Running Google Ads in a competitive city like Los Angeles requires more than just good copy and targeting — timing plays a major role. With high ad competition and a diverse audience, showing your ads at the right time can significantly increase click-through rates and lower your cost-per-click. This is where ad scheduling comes in. By aligning your ad run times with when your target audience is most active, you ensure your budget is spent more effectively. In this post, we’ll break down how to manage Google Ads run times specifically for the Los Angeles market, including time zone settings, analyzing user behavior, and optimizing schedules for better performance.
Understanding Ad Scheduling in Google Ads
Ad scheduling in Google Ads allows you to control when your ads appear — down to specific hours and days of the week. This feature is especially useful if your business sees variable traffic throughout the day or if your services are only available during certain hours.
To access ad scheduling:
- Go to your Google Ads campaign.
- Click on the “Ad Schedule” tab in the left-hand menu.
- Set the days and times you want your ads to run.
By default, Google Ads will show your ads 24/7. If you don’t change this setting, your ads may run during low-performing hours, wasting budget. Ad scheduling not only limits run times but also allows you to apply bid adjustments — increasing or decreasing bids depending on the time of day.
In a city like Los Angeles, where user activity can spike at non-standard hours, this level of control can directly impact your campaign’s ROI. Proper scheduling helps you capture the right audience at the right moment while avoiding ad spend during hours with low conversion potential.
Setting the Right Time Zone for Los Angeles
Before adjusting your ad schedule, make sure your Google Ads account is set to the correct time zone — Pacific Time (PT) for Los Angeles. This is critical because once your account is created, the time zone cannot be changed. All ad scheduling, reporting, and billing are tied to the time zone selected during account setup.
If your account isn’t in Pacific Time and you want to target Los Angeles precisely, you have two options:
- Create a new Google Ads account with the correct time zone (PT).
- Manually calculate time differences when setting your ad schedule — not recommended due to complexity and risk of error.
For accurate ad delivery, always match your campaign scheduling with local user behavior in the Pacific Time zone. Even a few hours of mismatch can result in showing ads at irrelevant times, leading to wasted spend or missed high-performance windows.
Analyzing Los Angeles User Behavior
To schedule ads effectively in Los Angeles, you need to understand when your target audience is most active. Use both Google Ads reports and Google Analytics to analyze performance trends based on time of day and day of week.
Here’s how to gather useful data:
- In Google Ads:
Navigate to your campaign > “Segments” > “Time” > choose “Hour of day” or “Day of week.” This shows you when users are clicking and converting. - In Google Analytics (GA4):
Look at “User activity over time” in the Traffic Acquisition report. Filter by location (Los Angeles) and evaluate peak activity hours.
Common patterns in the LA market include:
- Early mornings (7 AM – 9 AM) and late evenings (8 PM – 11 PM) often show higher engagement for mobile users.
- Weekends may perform better for local services, especially in food, entertainment, and home services.
- Weekday lunch hours (12 PM – 2 PM) can also be effective for B2B or appointment-based businesses.
Every niche is different, so don’t rely on general trends alone. Use at least 2–4 weeks of data to identify reliable behavioral patterns and align your ad schedule with high-performing time windows.
Configuring Ad Schedule Settings
Once you’ve identified when your audience in Los Angeles is most active, it’s time to adjust your ad schedule in Google Ads to match those insights.
Step-by-Step: Setting Your Ad Schedule
- Go to your campaign in Google Ads.
- In the left-hand menu, click “Ad Schedule.”
- Click the blue pencil icon to create a custom schedule.
- Choose the days and specific time ranges you want your ads to run.
- Save your schedule.
You can set your ads to run only during business hours, peak engagement times, or any combination that suits your goals.
Bid Adjustments by Time Slot
Use ad schedule bid adjustments to increase or decrease your bids based on performance data. For example:
- Increase bids by +20% during 8 AM–11 AM if that window brings the most conversions.
- Decrease bids or turn off ads during 1 AM–6 AM if conversions are low or cost-per-click is high.
To set bid adjustments:
- Go to “Ad Schedule” in your campaign.
- Click on the row for the specific time/day.
- Use the “Bid adj.” column to raise or lower the bid percentage.
Pausing Ads During Low-Performing Hours
If your data shows consistently low ROI during certain hours, it’s often best to exclude those times entirely. This avoids wasted budget and keeps your ads visible only when there’s meaningful user intent.
Fine-tuning these settings based on actual performance helps improve click quality, reduce cost per acquisition, and stretch your ad dollars further in the highly competitive Los Angeles market.
Monitoring and Optimizing Over Time
Ad scheduling isn’t a one-time setup — it requires regular monitoring and adjustments to stay effective, especially in a dynamic market like Los Angeles.
Review Performance Weekly
Log in to Google Ads at least once a week and check performance by time and day:
- Go to your campaign > click “Segments” > choose “Time” > “Hour of day” or “Day of week.”
- Focus on metrics like CTR, Conversion Rate, and Cost per Conversion.
If certain time slots underperform or outperform expectations, adjust your schedule or bid modifiers accordingly.
Use A/B Testing with Time Blocks
Try running different schedules in separate campaigns or ad groups to test which time slots produce the best ROI. Example:
- Campaign A runs 8 AM – 2 PM
- Campaign B runs 2 PM – 10 PM
After 2–3 weeks, compare results and shift budget toward the better-performing schedule.
Adjust for Seasonality and Local Events
In Los Angeles, activity patterns can shift due to holidays, seasonal business cycles, or large local events (e.g., sports, concerts, festivals). Monitor spikes or drops in activity and temporarily modify your ad schedule if needed.
Don’t Forget Device and Location Layers
Combine ad scheduling data with device and geo-performance:
- Do mobile users convert more during evening hours?
- Are certain LA neighborhoods (based on zip code targeting) performing better at different times?
Fine-tuning your ad schedule based on layered data helps maximize visibility and conversions while cutting down on ad waste.
Conclusion
Managing when your Google Ads appear in the Los Angeles market is essential to staying competitive and efficient with your ad spend. By setting the right schedule, analyzing local behavior, and continuously optimizing, you can reach the right audience at the right time. If you need expert help fine-tuning your campaigns, we offer professional PPC management in Los Angeles — contact us today to boost your ROI.