Google quietly adds seasonality adjustments for App campaigns

Google has quietly introduced seasonality adjustments for App campaigns in beta, expanding access to this Smart Bidding feature that was previously limited to Search, Shopping, and Display campaigns. According to a LinkedIn post by Qais Haddad, Team Lead - Senior App Growth Manager at Google, this beta functionality became available through an updated user interface with no official announcement from the company.

The expansion represents a significant development for mobile app marketers who can now inform Google's automated bidding systems about expected conversion rate changes during promotional events. "Use this to tell Smart Bidding about expected, significant changes in your conversion rate (like a +50% lift) during a short event (ideally 1-7 days)," Haddad explained in his post dated one week ago.

App campaigns join an existing roster of campaign types that support seasonality adjustments. According to Google's Help Center documentation, the feature was already "available for Search, Shopping, 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 beta designation indicates this functionality remains in testing phases for App campaigns specifically.

The tool addresses a fundamental challenge in mobile app advertising where promotional spikes can dramatically alter user behavior patterns. Mobile marketers frequently launch limited-time offers, flash sales, and seasonal promotions that generate substantial increases in app downloads and in-app purchases. Without proper bidding adjustments, Google's algorithms may struggle to optimize effectively during these short-term conversion rate fluctuations.

Smart Bidding's machine learning systems typically require time to adapt to changing conversion patterns. Seasonality adjustments enable advertisers to provide advance notification about upcoming events, allowing the optimization algorithms to prepare for expected performance changes. "It allows Google to proactively optimize bids before the spike, ensuring you capture maximum value during your most important promotions or flash sales," Haddad noted.

The feature supports all App campaign bid strategies, according to the LinkedIn announcement. This comprehensive coverage includes Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions, and Maximize Conversion Value bidding approaches. The broad compatibility ensures mobile marketers can implement seasonality adjustments regardless of their chosen optimization strategy.

Implementation requires advertisers to predict significant conversion rate changes with reasonable accuracy. Google's documentation specifies that seasonality adjustments work best for "major changes to conversion rates" rather than minor fluctuations. The system already manages routine seasonal events automatically, making manual adjustments unnecessary for predictable patterns like holiday shopping increases.

Duration recommendations favor short-term events spanning 1-7 days for optimal effectiveness. Extended periods exceeding 14 days may reduce the feature's performance, according to Google's official guidance. This timeframe aligns with typical mobile app promotional strategies that often rely on brief, intensive marketing pushes to generate immediate user acquisition and engagement.

Access to the beta feature requires navigation through the Google Ads interface. According to Haddad's instructions, advertisers can find the functionality under "Tools --> Budgets and Bidding --> Adjustments --> Seasonality adjustments." The same interface pathway serves all campaign types that support this Smart Bidding enhancement.

The quiet rollout follows Google's pattern of testing advanced features with limited announcements. Mobile app advertising represents a substantial revenue stream for Google, with app marketers increasingly focused on sophisticated bidding strategies to manage complex user acquisition funnels. Recent industry analysis shows 65% of advertisers implement seasonality adjustments for major shopping events like Black Friday.

For the mobile marketing community, this development provides important capabilities during peak promotional periods. App campaigns generate significant volume during seasonal events, product launches, and marketing campaigns that can benefit from predictive bidding optimization. The feature particularly benefits subscription apps, gaming applications, and e-commerce apps that experience dramatic conversion rate variations during promotional periods.

Technical implementation involves creating adjustment schedules that specify expected conversion rate changes. Advertisers input percentage modifications that inform Google's bidding algorithms about anticipated performance shifts. The system then adjusts bid strategies accordingly, increasing or decreasing bid aggressiveness based on expected conversion likelihood changes.

The beta designation suggests Google continues refining the feature's effectiveness for mobile app advertising contexts. App campaigns present unique challenges compared to traditional web-based advertising, including different user journey patterns, app store optimization considerations, and mobile-specific conversion tracking complexities.

Campaign stability remains crucial during seasonality adjustment periods. Google's documentation emphasizes avoiding "bid or creative changes for the first 14 days of the campaign in order to ensure stable model training for Google AI." This stability requirement becomes particularly important when combining seasonality adjustments with other optimization techniques.

Data quality requirements for effective seasonality adjustments mirror those of other Smart Bidding features. Mobile app marketers must maintain accurate conversion tracking, sufficient historical data, and consistent measurement approaches to enable proper machine learning optimization. The adjustment feature builds upon existing Smart Bidding infrastructure while providing additional contextual signals about expected performance changes.

No negative adjustment is required after promotional events conclude, according to Google's documentation. The system automatically returns campaigns to pre-adjustment performance levels once the specified event period ends. This automated reversion simplifies campaign management and reduces the risk of sustained performance impacts from temporary promotional activities.

The expansion of seasonality adjustments to App campaigns reflects Google's broader strategy of integrating sophisticated AI capabilities across advertising formats. Recent platform developments have consistently emphasized automation features and machine learning optimization tools designed to improve advertiser performance while reducing manual campaign management requirements.

Industry adoption of seasonality adjustments has grown substantially since their introduction for traditional campaign types. Analysis from PPC Land indicates majority adoption among advertisers managing major promotional events, suggesting strong potential demand for similar capabilities in mobile app advertising.

The timing of this beta release coincides with increasing complexity in mobile app marketing attribution. Recent changes to mobile privacy frameworks have complicated conversion tracking, making predictive bidding tools increasingly valuable for maintaining campaign effectiveness. Seasonality adjustments provide one mechanism for improving optimization accuracy when traditional tracking methods face limitations.

For advertisers considering implementation, Google recommends focusing on major promotional events with predictable conversion rate impacts. Minor seasonal fluctuations typically receive adequate optimization through standard Smart Bidding approaches without requiring manual adjustments. The feature works best when advertisers can accurately forecast substantial performance changes during specific timeframes.

The quiet beta launch reflects Google's approach to testing advanced features before broader rollouts. Mobile app advertising continues evolving rapidly, with new measurement challenges and optimization opportunities emerging regularly. Seasonality adjustments represent one tool in an expanding toolkit of Smart Bidding capabilities designed to address these changing requirements.

Timeline

• One week ago: Qais Haddad announces beta availability of seasonality adjustments for App campaigns through LinkedIn post
• Previously available: Seasonality adjustments supported for Search, Shopping, Display, and Performance Max campaigns
• October 2024: Google eliminates Performance Max priority over Standard Shopping campaigns, reshaping auction dynamics
• September 2025: Google unveils comprehensive AI advertising suite at Think Week 2025, including enhanced Performance Max capabilities
• September 2025: Adjust and Google Ads release web-to-app marketing handbook, addressing multi-channel attribution challenges

Summary

Who: Google has quietly released seasonality adjustments for App campaigns, announced by Qais Haddad, Team Lead - Senior App Growth Manager at Google

What: Beta expansion of seasonality adjustments Smart Bidding feature to App campaigns, allowing advertisers to inform Google's algorithms about expected conversion rate changes during promotional events

When: Feature became available one week ago through updated Google Ads user interface, with no official company announcement

Where: Available through Google Ads platform under Tools → Budgets and Bidding → Adjustments → Seasonality adjustments, supporting all App campaign bid strategies

Why: Enables mobile app marketers to optimize bidding for short-term promotional spikes, helping Smart Bidding algorithms prepare for expected conversion rate changes of +50% or more during events lasting 1-7 days