Google Ads seasonality adjustments now cover Demand Gen

Google Ads now lists Demand Gen among the campaign types that can use seasonality adjustments. Google's help page says the tool is available for Search, Shopping, Demand Gen and Display campaigns that bid with Target CPA or Target ROAS, and for Performance Max and App (beta) campaigns on any bid strategy. For Demand Gen advertisers, that means Smart Bidding can be told in advance about a short sale, such as 11.11 or 12.12, where conversion rates are expected to jump well above normal.

What changed on the seasonality adjustments help page

The update is in the Google Ads Help article "About seasonality adjustments". As read on 24 October 2026, Google's seasonality adjustments help page says: "Seasonality adjustments are currently available for Search, Shopping, Demand Gen, and Display campaigns using Target ROAS and Target CPA bid strategies, as well as Performance Max and App (beta) campaigns using all bid strategies." The page's related links include "About Demand Gen campaigns".

Google has not published an announcement, blog post or rollout date for the Demand Gen addition. The evidence is the help page wording. One more detail is worth knowing: Google's companion article, "Create a seasonality adjustment", still reads "Search, Standard Shopping, and Display" for the target-based campaign types when checked on the same day, with no mention of Demand Gen. The two pages disagree, so before planning around the feature, confirm that Demand Gen actually appears as a campaign type in the adjustment's scope options in your own account.

How seasonality adjustments work

Google describes seasonality adjustments as "an advanced tool" that informs Smart Bidding of expected changes in conversion rates for future events like promotions or sales. When you create one, you schedule a conversion rate adjustment, either an increase or a decrease, for a fixed window. Smart Bidding then factors that expected change into its bids for those dates.

Google's own example

The help page uses a 3-day sale. If you expect conversion rates to rise by 50% during the sale, you can create an adjustment that increases the conversion rate by up to 50% for those 3 days. Campaigns optimise bids during the event and, in Google's words, "return to their pre-adjust performance after the event is finished". Google adds: "No negative adjustment is needed when the promotion is over."

Why the tool exists at all

The help page does not spell out the mechanism, so the following is analysis. Smart Bidding works from conversion data, and a short sale creates a problem for that learning: the spike arrives faster than the model can react, and the post-sale drop arrives just as the model has started to believe the spike. The adjustment hands the bidder the information ahead of time, so it does not have to infer it from a few days of unusual data. That is the reasoning behind Google's guidance that the tool suits short, predictable events and not long seasons.

When to use it, and when not to

Google is direct about the limits. The help page says to use seasonality adjustments "only if you expect major changes to conversion rates, because Smart Bidding already manages seasonal events". It calls the tool "ideal for short events of 1-7 days" and warns it "may not work as well" for extended periods, "such as more than 14 days at a time".

Two practical readings follow from that guidance. First, gradual seasons like the year-end holiday stretch are the kind of pattern Google says Smart Bidding already handles. Second, a one-day or two-day event with a clear, known start and end, and a conversion rate that history shows moves a lot, is the case the tool was built for.

Seasonality adjustments at a glance

The table below summarises the rules on Google's two help pages as read on 24 October 2026.

How to create a seasonality adjustment

Google's "Create a seasonality adjustment" page gives these steps for a single account:

1. Click the Tools icon in Google Ads.
2. Open the Budgets and bidding drop-down and click Adjustments.
3. Select the Seasonal option at the top and click the blue plus button.
4. Under "Adjustment type", choose Conversion rate.
5. Name the adjustment, add an optional description, and enter the event's start and end dates.
6. Under "Scope", pick a campaign type (or all campaign types) or specific campaigns.
7. Enter the conversion rate change you expect, then click Save and Create seasonality adjustment.

Google notes that adjustments "may change how your bid strategies perform" and asks advertisers to make sure the information is correct before creating one. If you select specific campaigns, a maximum of 2,000 campaigns can be saved with one event; above that, create another event or select by campaign type.

Applying adjustments from a manager account

Agencies and groups with many brands can set one adjustment from a Google Ads manager account (MCC) instead of repeating it in each client account. During creation, the scope can be a campaign type within all accounts currently linked to the manager, or specific campaigns; the "Create a seasonality adjustment" page also lists a specific-accounts option. The adjustment is applied and visible inside each client account, and changes made in client accounts are reflected at manager level.

Three conditions on the help page are easy to miss:

• It works for currently linked client accounts, including those inside sub-MCCs.
• Client accounts added after the adjustment is applied do not inherit it automatically. A brand onboarded the week before 11.11 needs its own adjustment, or the event needs to be re-scoped.
• Client accounts that leave the manager account continue to show the event.

Sizing an adjustment for a short sale

Google gives one rule: set the adjustment to reflect your estimated conversion rate change. It does not give a formula. The sensible source for that estimate is your own history for the same event, measured on the same campaign type. The example below uses invented figures to show the arithmetic only.

Illustrative example, not real data: suppose a Demand Gen campaign's conversion rate across the two weeks before last year's 11.11 averaged 1.0%, and on 11.11 itself it reached 1.6%. That is a 60% lift for a one-day event, so an adjustment of up to +60% scoped to that single day would match Google's guidance. If the lift was small, say from 1.0% to 1.1%, Google's own wording suggests leaving Smart Bidding alone, since the tool is meant for major changes.

A few points of judgement apply here, and these are analysis rather than Google instructions. Set the dates to the actual sale window and not the week around it, because the tool is built for short spikes. Account for time zones: the adjustment follows dates, so check that the account's time zone matches the hours the sale really runs. And if the sale's offer is weaker than last year's, the past lift is an upper bound, not a forecast.

What Google has not said

• No announcement or date for when Demand Gen became eligible.
• Whether Demand Gen campaigns on Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value without a target can use the tool; the page names only Target CPA and Target ROAS for Demand Gen.
• Whether the "Create a seasonality adjustment" page and the scope menu have caught up with the Demand Gen wording.
• Whether data exclusions are available for Demand Gen; the seasonality page does not mention them.

What this means for Thai marketers

In Thailand, 11.11, 12.12 and other double-day and payday promotions are short, fixed-date events known well in advance, which puts them inside the 1-7 day window Google recommends. Brands that run Demand Gen with Target CPA or Target ROAS can now brief Smart Bidding before those days, provided the option appears in their account. Check eligibility now rather than on 10 November, pull last year's conversion rate for each event, and decide which campaigns genuinely see a large jump. Agencies and multi-brand groups should also check which client accounts are linked to the manager account before applying an event there. For help planning bids and budgets around sale days, see our Google Ads services and e-commerce marketing pages.

Seasonality adjustments FAQ

Can I use seasonality adjustments in Demand Gen campaigns?

Yes, if the campaign bids with Target CPA or Target ROAS, according to Google's "About seasonality adjustments" help page. Google's separate "Create a seasonality adjustment" page had not been updated to mention Demand Gen as of 24 October 2026, so confirm the option appears in your account.

How long should a seasonality adjustment last?

Google says 1-7 days is ideal. The help page warns that adjustments may not work as well over extended periods such as more than 14 days at a time.

Do I need to add a negative adjustment after the sale?

No. Google says campaigns return to their pre-adjustment performance after the event ends, and no negative adjustment is needed when the promotion is over.

Can I apply one adjustment to many client accounts?

Yes, from a Google Ads manager account. You can scope it to a campaign type in all currently linked client accounts, including sub-MCCs, or to specific campaigns, but client accounts linked later do not inherit it.

Should I use it for the whole year-end season?

Google's guidance points against it. The help page says Smart Bidding already manages seasonal events and recommends the tool only for major, short-lived changes in conversion rate.

Seasonality adjustments reaching Demand Gen gives Demand Gen campaigns the same pre-sale lever Search and Shopping have had. Confirm it is live in your account first. After that, size each adjustment from your own past events and keep it to the sale days themselves. If you want help setting this up before 11.11, Relevant Audience is happy to talk it through.