Black Friday isn’t just another sale. It’s the largest intent surge of the year.
Consumers are actively hunting for deals on multiple comparison tabs with open wallets. This creates a rare performance window for advertisers. But only if your bidding can keep up with rapid market shifts.
Google’s Smart Bidding uses machine learning to optimise every auction in real-time, factoring in signals like device, audience, location, time of day, creative intent, and more. But during Black Friday, consumer behaviour spikes beyond normal patterns, and the smartest marketers take additional control to ensure the algorithm adapts instantly.
Here’s how to power up Smart Bidding for your highest-velocity sales period:
Power Up Smart Bidding for Peak Performance
Handle Extreme Traffic Spikes
Use Manual Seasonality Adjustments for 1–7 Day Sales Surge
Historical data alone isn’t enough during short promotional windows.
Seasonality Adjustments help Smart Bidding anticipate increased demand rather than reacting too late.
When to use:
- Flash sales
- Limited-time offers
- Deep discount days (like Black Friday)
What it does:
- Temporarily boosts conversion rate predictions
- Keeps bids competitive during peak buying moments
Pro Tip: Remove the adjustment once the sale ends to prevent overbidding.
Optimise Targets But Stay Gradual
Adjust tROAS or tCPA by 10–20% increments
Large target changes can shock Smart Bidding and hurt performance at the worst time.
Improve flexibility by:
- Slightly lowering tCPA to drive more volume
- Gradually increasing tROAS to maintain efficiency
Pro Tip: Monitor best-selling categories. Scale them faster while maintaining margins.
Drive Omnichannel Sales
Use Omnichannel Bidding to Win Both Online + In-Store
Over 50% of Black Friday shoppers still visit stores after researching online.
Omnichannel conversion data ensures Smart Bidding doesn’t undervalue clicks that lead to in-store revenue.
Benefits:
- Captures the full value of demand
- Better signals = smarter bidding efficiency
- Stronger bidding for high-intent shoppers near stores
Pro Tip: If local inventory ads are active, this is a must.
Budget Early, Spend Smart
Use Performance Planner + Campaign Total Budgets
You don’t want to go dark at noon on your biggest revenue day.
Performance Planner helps you:
- Forecast demand surges and spending requirements
- Model outcomes before adjusting targets or budgets
Campaign Total Budgets help you:
- Ensure spend covers your full sale duration
- Avoid early-day overspend driven by high morning intent
Pro Tip: Budget mismanagement is one of the biggest Black Friday revenue killers. Don’t let it be yours.
Maximise ROI with PMax + Search
The winning combo for full-funnel coverage
Performance Max excels at finding incremental demand across channels like Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, and Maps, even before shoppers openly express intent.
Strategy for Black Friday:
- PMax: Capture early browsing + discovery signals
- Search: Win high-intent deal-seeking queries
- Shared audiences: Faster and stronger AI optimisation
Pro Tip: Add value-based bidding to prioritise higher-profit products.
Google Answers: Top 5 Smart Bidding Questions
Google recently answered your top five questions so you can smash Q4 sales with Smart Bidding.
How can I prep for the massive traffic spike during the sales?
Don’t turn off Smart Bidding. Use Seasonality Adjustments for short and high-traffic events (under 7 days).
Will it drive better performance?
Yes. On average, advertisers who use omnichannel smart bidding with store conversions see a 31% increase in offline conversions at a similar cost.
Will changing targets mid-sale trigger a learning period?
No. Adjusting ROAS/CPA targets causes minor, real-time fluctuations, not a full learning phase.
How do I ensure Smart Bidding doesn’t prioritise online sales?
Use Omnichannel Bidding. Set up store visit conversions and assign a monetary value to them.
When should the budget and target planning start?
Now. Before the season begins. Use tools like Performance Planner to forecast optimal budgets and targets.
Black Friday Smart Bidding Checklist
Add Seasonality Adjustments for the sale duration
- Priority: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Owner: Paid Media Lead
Adjust CPA/ROAS targets (10–20%)
- Priority: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Owner: Optimisation Manager
Activate Omnichannel Bidding
- Priority: ⭐⭐⭐
- Owner: Measurement Lead
Run Performance Planner forecasting
- Priority: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Owner: Strategist
Final QA: Budgets, conversion tracking & product feed health
- Priority: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Owner: Everyone
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
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