Google Ads has released an update it the Google Ads API, version 18. Version 18 includes updates across account management, ad groups, ads, assets, campaigns, hotel/travel, local, PMax, reporting and more. This is a major release update of the Google Ads API.
Here is a video from the Google Ads API team on some highlights on what is new:
Before this release was version 17.1 in August and then before that was version 17.0 in June 2024 and then before that was version 16.1 and then Version 16 in February 2024. Before that was version 15 back in October 2023. Then before that was version 14.1 which was released in August. Version 13.1 preceded this new version, which was released in April 2023. Version 12.0 was released in October 2022, Version 11.0 of the Google Ads API was released in June, and version 11.1 was in August. Also Version 10.1 was released on April 27, 2022 and version 10.0 was released on February 9, 2022. And Google has sunset the AdWords API on April 27th which will completely stop working at the end of July.
Here is the full change log:
Account Management:
- (For allowlisted accounts only) Added DataLinkService.CreateDataLink, which allows linking a Google Ads account to creator videos hosted on the creator's YouTube channel. Video linking enables the Google Ads account to run partnership ads using creator videos.
Ad Groups:
- Added AdGroup.exclude_demographic_expansion which lets you exclude demographics from being expanded when optimized_targeting_enabled is true, a feature that was previously only supported for Demand Gen.
Ads:
- Added AdGroupAd.ad_group_ad_asset_automation_settings, which allows opting ads into or out of automatic asset generation.
- Added the following values to AssetAutomationType:
- GENERATE_VERTICAL_YOUTUBE_VIDEOS
- GENERATE_SHORTER_YOUTUBE_VIDEOS
- Added AdNetworkType.GOOGLE_OWNED_CHANNELS, which is used by ads that serve on Google-owned channels such as YouTube, Gmail, and the Discover feed.
Assets:
- Renamed AssetType.DISCOVERY_CAROUSEL_CARD to AssetType.DEMAND_GEN_CAROUSEL_CARD.
Campaigns:
- Added metrics.store_visits_last_click_model_attributed_conversions, which returns the number of store visits attributed by the last click model of a campaign.
- Added the following video view-related metrics for a campaign:
- metrics.video_view_rate_in_feed
- metrics.video_view_rate_in_stream
- metrics.video_view_rate_shorts
- Added metrics.results_conversions_purchase, which returns conversion purchases for the unified goals results of a campaign.
- Changed the default value of DemandGenCampaignSettings.upgraded_targeting from false to true.
Criterion:
- Added content_criterion_view which returns performance metrics of targeted contents, such as keywords, placements and topics, for Display, Demand Gen and Video campaigns.
Hotel & Travel:
- Support for Travel Feeds in Search Ads
- Added ClickType.TRAVEL_ASSETS to allow segmentation of metrics of Travel Feeds in Search Ads.
- Added AssetSetType.TRAVEL_FEED which can be used to opt-in and opt-out of using Travel Feed in Search Ads.
- (For allowlisted accounts only) Added travel itinerary as a new conversion value rule with the following new fields and values:
- ConversionValueRule.itinerary_condition with ValueRuleItineraryCondition, which allows for specifying an advance booking window, an itinerary length, and a travel start days of week
- ConversionValueRulePrimaryDimensionEnum.ITINERARY
- ValueRuleSetDimension.ITINERARY
- Added the following segments for campaign and ad_group reports to allow for segmenting performance data based on specific destinations (cities, countries and regions) for Hotel and Search campaigns:
- segments.travel_destination_city
- segments.travel_destination_country
- segments.travel_destination_region
Local Services:
- PhoneCallDetails.call_recording_url will be empty, instead of providing an invalid URL if the call recording doesn't exist for the given Local Services lead conversation.
- Added CategoryBid.target_cpa_bid_micro which allows for setting target CPA for a category through Campaign.local_services_campaign_settings.
Performance Max:
- PSupport for brand guidelines
- Added Campaign.brand_guidelines_enabled which shows whether brand guidelines are enabled for a given Performance Max campaign. If enabled, assets with field_type set to BUSINESS_NAME, LOGO, LANDSCAPE_LOGO must be linked as CampaignAsset resources instead of AssetGroupAsset resources.
- Added CampaignError.REQUIRED_BUSINESS_NAME_ASSET_NOT_LINKED and CampaignError.REQUIRED_LOGO_ASSET_NOT_LINKED errors, which indicate that Performance Max campaigns with brand guidelines enabled don't have the required CampaignAsset resources linked to the campaign.
- When brand guidelines are enabled, at least one asset with field_type set to BUSINESS_NAME and at least one with LOGO must be linked to the campaign as CampaignAsset resources. Performance Max campaigns for online sales with a product feed must meet this requirement only when there are assets that are linked to the campaign's asset groups.
- Added the following values to AssetLinkError:
- BRAND_ASSETS_NOT_LINKED_AT_ASSET_GROUP_LEVEL, which is thrown when attempting to link brand assets to campaigns as CampaignAsset resources instead of AssetGroupAsset resources in Performance Max campaigns with brand guidelines not enabled.
- BRAND_ASSETS_NOT_LINKED_AT_CAMPAIGN_LEVEL error, which is thrown when attempting to link brand assets to campaigns as AssetGroupAsset resources instead of CampaignAsset resources in Performance Max campaigns with brand guidelines enabled.
- Added performance_max_placement_view which returns impressions of the placements where Performance Max ads served.
- Added AssetGroupListingGroupFilterError.TREE_WAS_INVALID_BEFORE_MUTATION
Planning:
- (For allowlisted accounts only) Added a new service with the method ContentCreatorInsightsService.GenerateCreatorInsights, which allows users to explore insights about top YouTube Creators. This allows customers to search for creators given an audience targeting and content targeting combination or creator insights given a list of YouTube Channel IDs.
- Updates to AudienceInsightsService.GenerateSuggestedTargetingInsights:
- Moved audience, baseline_audience and data_month into audience_definition.
- Added audience_description to generate targeting suggestions from a free form text description using Gen AI.
- Added AudienceInsightsService.GenerateTargetingSuggestionMetrics which returns potential reach metrics for given audience targeting combinations.
Recommendations:
- RecommendationService.GenerateRecommendations can now be used to generate recommendations about optimized budget suggestions during campaign construction, by including the CAMPAIGN_BUDGET recommendation type in GenerateRecommendationsRequest.recommendation_types[]. This works for Performance Max and Search campaigns.
Reporting:
- Replaced the summary_row_setting and return_total_results_count fields of SearchGoogleAdsRequest with the search_settings field, whose type is SearchSettings with the following fields:
- omit_results
- return_summary_row
- return_total_results_count
- Added the following new metrics about general invalid clicks, such as those generated by bots or crawlers, those having irregular patterns. They can be queried with the campaign report.
- metrics.general_invalid_clicks
- metrics.general_invalid_click_rate
- Added the following values to QuotaError:
- EXCESSIVE_SHORT_TERM_QUERY_RESOURCE_CONSUMPTION
- EXCESSIVE_LONG_TERM_QUERY_RESOURCE_CONSUMPTION
That is all folks.
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