Every season brings different search behaviors, different purchase intent, different competitive situations, and those who don't adapt their Google Ads accordingly either waste budget or miss profitable peaks.
This guide focuses on the summer season (May–September) but provides a framework for year-round seasonal optimization.
Why Seasonal Adjustments Matter So Much
From my practice: search volume can swing strongly depending on the season, and in some niches it moves between quiet phases and peaks by a multiple. Those who run fixed budgets and fixed campaign settings all year round pay too much per click during peaks and too much for too little traffic during slow periods.
What Changes in Summer
Industries that boom in summer:
- Tourism, travel, holiday rentals
- Outdoor restaurants, ice cream shops, events
- Garden equipment, pool accessories, air conditioning
- Sun protection, outdoor clothing
- Catering for summer parties
- Weddings and events
Industries that weaken in summer:
- B2B software (decision-makers on holiday)
- Heating/plumbing (emergency keywords remain, installation drops)
- Schools, further education (except summer courses)
- Office supplies, business equipment
Setting Up Seasonal Adjustments in Google Ads
Method 1: Control Budget and Campaigns by Date
Google Ads has no bid adjustments for fixed calendar periods: the ad schedule only knows days of the week and times of day. For a season, you work with budget, campaign structure and rules instead:
Option A: Separate seasonal campaign with start and end date
- e.g. 1 July to 31 August for tourism keywords
- own budget, own ad copy
Option B: Change the budget with an automated rule
- Tools → Rules → budget rule with frequency "Once"
- e.g. budget +30% on 1 July, back on 1 September
- with manual CPC, this also works for bids on a set date
Option C: Pause instead of bidding down
- Pause B2B campaigns from 24 to 26 December with a rule
and re-enable them afterwards
How to plan a longer seasonal break with two one-time rules, and why you don't need to cancel your account for it, is covered in the post Pause, cancel or delete a Google Ads account.
With Smart Bidding, a whole season usually needs no bid intervention: the algorithm learns recurring patterns from your data. For short exceptions, there's Method 2.
Method 2: Seasonal Adjustments Feature
This feature tells Smart Bidding that an unusual event is approaching.
When to use:
- Short, predictable peaks with a clearly different conversion rate (e.g. a Black Friday weekend)
- Large promotions or discount campaigns (e.g. a flash sale)
- Events or trade shows
How to set up:
- Tools → Budgets and bidding → Adjustments → Seasonal (available for Search, Shopping and Display campaigns with Target CPA or Target ROAS, and for Performance Max and App campaigns (beta) with all bid strategies)
- Enter time period and expected conversion rate change
- E.g.: "Summer promo weekend: 3 days, +20% conversion rate expected" (example value, derive your own from past promotions)
Important: According to Google's help pages, seasonality adjustments work best for short periods of about 1 to 7 days and become less accurate beyond 14 days. A whole summer season is therefore not a use case: Smart Bidding already accounts for recurring seasons through your historical data. That data is only as good as your conversion tracking. For lasting trends, adjust your Target CPA instead.
How I plan seasonality adjustments, budgets and promotions specifically for Black Friday is covered in my Google Ads plan for Black Friday 2026.
Method 3: Ad Scheduling
Analyze when your target audience behaves differently in summer:
- Are your customers more active at weekends? (Hospitality, events, leisure)
- Do the active hours shift? (Outdoor activities earlier in the morning)
- Do mobile users buy more on holiday? (Travel, experiences)
Summer Strategy by Industry
E-Commerce: Preparing for Summer Season
April–May: Preparation phase
- Build summer collections with new campaigns
- Research seasonal keywords (e.g., "garden chair", "BBQ accessories", "sunscreen")
- Update Shopping campaigns with summer product feed
June–August: Peak phase
- Increase budget (in my experience roughly +20% to +80%, depending on industry)
- Seasonal ad copy with summer references
- Countdown timers for limited summer promotions
September: Transition phase
- Gradually reduce budget
- Start autumn keywords
- Push remaining summer collection stock
Hospitality: Using the Outdoor Season
Additional summer campaigns:
- "Beer garden [city]"
- "Terrace restaurant near me"
- "Open air event restaurant"
- "BBQ evening restaurant"
- "Summer party catering"
B2B / Consulting: Working Against the Trend
In my experience many B2B advertisers cut budgets in summer, which can mean less competition and cheaper clicks for those who stay active. Which competitors still advertised last summer is something the Ads Transparency Center shows you with a custom date range.
Strategy: Don't drastically reduce budget during holidays, instead focus on:
- Decision-makers working from home (more flexible hours)
- Q3/Q4 budget planning (decision-makers use quieter times for planning)
- Industries without a summer slump
Tourism & Travel: Start Early
When do people search for summer holidays?
Typical patterns from my practice (check them for your keywords in Google Trends):
- Family holidays: Booking peak January–March (6 months in advance)
- Short breaks/city trips: 4–8 weeks in advance
- Last-minute: 1–2 weeks before departure
Seasonal Ad Copy Examples
Hospitality in Summer
Headline 1: "Sunny Terrace in [City]" Headline 2: "Book an Outdoor Table Now" Headline 3: "Beer Garden Daily From 11am"
E-Commerce Summer Sale
Headline 1: "Summer Sale: Up to 40% Off" Headline 2: "Free Delivery Over £50" Headline 3: "Only 3 Days Left. Shop Now"
Tourism / Holiday Home
Headline 1: "Last Available Weeks in August" Headline 2: "Holiday Cottage by the Sea" Headline 3: "Book Instantly. No Risk"
Budget Planning: Seasonal Annual Distribution
| Month | Budget Index | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | Post-Christmas, sale phase |
| February | 80% | Valentine's Day, spring beginning |
| March–April | 85–90% | Spring season, Easter |
| May | 100% | Mother's Day, full season |
| June–August | 95–100% | Summer peak |
| September | 85% | Return from holiday, autumn begins |
| October | 90% | Autumn season |
| November | 120% | Black Friday, early Christmas |
| December | 150% | Christmas peak |
Table scrolls sideways
Base 100% = your regular monthly budget
The specific dates for 2027 in Germany, from Easter on 28 March to Black Friday on 26 November, are in the seasonal calendar of my Google Ads annual planning for 2027.
Using Google Trends as a Planning Tool
Free and powerful tool: Google Trends (trends.google.com)
How to use it for seasonal planning:
- Analyze historical trends: enter keyword, time period "Last 5 years"
- Compare regions: where do people search for your keywords most?
- Related queries: which related searches are rising? Discover new keywords before competition does
Seasonal Campaign Optimization Checklist
2 months before the season:
- Google Trends analyzed for all main keywords
- Budget plan for the season created
- New seasonal keywords identified
- Landing pages with seasonal content prepared
1 month before the season:
- New seasonal campaigns/ad groups created
- Seasonal ad copy created and activated
- Budget rules planned, seasonality adjustments set up for short peaks
- Budget increased/redistributed
During the season:
- Daily KPI monitoring
- Quick response to budget over/underspend
- A/B tests for seasonal ads active
Conclusion
Seasonal optimization isn't a "nice-to-have". In my experience it's one of the biggest levers for ROAS improvements in Google Ads. Those who anticipate rather than react have a better chance of winning the most profitable auctions at lower prices.
The key: plan early, use historical data, flexibly adjust budget and targeting.
Want to plan your seasonal Google Ads strategy? Book a free 20-minute intro call: you tell me about your season, and I'll give you an honest take on where I would start.
