Google Ads PM: target or budget changes on steady campaigns trigger no learning period

Google Ads product manager Tal Akabas said in an Ads Decoded podcast episode published on 15 October 2026 that changing the target or the budget of an existing, steady-state campaign does not trigger a learning period, because the bidding system scales bids in proportion to the change using data it already holds. In the same episode, Akabas and host Ginny Marvin, Google's Ads Product Liaison, gave rollout status for promotion mode, a new reporting-only mode for new customer acquisition, a re-engagement-only mode in Performance Max, loyalty mode and the missed opportunities report.

What Google said about learning periods on 15 October

The claim came about 25 minutes into the Ads Decoded episode on the Google Ads YouTube channel, titled "How to guide campaign spend with Google Ads budget and bidding controls". Marvin asked what does and does not affect a learning period. Akabas said there is "a lot of misinformation" on the subject and then set out Google's position.

According to Akabas, when an advertiser changes the target CPA, target ROAS or budget of an existing campaign that is in a steady state, there "isn't actually a learning period". He said the Google Ads back end scales bids directly in proportion to the target change, and that Google already has the data "in the landscapes" to do so. His practical advice was that advertisers can change bids or targets on an existing campaign with confidence that nothing resets in the back end.

He drew a clear line for new campaigns. For a net-new campaign with no prior information, Akabas said some learning period can take place at the outset, because each new campaign may have different goals, assets and targeting. He added that Google is working to share information across campaigns within an account so that new campaigns can learn from existing ones.

What the episode did not say

The statement was made verbally and Google did not present data, test results or a written policy change alongside it in the episode. Akabas did not define "steady state", did not say whether there is a size limit on a target change beyond which the answer changes, and did not address other kinds of edits, such as switching bid strategy, changing conversion goals, adding assets or altering targeting. Readers should treat the answer as covering target and budget edits on established campaigns only, which is all it explicitly covered. Google's own help article on the duration of the learning period still lists a bid strategy setting change as one reason a "Learning" status may appear, and says ad group target changes may trigger it on Shopping campaigns in some cases.

This is a newer and more specific statement than the general learning-period guidance in Relevant Audience's earlier explainer on choosing bidding strategies. That piece described learning periods as Google documents them; the podcast adds a Google product manager's on-record position that target and budget edits on established campaigns are not a trigger.

How Google says to start a new campaign

Marvin raised the related question of "cold start" bidding: whether advertisers who care about conversions should still open a new campaign on Maximize Clicks. Akabas said he would generally start in Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value and move straight to conversion-based bidding. If an advertiser does not know what target to set for a new campaign, he suggested starting without a target, watching the reported cost per acquisition or return, and then switching to a target-based strategy to add a constraint once there is data.

For promotions, he described one way to handle the new-campaign learning window: launch the campaign, let it ramp up for a couple of days before the promotional period begins, and make sure it is in a steady state when the promotion starts.

Promotion mode is leaving beta on Search and Performance Max

On promotion mode, Akabas said in the 15 October episode that Google had the feature in beta, had been iterating on it with advertisers, and that it was rolling out "just now", which he thought meant that week, on Search and Performance Max campaigns. He did not give an exact general availability date or say which markets are included.

As described in the episode, promotion mode lets an advertiser schedule a promotional period for a campaign in the Google Ads interface, including the budget and bidding change and how long it should last. During that period, Google's back end ramps the campaign up faster and switches on Smart Bidding Exploration so the campaign can pick up incremental traffic. Akabas said it can be used on an existing steady-state campaign, which avoids starting a new campaign that has to learn, or on a new campaign that uses campaign total budgets.

Marvin reminded listeners that campaign total budgets cannot be turned on in an existing campaign; they are for new campaigns only. Akabas described pairing a dedicated holiday campaign that uses a total budget with promotion mode as a strong option when the promotion starts some days after launch.

Smart Bidding Exploration and uncapped budgets

Marvin said Smart Bidding Exploration, already available in Search and Performance Max, is now rolling out to Performance Max campaigns that have a product feed attached, and is coming to Shopping campaigns. Akabas described the feature as looking for incremental auctions, keywords and queries a campaign is not serving on today, within a small ROAS tolerance. Asked whether it needs uncapped budgets, he answered yes: without room in the budget, the system will stay on the auctions it already serves.

Customer lifecycle goals: new modes and their status

The episode also gave a status update on Google's customer lifecycle goals. The table below summarises the rollout statements made on 15 October 2026, as spoken in the episode.

New customer acquisition gets a reporting-only option

Akabas said new customer acquisition already had two modes: value mode, where the advertiser tells Google how much more a new customer is worth, and new-customer-only mode, where a budget is dedicated to new customers. He said Google has now launched a third, long-requested option, a reporting-only mode, which shows new customer reporting inside Google Ads without the advertiser having to enable the feature, which he said was required in the past. He said it was rolling out at the time of recording.

He added that Google has made more than 20 back-end quality launches this year on new customer matching technology and on predicting, per auction, whether a user is a new or existing customer. He said this still depends on refreshed Customer Match lists and on conversion tracking or offline imports, and that new diagnostics and recommendations in the interface show whether an account is set up to track new customers correctly.

Retention: win-back, re-engagement-only and loyalty

For existing customers, Akabas described three options. Win-back mode, already available in Performance Max and Search, lets advertisers bid higher for segments such as lapsed customers. Re-engagement-only mode lets advertisers supply a list of churned or disengaged customers and have the campaign focus its budget on them; he said it was launching that week in Performance Max and would come to Search and Shopping soon, ahead of the holidays. Loyalty mode, which pairs a loyalty list with differential bidding or promotional pricing shown on product listing ads, has launched to general availability in Performance Max and Shopping.

Choosing between targets and budgets as the lever

Referring to Google's recent bidding change, Akabas framed bid strategy choice as a simple decision. If an advertiser has a return constraint backed by real financial data, use target CPA or target ROAS and move the target up or down to trade reach against efficiency. If the advertiser has a fixed budget without a constraint and wants the most conversions or value for it, use Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value, with the budget as the lever.

On seasonality adjustments, he said advertisers do not necessarily need them for big, known events such as the holiday period, because the system already sees those patterns year over year. He described them as an advanced tool for new information the system cannot know, for example a promotion much larger than last year's, or an off-cycle sale before Black Friday or after Cyber Monday.

Demand-led budgeting and the missed opportunities report

Akabas defined demand-led budgeting as leaving budget available so campaigns can show up when consumer demand shifts within a day, a month or a promotion, while efficiency is governed by targets. He said it does not necessarily mean spending more. Shared budgets were one tool he named for giving the system flexibility across campaigns.

For planning, Marvin pointed to the missed opportunities report in the Recommendations tab. Akabas said it shows when a campaign missed opportunities and that its data reaches back far enough to review the last holiday season. He also said Performance Planner will add, over the coming months and quarters, ways to forecast the effect of adopting features such as AI Max, and that a second version of the recommended investment strategy tool, which can now suggest reallocations and filter by conversion goal or campaign, is rolling out.

The episode opened with channel prioritization and budget allocation, which Relevant Audience has already covered. The one new detail was timing: Akabas said the back-end logic that limits Display Network spend on Search campaigns will not be removed until around February or March next year, and that a "match my current settings" option will let advertisers mirror today's behaviour.

What this means for Thai marketers

For Thai advertisers heading into 11.11, 12.12 and year-end sales, Google's 15 October statement means target and budget edits on established campaigns should not trigger a learning period. A sensible way to act on it is to check rather than assume: make the change, note the date, and compare the following days with the period before it in your own account, including the bid strategy status column.

Google did not say which countries promotion mode, re-engagement-only mode or the new-customer reporting option reach first, so Thai accounts should look in the interface rather than plan around a date. Advertisers who run sales on Performance Max with a product feed should also check whether Smart Bidding Exploration is now offered, and whether their budgets leave room for it. Teams that want help setting targets, lifecycle goals and promotion schedules can read more about Relevant Audience's Google Ads management; retailers planning feed-based campaigns may find the ecommerce marketing service relevant; and accurate conversion values, which Akabas called the foundation for all of this, depend on clean measurement such as a well-configured GA4 setup.

FAQ

Does changing target CPA or target ROAS reset the learning period?

No, according to Google product manager Tal Akabas on 15 October 2026, changing the target or budget of an existing steady-state campaign does not trigger a learning period. He said bids are scaled in proportion to the change using data Google already has. He did not cover other edits such as switching bid strategy.

Do new campaigns still have a learning period?

Yes, Akabas said a net-new campaign without prior information can have some learning period at the outset. His suggestion for promotions was to launch a new campaign a couple of days before the sale starts so it reaches a steady state first.

Is promotion mode available in Thailand?

The episode did not say. Akabas said promotion mode was rolling out on Search and Performance Max that week, without naming markets, so check the campaign settings in your own account.

What is the new reporting-only mode for new customers?

It is a third new customer acquisition option that shows new customer reporting in Google Ads without having to enable new customer acquisition bidding. Akabas said in the 15 October episode 2026 that it was rolling out at the time of recording.

Do I need seasonality adjustments for 11.11 or 12.12?

Akabas did not discuss Thai sale dates, but his general guidance was that big recurring events are already understood by the system. He described seasonality adjustments as a tool for promotions that are unusually large or off-cycle compared with past years.

The short version: Google is telling advertisers that target and budget edits on established campaigns are safe to make, and it is rolling out promotion and lifecycle controls ahead of the holiday peak. If you would like a second opinion on how these controls fit your account, Relevant Audience's Google Ads team is happy to talk it through.