Online store advertising during peak season: a practical guide for businesses with Google Ads

In 2025, consumer behavior, retail competition, and the role of promotions have changed enough to impact the entire structure of peak season planning. Marketing teams operate in an environment of lower margins, cost pressures, and high price sensitivity. This requires a systematic approach to managing Performance Max campaigns and product advertising.

This article summarizes best practices from Google and advice from UAMASTER experts. They allow businesses to maintain control over performance and use peak season as an opportunity for growth, not a period of increased risk.

Season 2025: The New Reality of Consumer Behavior

Focus on Value and Benefit

According to Google, shoppers in Europe are showing a strong inclination toward value-driven decisions. In Central European markets, consumer sentiment toward spending remains pessimistic. In Ukraine, due to the war and inflation, price sensitivity is even higher — though price is no longer the only decisive factor. Consumers compare more than ever, start their journey without brand loyalty, and expect:

• competitive pricing,
• transparent and fair conditions,
• fast delivery,
• positive reviews and trust in the seller,
• easy product returns.

This directly affects advertising performance and shapes the requirements for product feeds and promotional strategies.

Peak Demand Is Shifting Earlier

Google’s data shows that Q4 demand spikes are now happening sooner. “Fake Friday” has become a familiar phenomenon. Consumers start researching and choosing deals well in advance, while Black Friday and Cyber Monday are only part of a broader seasonal wave.

For businesses, this means:
campaigns and promotions must be prepared earlier than in previous years.

Strategic Principles for Managing Performance Max During Peak Season

Campaign Structure Aligned With Business Goals

A single campaign covering the entire product range results in a loss of control.
To manage profitability effectively, segmentation is required:

• by margin level,
• by business priorities,
• by seasonality,
• by product types or audiences.

This approach enables the use of different target ROAS levels and ensures more precise investment control.
The most convenient way to implement segmentation is through custom labels within a unified product feed, or, if necessary, by creating several separate feeds.

Flexible Budgeting as a Key Success Factor

During peak days, demand increases sharply. If a campaign is restricted by budget, the algorithm:

• lowers bids,
• loses impression share,
• misses the most valuable conversions.

Google recommends demand-driven budgeting.
A flexible budget paired with a stable ROAS allows advertisers to capture the maximum amount of profitable traffic.

Even a 10–15% additional budget allocation helps secure growth and avoid losing evening peak hours.

Bid Management Through Simulators and Performance Planner

In 2025, Performance Planner delivers significantly more accurate forecasting. It enables advertisers to:

• forecast volumes for 90 days,
• plan budgets for peak dates,
• evaluate how changes in ROAS impact conversion volumes.

Recommendation:
Review planning scenarios weekly in November and December to adjust strategy according to expected demand.

Product Feed Optimization: The Foundation of Efficiency

Feed data directly affects:

• auction visibility,
• product relevance to search queries,
• CTR,
• CPC,
• Performance Max campaign throughput.

Data Quality

A strong feed includes:

• correct GTIN, brand, and MPN,
• precise titles with attributes (material, gender, color, product type),
• clean images without text or logos,
• consistent price, currency, and availability,
• structured markup on the website.

Any mismatch between the feed and the website may lead to disapprovals or account-level restrictions

Price Annotations and Promotion Attributes

Annotations such as sale price, price drop, and promotion increase CTR by 5–10% and have a positive impact on auction ranking.

Before peak periods, businesses should:

• add the sale_price attribute for relevant products,
• activate the promotion feed,
• segment holiday products using dedicated labels.

Monitoring Competitors’ Promotions

Merchant Center provides analytics on:

• price competitiveness within the category,
• active competitor promotions,
• pricing recommendations.

This helps identify products where higher prices reduce competitiveness.

Peak Periods and Behavioral Waves in November–December

November: Triple Peak

Key days in November include:

• Fake Friday,
• the Sunday before Black Friday,
• Black Friday,
• Cyber Sunday,
• Cyber Monday.

If campaigns are not prepared for evening spikes or stop due to budget limitations, the business loses the highest-quality traffic of the year.

December: Sales Remain Strong Even After Christmas

Google and Mastercard report:

• strong mobile traffic between December 26–31,
• high demand driven by gift card redemptions,
• a ~3% decrease in CPC compared with November.

Recommendation:
Do not pause campaigns in December and avoid setting excessively high ROAS targets to prevent losing profitable sales.

Omnichannel Strategy: Integrating Online and Offline Retail

With 80% of retail sales occurring offline, Performance Max enables businesses to:

• display local product availability,
• communicate in-store stock status,
• increase intent via Google Maps,
• optimize campaigns for store visits.

This provides an additional conversion channel during periods when shipping deadlines are too tight before Christmas.

Risk Management: Technical and Operational Errors

Common Causes of Disapprovals

• price mismatches between the feed and website,
• product page errors,
• rejected images,
• incorrect promotions,
• pages unavailable for crawling.

Practical Steps

• upload updated feeds 3–5 days before major sales,
• avoid changing content based on user IP,
• validate Schema Markup,
• disable auto-update during technical maintenance,
• monitor offer availability in Merchant Center.

How Businesses Can Maximize Peak Season Performance

Plan promotions and campaigns in advance
Feed updates, creatives, and bidding strategies should be finalized before early November.

Align spending with demand, not budget restrictions
Budget flexibility determines impression share and volume of profitable sales.

Segment products by value

• High-margin products → lower target ROAS.
• Low-margin products → separate bidding strategy.

Use annotations and local promotions
Badges improve CTR and support higher conversion rates.

Monitor price competitiveness
Feed + price analytics + promotions = stronger auction performance.

Maintain creative relevance throughout the season
Refresh after BFCM, prepare for Christmas, and plan January sales assets.

Leverage Performance Max insights
Track recommendations, asset group statuses, and impression losses due to budget constraints.

Conclusion

Peak Season 2025 extends far beyond Black Friday. It represents a prolonged wave of demand that begins earlier and lasts longer. In such an environment, businesses need a structured system built upon:

• high-quality product feeds,
• flexible budgeting,
• price competitiveness monitoring,
• effective annotations and promotions,
• consistent bidding strategies,
• accurate planning of key dates,
• readiness for increased online and offline traffic.

Managing Google Shopping and Performance Max during peak season is not about reacting to changes — it requires preparation, control, and established processes that enable predictable results even on the most competitive days of the year.

Read this article in Ukrainian.