An annual plan by quarter combines three layers: your sector’s demand (seasons, holidays, events), platform dates (for example 31 January 2027 for the 500 x 500 minimum in Merchant Center and February for DSA, call-only ads and Display in Search) and your capacity and budget. Holiday and commercial season dates vary by year and should be confirmed by you; this article doesn’t fix them. Use past demand (your last 37 months of daily data in Google Ads, according to a compilation) to see where demand rises and falls.
Why plan by quarter
A quarterly plan is long enough to see trends and short enough to adjust. It helps align budget with demand, prepare creatives and pages in time, avoid changes in peak seasons and align teams. Without a plan, each season catches the company by surprise.
The plan is a living document: reviewed monthly, adjusted quarterly.
Layer 1: your sector's demand
Use your data from the last 24 to 36 months to see in which months demand rises and falls: searches, visits, contacts, sales. Add sector events, holidays, school holidays and commercial seasons, confirming each year’s dates. Each business has its own calendar: tourism, retail, services, B2B, training, health.
Your data is worth more than any generic calendar.
2027 campaign plan by quarter
- Q1: review, February changes and tests
- Q2: spring seasons and April review
- Q3: summer, back to school and autumn preparation
- Q4: Black Friday, Christmas and contingencies
- Shared sheet, reviewed every month
Layer 2: the known platform dates
31 January 2027: 500 x 500 minimum in Merchant Center images (PPC News Feed). 15 January: official DSA reminder. February: DSA to AI Max, end of call-only ads and end of the current Display allocation in Search (Relevant Audience’s compilation and Google’s blog). Demand Gen requires 5 dollars a day since 1 April 2026 (PPC Land). Add new dates as announced.
They’re partly from secondary sources: confirm.
Layer 3: budget and capacity
For each quarter, define the maximum budget margin supports, capacity to serve more demand and expected number of contacts or sales. If capacity is fixed (clinics, schools, accommodation), extra demand doesn’t help. If flexible (shops), plan logistics and stock.
An ad plan that ignores capacity fails in execution.
Your history is the best forecast. Export it before the window passes.
Plan template: first and second quarters
Q1: review, data export, preparation of the February changes, start-of-year offers, tests (AI Max, creatives). Q2: your sector’s spring seasons (confirm dates), higher-investment campaigns if demand rises, formal review in April, summer preparation.
Adapt to your business: accommodation plans summer from January.
Plan template: third and fourth quarters
Q3: summer and back to school, according to sector; maintenance and tests in calm periods; autumn preparation. Q4: Black Friday and Christmas (plan from September), payments contingency, clean feed and images, shipping deadlines, next-year preparation. In 2026, Black Friday is 27 November; confirm 2027 dates.
The last quarter decides the year for many shops.
How to use the historical data you have
Google Ads keeps daily data for 37 months, according to Relevant Audience’s compilation. Export it before the window passes and use it to see your business’s real seasonality: strong weeks, weak months, holiday effect. Compare year to year, not month to month. If you changed offer or price, note it.
Your history is the best forecast.
The plan sheet: columns and owners
One row per month, with columns: expected demand (high, medium, low), platform dates, sector events, budget, offers, creatives and pages to prepare, owner and status. Review once a month. Share with the PPC manager and the sales team.
A shared plan aligns the team.
Summary and questions for your manager
Summary: three layers (demand, platforms, capacity), a plan per quarter, exported historical data, confirmed dates and a shared sheet. Questions: do we have a plan for 2027? Which platform dates are included? Which historical data did we use? Who maintains the plan?
If you want to build the 2027 campaign plan, with your demand and platform dates, I can help create the template.
Summary in three lines
Plan 2027 by quarter combining your sector’s demand, platform dates (31 January, February) and your capacity. Confirm holiday and season dates, export historical data and keep a shared sheet reviewed monthly.
An illustrative example: an accommodation in the Algarve
An accommodation in the Algarve analyses three years of data: summer demand begins to rise in March, foreigners’ early booking happens from January to April, and autumn has weekend demand. The example is hypothetical. It plans early booking campaigns in January and February, budget reinforcement in March and April, and off-season offers in October, always with the reference price rule.
The plan is born from data, not from a generic calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start planning Black Friday 2027?
From September, with feed, prices and budget. Confirm the 2027 date.
Which platform dates are already known for 2027?
31 January (Merchant Center images) and February (DSA, call-only ads, Display in Search), according to the sources cited. Confirm.
How do I know when my demand rises?
With your historical data (searches, visits, contacts, sales) from the last 24 to 36 months.
Sources consulted
- Relevant Audience: Google Ads deprecations 2026 and 2027, the full timeline
- PPC News Feed: Merchant Center, low image quality no longer stops products from showing
- PPC Land: Google to enforce 5 dollar minimum daily budget on Demand Gen campaigns from April
- ECO: O que falta à publicidade em Portugal? Só 0,33% do PIB é investido
Keep reading
- January 2027 for advertisers: year review, sales and a first-quarter plan with the February changes
- Christmas 2026 in campaigns: calendar, shipping deadlines, gift cards and how to avoid surprises after Black Friday
- Black Friday 2026 for services (clinics, schools, restaurants): offers, vouchers, deadlines and how to advertise without misleading