Automatic removal of invalid location extension filters

AdWords offers several different strategies for configuring filters for your Google My Business locations. However, users sometimes choose filters that do not match any locations, which results in no location extensions appearing with ads.

What's changing?
Starting on February 14, 2017, AdWords will perform a daily check to determine if the following location extension feed item filters are not matching any Google My Business locations: If any such invalid filters are found, they will be automatically cleared as outlined in the updated Location Extensions guide.

Please keep the following details in mind:
  • The periodic check will only clear matchingFunction filters on a CampaignFeed or AdGroupFeed for location extensions (placeholderType = 7). It will not clear filters on those objects for location targeting (criterionType = 77).
  • The periodic check will not clear matching functions of the form IDENTITY(false), since these indicate that you want to disable location extensions for a campaign or ad group.
What you should do
  1. To minimize the impact of the periodic check, regularly review your application's location feed setup and ensure that you are choosing filtering options on your PlacesLocationFeedData and matching functions that actually match locations in your Google My Business account.
  2. Make sure that your application will be able to handle the filter changes made by the periodic check.
If you have any questions, please post on the AdWords API Forum.
- Josh Radcliff, AdWords API Team