Date and Time in Google Ads

All Google Ads data is tied to the account's time zone. Understanding how dates work is important for accurate analytics and data comparison.

Account Time Zone

The time zone is set when the account is created and is stored in the customer.time_zone field. Format: IANA timezone (e.g. America/New_York, Europe/Moscow).

Important: the account time zone cannot be changed after creation.

Effect of Time Zone on Data

• Day boundaries: determined by the account time zone
• Daily reports: segments.date segmentation uses the account time zone
• Hourly stats: segments.hour is also in the account time zone

Date Formats

Standard Format

All dates in the API use the YYYY-MM-DD format:

2026-07-25

Formats in Segments

Segment	Format	Example
segments.date	YYYY-MM-DD	2026-07-25
segments.week	YYYY-MM-DD	2026-07-20 (Monday)
segments.month	YYYY-MM	2026-07
segments.quarter	YYYY-Q	2026-3
segments.year	YYYY	2026

Time Periods

DURING (recommended approach)

WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_7_DAYS
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_14_DAYS
WHERE segments.date DURING THIS_MONTH
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_MONTH
WHERE segments.date DURING THIS_QUARTER

DURING rules:

• LAST_N_DAYS: does not include today
• THIS_MONTH: from the first of the current month through today (not including today)
• LAST_MONTH: the full previous month

BETWEEN (for custom ranges)

WHERE segments.date BETWEEN '2026-07-01' AND '2026-07-25'

The END date is included in the results.

Hourly Statistics

Available through the segments.hour segment:

SELECT
  segments.hour,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.conversions
FROM campaign
WHERE segments.date = '2026-07-25'

Impression Hours

• 0-23: hours in the account time zone
• Distribution: you can analyze performance by time of day
• Peak hours: depend on the audience and geo-targeting

Segmentation by Day of Week

SELECT
  segments.day_of_week,
  metrics.conversions,
  metrics.conversion_rate
FROM campaign
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

Values: MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY

Data Lag

Google Ads data is updated with a delay:

Period	Delay	Accuracy
Today	3-6 hours	Incomplete data
Yesterday	Up to 24 hours	Conversions may still be added
2-7 days ago	Stable	Conversion adjustments possible
Older than 7 days	Stable	Data is final

Recommendation: for accurate reports, use data from the day before yesterday and earlier.

Related Pages

• Query Parameters
• Segments
• Data Differences