAS target. With Seasonality Adjustments, according to the same page, Smart Bidding keeps aiming for the original target. In practice that means Promotion Mode is a deliberate decision to accept a lower return during the window, not just a forecast that conversion rates will rise.

What the help document does not say

It does not list any country, language or currency restrictions, and it does not say the beta is limited to particular markets. It also does not confirm global availability. Whether the panel appears in a given account is something to check directly.
It gives no performance figures, case studies or expected uplift.
It does not say when the open beta ends or whether the rules will change at general availability.
Beyond "Retail will be available in November 2026", it does not explain what the retail extension will cover or give a specific date.
It does not say whether the feature is available through the Google Ads API or Google Ads Editor.

What this means for Thai marketers

Thai retail calendars are built around double-date sales such as 11.11 and 12.12, plus year-end and New Year promotions. Those events usually run for a few days, which fits inside the 3 to 14 day window the help page allows. For advertisers already running Search or Performance Max on campaign-level Target ROAS, Promotion Mode gives a scheduled way to lower the target and raise budget for the sale, then return to normal without a manual edit on the morning after.

A few practical points from the document apply directly:

Check eligibility first. Many accounts group campaigns under portfolio Target ROAS strategies or shared budgets. Those campaigns are not eligible as the page is written. Moving a campaign off a portfolio strategy just before a sale may disturb learning, so the timing matters.
Plan around 12.12 now. The 48-hour lead time for new campaigns and the one-conversion-cycle guidance for existing ones mean last-minute setup works against the feature.
Performance Max shopping-led campaigns. Exploration covers Search inventory only for now, with retail promised for November 2026. Campaigns that spend mostly on Shopping or other networks may see less effect from the exploration part until that lands.
Agree the floor before the sale. A 20% tolerance on a 500% target means bidding is told to accept 400%. Finance and e-commerce teams should agree what return they can accept for those days before anyone picks a tolerance.
Availability in Thailand is not stated. Google does not list country restrictions in the document, but it does not promise availability either. Open the campaign settings and look for the Promotion mode panel.

For a wider look at bidding and budget planning, see Relevant Audience's Google Ads management service and the e-commerce marketing service for sale-period planning across channels.

A checklist before you switch it on

Confirm the campaign is standard Search or Performance Max, on campaign-level Target ROAS, with its own (not shared) budget.
Check the campaign has run at least one full conversion cycle on a daily budget.
Remove CPC bid limits from the bid strategy.
Review the missed opportunity report from past promotions to size the extra daily budget.
Decide whether Smart Bidding Exploration is already on, and remember the tolerances add up.
Set the start date carefully, since it cannot change once the promotion begins.
Plan for 1 to 2 conversion cycles of settling after the promotion ends before judging the post-sale numbers.

Frequently asked questions

What is Google Ads Promotion Mode?

Promotion Mode is an open-beta Google Ads setting that lowers a campaign's Target ROAS by 5% to 90% and optionally adds extra daily budget for a scheduled 3 to 14 day promotion, then restores both automatically. It is documented in Google Ads Help answer 18111661, which Search Engine Roundtable reported on 4 November 2026.

Which campaigns can use Promotion Mode?

Only standard Search and Performance Max campaigns that use campaign-level Target ROAS bidding can use it. Portfolio bid strategies and shared budgets are not compatible, and the extra daily budget option does not work with campaign total budgets.

Is Promotion Mode available in Thailand?

The help document does not say. It lists no country restrictions and gives no country list, so the reliable check is whether the Promotion mode panel appears under "Budget and bidding optimization" in an eligible campaign's settings.

How is Promotion Mode different from Seasonality Adjustments?

Promotion Mode makes bidding aim for a lowered ROAS target, while Seasonality Adjustments keep Smart Bidding aiming for the original target, according to Google's Promotion Mode help page. The page also says Promotion Mode works at campaign-level strategy, while Seasonality Adjustments apply at campaign or campaign-type level.

Can I stop a promotion early?

Yes, you can move the end date earlier or switch Promotion Mode off, and the campaign returns to its baseline settings. The start date cannot be changed once the promotion has begun.

Bottom line

Google's new help page turns Promotion Mode from a feature mentioned in passing into one with written rules: Target ROAS only, campaign-level only, 3 to 14 days, 5% to 90% tolerance, exploration always on, baseline locked during the flight. Advertisers planning year-end sales can now check their campaigns against those rules before deciding whether to use it. Relevant Audience can help review campaign structure and bidding before peak sale dates if you want a second pair of eyes.