Short answer: Seasonality adjustments tell Smart Bidding that you expect conversion rates to change for a short period, such as a 3 day flash sale, so it can bid differently right away instead of waiting to learn. Data exclusions tell Smart Bidding to ignore data from days when tracking was broken. Both are found under bid strategy advanced controls. Use them only for short, unusual events. For normal seasons like holidays that repeat every year, Smart Bidding usually adjusts on its own.
Why they exist
Smart Bidding predicts conversion rates from past data. A sudden short event, like a weekend sale with a big discount, can push conversion rates up far faster than the system can learn. A tracking outage can make it think conversions dropped to zero. These tools correct for both.
Seasonality adjustments
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Best for | Short events, ideally 1 to 7 days |
| What you enter | Dates, campaigns or campaign types, and the expected change in conversion rate |
| Example | A 2 day sale where you expect conversion rate to rise by 40% |
| Not for | Regular seasons such as normal Christmas or Eid trends that repeat every year |
Google recommends them for short periods. Long adjustments are less reliable, because Smart Bidding adapts on its own over longer periods.
Data exclusions
Use a data exclusion when:
- Your conversion tag broke and conversions were not recorded
- Conversions were counted twice by mistake
- A website outage stopped sales for a period
Enter the dates and the affected campaigns. Smart Bidding will ignore conversion data from that period when it learns.
Where to find them
Open Tools, then Shared library, then Bid strategies, and choose Advanced controls. You will see tabs for seasonality adjustments and data exclusions.
Tips
- Estimate the conversion rate change from past events of the same kind.
- Apply only to the campaigns affected by the sale.
- Do not stack adjustments with big budget or target changes at the same time.
- Add a data exclusion as soon as you notice broken tracking.
- Keep notes of every adjustment for future planning.
Frequently asked questions
What is a seasonality adjustment in Google Ads?
How long should a seasonality adjustment last?
Should I use seasonality adjustments for Christmas or Eid?
What is a data exclusion?
Where do I find these settings?
Who can manage Smart Bidding during sales for my account?
Planning a big sale?
I can prepare your campaigns, bidding and tracking before the event. See my Google Ads management service or request a free ads audit. Also read Google Ads Target ROAS and Google Ads bidding strategies.