What are auction-time signals and give examples of devices, locations, times?

• A. Signals used to adjust budgets monthly.
• B. Signals used to schedule ads across campaigns.
• C. Signals that Smart Bidding uses to adjust bids at auction; examples include device type, location, and time of day.
• D. Signals used to adjust landing page redirects.

Answer: (C)

Auction-time signals are the real-time context Smart Bidding uses to adjust bids at the moment an auction takes place. They help the bidding algorithm estimate how likely a click will lead to a conversion and how valuable that conversion might be, then tweak the bid accordingly. Examples include device type (mobile vs desktop), location (geography), and time of day (and other time-related factors). These signals allow bids to be higher or lower for a specific auction depending on the context, rather than applying a blanket bid.

The other ideas describe things like changing budgets over time, scheduling ads across campaigns, or redirecting users to a different landing page. Those are separate mechanisms (budget pacing, campaign scheduling, landing-page changes) and aren’t about adjusting bids in real time within the auction, which is why they don’t fit the concept of auction-time signals.