Category Archives: Ads Developer Blog

The official blog for information about the AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick and AdMob APIs and SDKs

Help improve the Google Publisher Tag developer experience

We’re constantly working to improve our offerings for Google Publisher Tag (GPT) developers. Whether it's writing guides, producing samples, or building tools like the Google Publisher Console and Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse, we strive to equip you with everything you need to succeed.

To better understand what's working and what needs improvement, we're asking our developer community for feedback. Starting today, we're launching the first Google Publisher Tag developer survey.

Take the survey


All questions in the survey are optional and your answers will be completely anonymous. We expect the survey to take about 10 minutes to complete, and it will be open through the end of September 2020.

The feedback you provide will directly impact what we work on over the course of the next year, so please let us know what matters most to you. Thanks in advance for taking the time to help improve the GPT developer experience.
 - Jonathon Imperiosi, Publisher Ads Audits Team

Conversion Category Changes in AdWords API, Google Ads API, and Google Ads scripts

Since May 2020, when you sign in to your Google Ads account you may be prompted to upgrade each of your conversion actions to the new conversion categories. The updated conversion categories provide more granularity to describe the conversion actions that are the most meaningful for your business. More details can be found in this Google Ads Help Center article.

Starting October 15th 2020, these suggestions will be automatically applied if you haven’t already accepted them. Google Ads API, AdWords API and Google Ads Scripts users will see the following changes:

If you are using the Google Ads API, the new conversion categories are already available in ConversionActionCategoryEnum. No further action is needed.

If you are using the AdWords API, since we are not releasing a new version for the AdWords API, the new conversion category types will be translated to the existing ConversionTracker.Category enum values, based on the mapping below:
New Conversion Category ConversionTracker.Category
Add to cart LEAD
Begin checkout LEAD
Purchase PURCHASE
Subscribe (paid) PURCHASE
Subscribe (free) SIGNUP
Phone call leads LEAD
Offline lead LEAD
Submit lead form LEAD
Book appointment LEAD
Request quote LEAD
Get directions LEAD
Outbound click LEAD
Contact LEAD
Download DOWNLOAD
View key page PAGE_VIEW
Engagement DEFAULT
Store visit DEFAULT
Store sale PURCHASE
Other DEFAULT
Therefore, if you are using the AdWords API to retrieve conversion category types (via reports or services), you will still see existing conversion category types being returned based on the mapping above, which will be different from the migrated new types in Google Ads UI.

AdWords API users can still create conversion actions using the existing category types. The AdWords API will automatically translate the created conversions to new category types, based on machine learning models. You can find code examples on how to set category type for conversion actions on the AdWords API developer site.

If you are using Google Ads scripts, when you select or filter on the report field ConversionCategoryName, you will see the same existing category types as the ones used in AdWords API, based on the mapping in the above table.

If you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the forum.
- Fei Xiang, Google Ads API Team

Announcing AdMob API v1 General Availability

Today we’re excited to announce the general availability v1 release of the new AdMob API. It allows publishers to programmatically get information on their AdMob account.

The AdMob API v1 release offers the following benefits for app developers compared with the existing AdSense API used to access AdMob data:

  • Retrieve metrics that are consistent with how the AdMob UI defines and calculates them
  • Retrieve mediation reports previously not available through the AdSense API

How can I get started?

The AdMob API is now available to all AdMob users. You can use the Getting Started guide and the client libraries to get started.

If you’re already working with the AdSense API, please refer to our migration guide to get started. Please make plans to migrate to the new AdMob API, as we will sunset access to AdMob data via the AdSense API in the fall of 2021.

If you have any questions, please contact us via the AdMob API Developer Forum. We will be able to provide suggestions on how to best migrate your workflow. We look forward to hearing your feedback.

 - Amira Badreldin, AdMob API team

Introducing Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse v1.2.0

Today, we're announcing the general release of Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse v1.2.0. The major highlights of this release are:
A number of smaller enhancements and bug fixes are also included. For complete details, see the changelog on GitHub.

Measuring the impact of ads on the user experience

The new cumulative ad shift metric is the first publisher ads audit aimed at measuring the impact of ads on Core Web Vitals metrics. In particular, this metric provides insight into how ads affect the stability of your page's layout. To learn more about how ads affect layout stability and steps you can take to address this, see our article on minimizing layout shift with GPT.

The APIs for measuring layout stability are new and still evolving, so it's not currently possible to attribute layout shifts to ads with 100% accuracy. We'll be updating this audit as these APIs mature, so scores may change over time.

Try it out and let us know what you think

Publisher Ads Audits v1.2.0 is available to use right now. You can try generating an updated report from the web app, or grab the latest CLI release from GitHub or npm to run locally. Updates to the Chrome DevTools version will land in Chrome Stable with the Chrome 87 release (mid-November).

Have questions about this or anything else Ad Speed related? Interested in contributing? Visit our GitHub repo.
 - Jonathon Imperiosi, Publisher Ads Audits Team

Introducing Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse v1.2.0

Today, we're announcing the general release of Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse v1.2.0. The major highlights of this release are:
A number of smaller enhancements and bug fixes are also included. For complete details, see the changelog on GitHub.

Measuring the impact of ads on the user experience

The new cumulative ad shift metric is the first publisher ads audit aimed at measuring the impact of ads on Core Web Vitals metrics. In particular, this metric provides insight into how ads affect the stability of your page's layout. To learn more about how ads affect layout stability and steps you can take to address this, see our article on minimizing layout shift with GPT.

The APIs for measuring layout stability are new and still evolving, so it's not currently possible to attribute layout shifts to ads with 100% accuracy. We'll be updating this audit as these APIs mature, so scores may change over time.

Try it out and let us know what you think

Publisher Ads Audits v1.2.0 is available to use right now. You can try generating an updated report from the web app, or grab the latest CLI release from GitHub or npm to run locally. Updates to the Chrome DevTools version will land in Chrome Stable with the Chrome 87 release (mid-November).

Have questions about this or anything else Ad Speed related? Interested in contributing? Visit our GitHub repo.
 - Jonathon Imperiosi, Publisher Ads Audits Team

Filter options update to Display & Video 360 API v1

Today we’re releasing an incremental update to the Display & Video 360 API v1 which includes the following features:

More detailed information about this update can be found on the Display & Video 360 API release notes page.

Before using these new features, make sure to update your client to the latest version.

If you run into issues or need help with these new features, please contact us using our support contact form.
- Trevor Mulchay, Display & Video 360 API Team

Filter options update to Display & Video 360 API v1

Today we’re releasing an incremental update to the Display & Video 360 API v1 which includes the following features:

More detailed information about this update can be found on the Display & Video 360 API release notes page.

Before using these new features, make sure to update your client to the latest version.

If you run into issues or need help with these new features, please contact us using our support contact form.
- Trevor Mulchay, Display & Video 360 API Team

Google Ads API v2 sunset reminder

Google Ads API beta v2 will sunset on October 21, 2020. After this date, all v2 API requests will begin to fail. Please migrate to a newer version prior to October 21, 2020 to ensure your API access is unaffected.

We've prepared various resources to help you with the migration: If you have questions while you’re upgrading, please reach out to us on the forum or at [email protected].
 - , Google Ads API Team

Sunset of DBM API v1, SDF Download and Line Item services

Today we’re announcing the deprecation of the Doubleclick Bid Manager (DBM) API v1.1 Line Item service and the sunset of all deprecated DBM API services on February 26, 2021. Deprecated DBM API services include the entirety of DBM API v1 and DBM API v1.1 Structured Data File (SDF) Download service. This sunset was originally scheduled for June 15, 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19.


Refer to the table below to verify if the methods you are currently using will be available in v1.1 after February 26, 2021:

Service Methods Available in v1.1 after
February 26, 2021?
Reporting queries.createquery

queries.deletequery

queries.getquery

queries.listqueries

queries.runquery

reports.listreports 		Yes
Line Item lineitems.downloadlineitems

lineitems.uploadlineitems		 No. Use the new Display &
Video 360 API instead.
SDF Download sdf.download No. Use the new Display &
Video 360 API instead.


If you are still using the DBM API v1 Reporting service, you must migrate to v1.1 by the sunset date to avoid an interruption of service. Consult the API release notes for the finer details of the changes between v1 and v1.1. Differences to note during this migration include:
  • Queries created and accessed through the Reporting service require more specific filters in the params.groupBy field in v1.1. You might have to add more values to the params.groupBy field in order to create the same report structure generated in v1.
  • Responses from queries.listqueries and reports.listreports calls are paginated in v1.1. Users have to update their implementation to traverse multiple pages if they wish to consume more than the first 100 items returned.

If you are using any version of any other DBM API service, you must migrate to the Display & Video 360 (DV360) API.

Guides are available to help you set up the Display & Video 360 API and get started using it to download SDFs and manage your line items.

If you encounter issues with your migration or want to report a separate issue, please contact us using our support contact form.
- Trevor Mulchay, Display & Video 360 API Team

Announcing v5 of the Google Ads API beta

Today, we’re announcing the v5 release of the Google Ads API beta. To use the v5 features, you will need to upgrade your client libraries and client code. The updated client libraries and code examples will be published next week. For more information on breaking changes, see the migration guide.

Here are the highlights:
  • Return metrics for entities not formally supported in the API, such as Discovery campaigns, are now available. These entities will show UNKNOWN enum values returned. See the release notes for more details.
  • New request parameter to opt into returning all mutable fields in the response during a mutate.
  • The API is moving towards using field presence such as optional string and optional double instead of wrapper types such as StringValue and DoubleValue. Your code will be easier to use and simplifies the API with payloads that are significantly smaller. Approximately half of our resources have been updated in this release. The full list is in the migration guide, and our code examples have been updated. The rest of the resources will change to field presence in a future release.
  • Subfields of AdGroupAd.policy_summary are now selectable. Non-repeated subfields of AdGroupAd.policy_summary are now filterable.
  • Support for Keyword Planner:
Where can I learn more?
The following resources can help you get started: If you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the forum.
Nadine Wang, on behalf of the Google Ads API Team