Google on November 12, 2026 added the ability to create, update and delete responsive YouTube ads to version 5 of the Display & Video 360 API, according to a post on its Advertising and Measurement developer blog signed by Trevor Mulchay of the Display & Video 360 API Team. The change covers four kinds of YouTube & partners line items, leaves instant deal buying and single-format YouTube ads outside the API, and still requires the line items and ad groups that hold the ads to be built in the Display & Video 360 interface or through Structured Data File uploads. Version 5 remains a public beta, and Google says it may still make breaking changes to it.
In Short
Google has updated the beta version of its Display & Video 360 API so software can create, change and delete responsive YouTube ads, the kind that adapt to in-stream, Shorts and in-feed placements. This affects agencies, trading desks and ad tech vendors that automate YouTube buying, because the ad itself, often the most repetitive object in a campaign, can now be handled in code. The line items and ad groups above those ads still have to be made in the interface or by file upload, and integrations built on the beta may have to change again before it is finalised.
What Google published on November 12
The post, titled "Manage responsive YouTube ads with Display & Video 360 API v5," is dated Thursday, November 12, 2026, and carries the labels display-video-360-api, update, beta and youtube. Its opening line states the change in one sentence: "Today we're updating Display & Video 360 API v5 to add the ability to create, delete, and update responsive YouTube ads!"
The mechanics sit in a single service. According to the post, developers use the advertisers.adGroupAds service to manage AdGroupAd resources whose creative is defined in the videoPerformanceAd field. "These ads can serve in multiple formats, such as in-stream (bumper, skippable, non-skippable), Shorts, and in-feed, depending on the line item subtype, and ad format controls configured in the line item," the post states.
The images and videos that make up these ads are handled elsewhere. "Similar to Demand Gen ads, the creative assets used to build these responsive YouTube ads are managed using the advertisers.adAssets service," according to Google. The post points readers to its Demand Gen guide for the asset steps, a reminder that the YouTube work follows a pattern Google first built for Demand Gen.
Google's release notes carry an entry for the same date, and the post says the change has also been written into the v4 to v5 migration guide. Questions, according to the post, go to the "Google Advertising and Measurement Community" Discord server, where Google added Display & Video 360 API, SDF and Bid Manager API support in March 2026.
The update at a glance
| Item | What the post and Google's API reference state |
|---|---|
| Announcement date | Thursday, November 12, 2026 |
| API version | Display & Video 360 API v5, public beta |
| Service | advertisers.adGroupAds |
| Resource | AdGroupAd |
| Creative field | videoPerformanceAd (VideoPerformanceAd object) |
| Operations added for responsive YouTube ads | Create, update (patch) and delete |
| Serving formats | In-stream (bumper, skippable, non-skippable), Shorts and in-feed, depending on line item subtype and ad format controls |
| Asset service | advertisers.adAssets |
| YouTube video assets | advertisers.adAssets.bulkCreate, from previously uploaded YouTube videos |
| Image assets | advertisers.adAssets.upload |
| Line item types covered | YouTube & partners efficient reach, non-skippable reach, target frequency and video views |
| Not covered | All single-format YouTube ads; responsive YouTube ads under YouTube Programmatic Non-Guaranteed and Guaranteed instant deal line items |
| Still outside the API | Creating and updating YouTube line items, ad groups and their targeting (interface or SDF upload only) |
| Status | "remains in public beta, we might still make breaking changes to it" |
Which YouTube line items are covered, and which are not
The post sets the boundary in two sentences. "This update enables the management of responsive YouTube AdGroupAd resources in the Display & Video 360 API, within YouTube & partners efficient reach, non-skippable reach, target frequency and video views line items," according to Google. "All single format YouTube ads and responsive YouTube ads under YouTube Programmatic Non-Guaranteed and Guaranteed instant deal line items aren't included."
A third sentence limits what sits above the ad. "You must continue to create and update YouTube line items, ad groups, and their targeting either in the Display & Video 360 interface or through Structured Data Files (SDF) upload," the post states. Google's API reference repeats that restriction for every YouTube & partners line item type it lists, noting that line items of each type, and their targeting, cannot be created or updated through the API. By PPC Land's count, the reference lists 11 YouTube & partners line item types, including Connected TV variants, against one Demand Gen type that carries no such note.
The post uses the interface names for the four covered types. The API's LineItemType list uses different labels. The matching below is PPC Land's, based on the descriptions Google gives for each value; the post itself does not name the enum values.
| Line item type named in the post | Closest LineItemType value in the v5 reference (PPC Land matching) | How the reference describes it |
|---|---|---|
| Efficient reach | LINE_ITEM_TYPE_YOUTUBE_AND_PARTNERS_REACH | Video ads that optimise for reaching more unique users at lower cost, which may include bumper, skippable in-stream or a mix of formats |
| Non-skippable reach | LINE_ITEM_TYPE_YOUTUBE_AND_PARTNERS_NON_SKIPPABLE | Video ads of up to 15 seconds that cannot be skipped |
| Target frequency | LINE_ITEM_TYPE_YOUTUBE_AND_PARTNERS_TARGET_FREQUENCY | Ads shown a target number of times to the same person in a set period |
| Video views | LINE_ITEM_TYPE_YOUTUBE_AND_PARTNERS_VIEW | Video ads that aim for more views across a variety of formats |
The target frequency type is the clearest case of a format decided by line item settings rather than by the ad. The reference shows that YouTube & partners line items carry a videoAdInventoryControl object with four switches: allowInFeed, allowShorts, allowInStream and allowNonSkippableInStream. Those are the "ad format controls configured in the line item" the post refers to. Because they live on the line item, and line items cannot be written through the API, a responsive ad created in code serves only in whatever formats a person or an SDF file has already switched on. Efficient reach line items, for example, were set in March 2024 to include in-feed and Shorts ads by default, with an opt-out.
The exclusion of instant deals matches the way Google has treated reserved YouTube buying in bulk files. When Structured Data Files v11 became generally available on October 8, YouTube Instant Deal support was in beta, limited to allowlisted partners, absent from downloaded files and uploadable only through a dedicated creation workflow in the interface. Guaranteed instant deals are Google's route for programmatic guaranteed YouTube buys, in which price and volume are agreed with the seller in advance. Those buys now sit outside both the API and the general SDF upload path.
How the ad is defined: the videoPerformanceAd field
The post does not list the fields of a responsive YouTube ad. Google's v5 API reference does. The AdGroupAd resource holds the shared settings: a displayName of up to 255 bytes in UTF-8, a required entityStatus, a required and immutable adGroupId, and an output-only adPolicy field that reports policy approval. The ad's content goes into one of several mutually exclusive ad-type fields, of which videoPerformanceAd is the one Google now describes as a YouTube ad that can serve across in-stream, Shorts and in-feed formats.
The rules inside that object, as the reference sets them out, are summarised below.
| VideoPerformanceAd field | Requirement in the v5 reference |
|---|---|
| videos | Required. A list of YouTube video assets; each entry's videoAssetId must be the adAssetId of an AdAsset resource |
| finalUrl | Required. The page people reach after clicking the ad |
| headlines | Optional. Headlines shown on the call-to-action banner |
| actionButtonLabels | Optional, but must be set if headlines are set |
| longHeadlines | Must be set, unless the parent line item is LINE_ITEM_TYPE_YOUTUBE_AND_PARTNERS_NON_SKIPPABLE, in which case it cannot be set |
| descriptions | Must be set, unless the parent line item is LINE_ITEM_TYPE_YOUTUBE_AND_PARTNERS_NON_SKIPPABLE, in which case it cannot be set |
| businessName | Required unless a default is set at the advertiser level; the default applies if left unset |
| logo | Required unless a default is set at the advertiser level; the default applies if left unset |
| companionBanners | Optional. Image assets |
| displayUrlBreadcrumb1, displayUrlBreadcrumb2 | Optional. The second can be set only if the first is set |
| customParameters | Optional. Parameters added to the tracking URL |
| userSpecifiedTrackingUrl | Optional. The tracking URL entered manually |
| trackingUrl | Output only |
| domain | Output only. The domain of the display URL |
The reference gives no minimum or maximum count for headlines, descriptions, videos or companion banners.
Two of those rows connect to recent changes. The businessName and logo rules follow Google's decision that every YouTube line item in Display & Video 360 needs a business name and logo from October 12, 2026, with a help page that lists video reach, non-skippable, target frequency, video view, Shorts and pause ad formats as the responsive formats that can carry them. The advertiser-level fallback dates from a July 23, 2026 API update that added default business name and logo values to the Advertiser resource for Demand Gen and YouTube responsive ads. And the split between trackingUrl and userSpecifiedTrackingUrl is one of the field-level changes Google listed when v5 entered public beta on October 22. Code written against v4 that sets trackingUrl directly would, on the reference's description, be writing to a field that v5 treats as output only.
Updates follow the API's usual pattern. According to the reference, the patch method requires an updateMask query parameter naming the fields to change, and delete takes an empty request body and returns an empty object.
The three-step workflow, according to Google
Google describes a "recommended workflow for serving a new responsive YouTube ad" in three numbered steps. The post's wording and the matching reference details are as follows.
- Line items and ad groups by file. "Upload Line Item and Ad Group SDFs to create new YouTube line items and ad groups." The post links the SDF v11 LineItem and AdGroup file formats for this step.
- Assets through advertisers.adAssets. "Create or retrieve any assets needed for your ad using the advertisers.adAssets service." The post adds that new assets can be created "from previously-uploaded YouTube videos in bulk using advertisers.adAssets.bulkCreate" and that new image assets are uploaded "using advertisers.adAssets.upload." According to the reference, bulkCreate accepts only assets of type AD_ASSET_TYPE_YOUTUBE_VIDEO, while upload accepts only AD_ASSET_TYPE_IMAGE, requires a filename of no more than 240 bytes including the extension, and takes an optional syntheticContentAttestationStatus value for AI labelling.
- The ad through advertisers.adGroupAds.create. "Use advertisers.adGroupAds.create to create a new responsive YouTube ad." The ad references its video by the adAssetId returned in step two and its images by asset ID.
The endpoints, as published in the v5 reference, are listed below.
| Method | HTTP request | Scope according to the reference |
|---|---|---|
| advertisers.adGroupAds.create | POST /v5/advertisers/{advertiserId}/adGroupAds | Creates an ad group ad |
| advertisers.adGroupAds.patch | PATCH /v5/advertisers/{advertiserId}/adGroupAds/{adGroupAdId} | Updates an ad group ad; updateMask required |
| advertisers.adGroupAds.delete | DELETE /v5/advertisers/{advertiserId}/adGroupAds/{adGroupAdId} | Deletes an ad group ad |
| advertisers.adAssets.bulkCreate | POST /v5/advertisers/{advertiserId}/adAssets:bulkCreate | Creates several YouTube video assets in one request |
| advertisers.adAssets.upload | POST /upload/v5/advertisers/{advertiserId}/adAssets:uploadAdAsset | Uploads one image asset |
All requests go to displayvideo.googleapis.com.
A beta that can still break
The post ends its technical section with a caveat. "Display & Video 360 API v5 remains in public beta, we might still make breaking changes to it. We will announce any changes on our blog and in the release notes," according to Google.
That matters for planning. Google opened v5 three weeks before this update and, at that time, set no deprecation or sunset date for v4. Its announced deprecations page still shows none. Version 4 itself became generally available on March 27, 2025, and earlier versions ran six to seven months from deprecation to shutdown, by PPC Land's calculation. The November 12 post describes the responsive YouTube ad change as a v5 update and says nothing about adding it to v4.
How YouTube write access reached the API
The November update is the latest in a series that has moved YouTube and Demand Gen work from the interface into code, one object at a time.
The asset layer came first. On October 27, 2025, the Display & Video 360 API added YouTube and Demand Gen asset management, introducing the adAssets resource with bulkCreate, create, get, list and upload methods and two asset types: AD_ASSET_TYPE_IMAGE and AD_ASSET_TYPE_YOUTUBE_VIDEO, the latter identified by an 11-character YouTube video ID. The same update added read access to Demand Gen ads.
Demand Gen then got the full set. Google said in May that Demand Gen line items, ad groups and ads would become manageable through the API in a rollout from June 10 to June 24, 2026, after a closed beta that opened on April 14. That release gave AdGroupAd create, patch and delete for four Demand Gen ad types. YouTube & partners responsive ads, under the videoPerformanceAd field, did not get the same treatment until November 12, and unlike Demand Gen, their line items and ad groups remain read-only in the API.
File uploads, meanwhile, became easier to combine with API work. In May, Google added partial SDF uploads for line items, allowing teams to upload a Line Item ID plus only the column groups they want to change, rather than the more than 120 columns a full line item file needs. The workflow Google now recommends depends on exactly that pairing of files for structure and API calls for ads.
The YouTube line item catalogue has been shrinking at the same time. On August 27, 2026, Google set October 12 as the date from which YouTube responsive ads and Ad SDF uploads must carry a business name and logo unless advertiser defaults exist. And on October 26, 2026, remaining legacy maximum cost-per-view and Video reach 1.0 line items were auto-archived, leaving Video reach 2.0 and Video view line items in their place. The four line item types named in the November post are the survivors of that consolidation.
Format complexity is the backdrop to all of this. A responsive ad can serve as a bumper, a skippable or non-skippable in-stream ad, a Shorts ad or an in-feed ad, and programmatic buyers have long struggled to map which placements a YouTube buy actually reached. PPC Land reported in March on the gap between YouTube's six video ad formats and how programmatic buyers understand them. In September, Google and WPP Media reported 24% more unique reach and 25% lower cost per unique user from pooling vertical video buys in Display & Video 360 for Hellmann's, figures given without a methodology or market list.
Why it matters for agencies and ad tech vendors
Display & Video 360 is Google's enterprise buying platform, and its API is how large agencies, trading desks and third-party tools keep campaign builds consistent across hundreds of advertisers. On YouTube, the ad is the object that changes most often. An ad group can hold several ads, each with its own headlines, descriptions, call-to-action labels, final URL and tracking parameters, and each needing a business name and logo, or an advertiser default, since October. Being able to create, edit and remove those ads in code, rather than through the interface or a full file round-trip, removes one of the more repetitive manual steps from YouTube campaign operations.
The limits are just as clear. A tool built on this update still needs two integration paths: SDF uploads for line items and ad groups, and API calls for assets and ads. Instant deal buying, which covers reserved YouTube inventory, is excluded entirely, so any automation built for reserved buys gains nothing here. Single-format ads are excluded too. And because the formats an ad can serve in are controlled on the line item, the API can change what an ad says but not where it runs.
There is also the question of timing. Integrations that adopt v5 now do so on a version Google says can still change in ways that break code, while v4, which remains the generally available version, has no published end date. The November 12 post gives developers a reason to start testing v5, but no date by which they must.
What the post does not say
The post does not say whether Connected TV line item types, which the reference lists separately, are covered, or whether pause ads, which the business name help page counts among the responsive formats, can be managed this way. It gives no timeline for write access to YouTube line items, ad groups or targeting, no date for v5 general availability and no limit on the number of headlines, descriptions or videos per ad.
Key facts
- Source document: "Manage responsive YouTube ads with Display & Video 360 API v5," Google Advertising and Measurement developer blog, Thursday, November 12, 2026, signed Trevor Mulchay, Display & Video 360 API Team. URL: https://developers.google.com/ads/blog/posts/2026/11/manage-responsive-youtube-ads-with-display
- Labels: display-video-360-api, update, beta, youtube
- Product and version: Display & Video 360 API v5 (public beta since October 22, 2026)
- Service and resource: advertisers.adGroupAds; AdGroupAd
- Creative field: videoPerformanceAd (VideoPerformanceAd object)
- New operations for responsive YouTube ads: create, update (patch), delete
- Asset methods: advertisers.adAssets.bulkCreate (AD_ASSET_TYPE_YOUTUBE_VIDEO only), advertisers.adAssets.upload (AD_ASSET_TYPE_IMAGE only)
- Line item types covered: YouTube & partners efficient reach, non-skippable reach, target frequency, video views
- Excluded: single-format YouTube ads; responsive YouTube ads under YouTube Programmatic Non-Guaranteed and Guaranteed instant deal line items
- Still interface or SDF only: YouTube line items, ad groups and their targeting
- Recommended SDF formats: SDF v11 LineItem and AdGroup files
- Related documentation: release notes entry dated November 12, 2026; v4 to v5 migration guide; v5 REST reference
- API endpoint: displayvideo.googleapis.com
- v4 status: generally available since March 27, 2025; no deprecation or sunset date announced
Timeline
- March 6, 2024 - YouTube efficient reach line items in Display & Video 360 set to include in-feed and Shorts ads by default
- March 27, 2025 - Display & Video 360 API v4 becomes generally available
- October 27, 2025 - The API adds YouTube and Demand Gen asset management through the adAssets resource
- March 2026 - Display & Video 360 API, SDF and Bid Manager API support arrives on Google's developer Discord
- May 5, 2026 - Google adds partial SDF uploads for line items
- June 10-24, 2026 - Full Demand Gen management, including ad create, patch and delete, rolls out in the API
- July 23, 2026 - The API adds advertiser-level default business name and logo values for Demand Gen and YouTube responsive ads
- August 27, 2026 - Google sets October 12 for business name and logo requirements on YouTube responsive ads and Ad SDF uploads
- September 28, 2026 - Google and WPP Media report Hellmann's vertical video results in Display & Video 360
- October 8, 2026 - SDF v11 becomes generally available with beta, allowlist-only YouTube Instant Deal columns
- October 12, 2026 - Business name and logo become required for YouTube line items in Display & Video 360
- October 22, 2026 - Display & Video 360 API v5 enters public beta
- October 26, 2026 - Legacy maximum CPV and Video reach 1.0 line items are auto-archived
- November 12, 2026 - Google adds create, update and delete support for responsive YouTube ads to Display & Video 360 API v5
Related PPC Land coverage
- Google's DV360 API v5 beta drops Customer Match audience management - The October 2026 opening of v5 in public beta, including the trackingUrl split and other YouTube field changes.
- DV360 API is finally getting full Demand Gen support on June 10 - How Demand Gen line items, ad groups and ads became fully manageable through the API in June 2026.
- Display & Video 360 API adds YouTube and Demand Gen asset management - The October 2025 update that introduced the adAssets resource used in the new workflow.
- Google's DV360 now requires a business name and logo on YouTube ads - The October 12, 2026 requirement and the responsive formats that can carry the assets.
- DV360 API gains AI attestation field 10 days before EU deadline - The July 2026 update that added advertiser-level business name and logo defaults.
- Google cuts two DV360 brand safety exclusion controls on October 1 - The August 2026 notice that first set the October 12 business name and logo date for YouTube responsive ads.
- DV360 SDF v11 drops redundant YouTube vendor reporting ID columns - The Structured Data Files release whose LineItem and AdGroup formats Google now recommends for building YouTube structure.
- DV360 gets partial SDF uploads - fewer columns, faster changes - Partial line item uploads that reduce the file work around API-managed ads.
- DV360 halts legacy video line items on October 26 - The archiving of legacy maximum CPV and Video reach 1.0 line items.
- Display & Video 360 API v4 now generally available - The March 2025 release of the version that remains generally available.
- YouTube Efficient Reach line items to automatically include in-feed and Shorts ads - The 2024 change that put in-feed and Shorts into efficient reach line items by default.
- YouTube's hidden ad complexity: what programmatic buyers get wrong - Analysis of YouTube's video ad formats and the targeting limits programmatic buyers face.
- Hellmann's gains 24% unique reach in Google DV360 vertical video test - Google's vertical video pooling results in Display & Video 360.
- DV360 API gets Discord channels and a documentation overhaul - The developer support channel the November post directs questions to.
Summary
Who: Google's Display & Video 360 API Team, with the post signed by Trevor Mulchay. The change affects agencies, trading desks and ad tech vendors that automate YouTube buying in Display & Video 360.
What: Display & Video 360 API v5 can now create, update and delete responsive YouTube ads, defined in the videoPerformanceAd field of the AdGroupAd resource, with assets managed through advertisers.adAssets. The support covers efficient reach, non-skippable reach, target frequency and video views line items. Single-format YouTube ads and instant deal line items are excluded, and YouTube line items, ad groups and targeting must still be built in the interface or by SDF upload.
When: The post is dated Thursday, November 12, 2026, three weeks after v5 entered public beta on October 22, 2026. Google has set no v4 sunset date and no general availability date for v5.
Where: The Display & Video 360 API at displayvideo.googleapis.com, documented in Google's developer blog, the release notes, the v4 to v5 migration guide and the v5 REST reference.
Why: Google is extending to YouTube responsive ads the code-level ad management it gave Demand Gen in June 2026, while keeping the structural objects of YouTube campaigns, and reserved instant deal buying, outside the API during the v5 beta.
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