Google Ads API Update: New Features and Changes for v17

Google this week announced the release of version 17 (v17) of the Google Ads API, a tool for developers to programmatically manage advertising campaigns on the Google Ads platform.

This update introduces several changes designed to improve efficiency, enhance reporting capabilities, and streamline campaign management for developers.

Key Features and Changes

Resource Usage Policy Updates: In preparation for an upcoming resource usage policy change on June 17, 2024, v17 introduces two new error codes for the QuotaError. These codes identify instances of excessive resource consumption over time by specific query patterns used in GoogleAdsService.Search and GoogleAdsService.SearchStream requests.

Page Size Standardization: The page_size field used to control the number of results returned in a single request is now fixed at 10,000. Attempting to specify a custom page size in GoogleAdsService.Search calls will result in a RequestError.

Enhanced Reporting for Performance Max and Search Campaigns: v17 introduces two new reporting views: campaign_aggregate_asset_view and channel_aggregate_asset_view. These views allow for more comprehensive reporting on metrics associated with Performance Max and Search campaigns, providing developers with deeper insights into campaign performance.

Batch Processing Improvements:

• Support for MutateOperation.asset_group_operation within BatchJobService is now available. This allows developers to leverage batch processing for creating and managing entire Performance Max campaigns.
• A new error code, BatchJobError.REQUEST_TOO_LARGE, has been added to identify requests exceeding the maximum allowed size (10,484,504 bytes) in AddBatchJobOperationsRequest. Developers encountering this error should split their operations into smaller batches for successful submission.

Campaign Management Enhancements:

• A new field, Campaign.keyword_match_type, allows developers to set a uniform keyword match type for all keywords within a campaign.
• The AdService.getAd method has been removed to maintain consistency with other Google Ads API services. Developers are encouraged to refer to the "Retrieving objects" documentation for alternative methods of fetching resources.
• primary_status and primary_status_reasons fields have been added to AdGroupCriterion. These fields provide information on whether an ad group criterion is currently serving and, if not, the reasons behind its inactive status.

New Shopping Product Report: v17 introduces the shopping_product report, which corresponds to the "Products" page within the Google Ads UI. This report offers developers access to detailed product data associated with their Google Ads campaigns.

Image Asset Validation Improvements: More stringent validations have been implemented for ImageAdInfo.image_asset regarding image dimensions and formats. This aligns with existing image validation standards across the Google Ads API.

Enhanced SkAdNetwork Conversion Value Reporting: A new segment, sk_ad_network_redistributed_fine_conversion_value, has been added for redistributing null values based on a machine learning model analyzing recent SkAdNetwork postback data. This improvement provides developers with more accurate and comprehensive conversion value reporting for SkAdNetwork campaigns.

Discovery Renaming: The term "Discovery" has been replaced with "Demand Gen" across all relevant fields, enums, and errors within the Google Ads API.

Improved Product Link Targeting: When querying product_link, developers can now select fields related to only one linked product at a time. Failure to do so will result in a QueryError.PROHIBITED_FIELD_COMBINATION_IN_SELECT_CLAUSE.

Audience Customer Type Management: A new method, UserListCustomerTypeService.MutateUserListCustomerTypes, has been introduced for configuring audience customer types. This method replaces the previously used CustomerLifecycleGoal.lifecycle_goal_customer_definition_settings.

Local Services Verification Artifact Expiration: Two new expiration_date_time fields have been added to local_services_verification_artifact. This allows advertisers to easily track and monitor the expiration dates of their verification artifacts.