Tag Archives: Developer

Sunset of v1 and v1.1 for DoubleClick Ad Exchange Buyer REST API on December 1st, 2014

Today we’re announcing the deprecation of v1 and v1.1 of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange Buyer REST API, both of which are scheduled to be sunset on December 1st, 2014. These versions are becoming increasingly less relevant as we expand on the latest and greatest version of the API—currently v1.3. We recommend that you migrate to v1.3 before this date in order to take advantage of the newest functionality and also to continue having uninterrupted access to the API. If you have not migrated from these deprecated versions by December 1st, calls against the API will return an error response.

The vast majority of users have already migrated to newer versions of the API, but if you’re among the few who haven’t, we expect it to be an easy upgrade because newer versions still support all of the resources you’re familiar with. The only changes that could cause a code break when migrating from v1 to v1.3 are in the Creatives resource; the adgroup_id field was removed and the disapprovalReasons field is no longer a list of strings. You can use the following resources to help you with your migration:
  • Release Notes: A listing of all changes between versions of the API.
  • Code Examples: Examples demonstrating how to use the client libraries with the most recent version of the API.
  • Developer Guides: Guides covering the most recent version of the API.
Of course, if you have any questions or need help with the migration, feel free to reach out to us via the forum or the Ads Developers G+ page.

 - , DoubleClick Ad Exchange Team

IMA HTML5 SDK now supports Internet Explorer 11

Today we're announcing support for Internet Explorer 11 in the IMA HTML5 SDK. The SDK is now compatible with the desktop versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer, as well as the mobile versions of Chrome, Safari, and the default Android browser. For more information on the supported platforms of the IMA SDK, check out the supported video player platforms.

Getting started

There are no configuration or setting changes to the IMA HTML5 SDK to enable IE11 support. If you already have a player with the IMA HTML5 SDK integrated, you can start serving to IE11 visitors immediately.

If you want to walk through integrating the IMA HTML5 SDK with an HTML5 video player, check out our quick start guide.

Older Internet Explorer versions

Currently only IE11 is supported; some publishers are using the IMA HTML5 SDK with IE10 without issues, but it isn't officially supported. SDK support will be focused on on IE11 and subsequent versions given the upgrade rate from IE10 to IE11. Version 9 and earlier of Internet Explorer are not supported by the IMA HTML5 SDK and likely will not correctly serve video ads.

Questions?

If you have any questions about Internet Explorer support or other IMA SDK questions, feel free to contact us via the support forum.


 - , IMA SDK Team

New features in AdWords scripts

We have added the following new features in AdWords scripts.

Ad customizers
AdWords scripts now support ad customizers, a more advanced version of ad params. Ad customizers adapt your text ads to the full context of a search or the webpage someone's viewing, by inserting a customized parameter within the ad. Ad customizers let you customize your ads for each query without having to create a separate ad for each variation.

AdWords scripts allow you to create ad customizer sources, add or update items in the sources, and create parameterized ads. You can also target an ad customizer item to a specific campaign, ad group or keyword, and track the performance of ad customizers using the PLACEHOLDER_FEED_ITEM_REPORT.

To learn more about ad customizers, refer to our code snippets and guide. Also, check out the brand new ad customizers solution that shows how to use this new feature in your account.

v201409 reports
We now support AdWords API v201409 reports in AdWords scripts. See blog post for more details.

Product ads
You can now retrieve your product ads using the ads() method of the ShoppingAdGroup. You can create new product ads using the newAdBuilder() method of ShoppingAdGroup.

We hope you enjoy these new features. If you have any questions about these features or AdWords scripts in general, you can post them on the developer forum.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords Scripts Team

Support for v201409 Reports in AdWords Scripts

We are announcing support for AdWords API v201409 reports in AdWords scripts. The new version introduces PLACEHOLDER_REPORT, a new report type that allows for retrieval of extension stats.

If you use API versioning in your reports, then you need to modify your code to use v201409 as shown below. If you don’t use API versioning, no code changes are required. 

var report = AdWordsApp.report(query, {
   apiVersion: 'v201409'
});
If you have any questions about this feature or AdWords Scripts in general, you can post them on our developer forum.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords Scripts Team

Minimum Java version requirement changes to client library for AdWords, AdX, DFP and DFA

Are you using the Google Ads API Java Client Library and Java 5 (1.5)? If so, we have important news: starting April 2015, all releases of the Google Ads API Java Client Library will only be compatible with Java 1.6 and higher.

Why this change is happening
The primary reasons for this change are: Next steps
If you are using Java 6 or higher, then you're all set -- all releases of the client library on github already support your runtime.

If you are still using Java 5 and need to migrate to Java 6 or higher, check out the following adoption guides from Oracle: Still have questions? Feel free to file an issue on the library's issues page or contact us via our Google+ page.

- Josh Radcliff, AdWords API Team

AdsPyGoogle Sunset on January, 5 2015

As an avid reader of this blog, you have undoubtedly already seen the announcement that our dear old friend, the client library known as ‘AdsPyGoogle,’ will be sunset on January 5, 2015. Yes—we too at Google are very sad about this.

Fret not! In its place, we have a more than capable replacement in the form of our new GoogleAds Python client library which is more lightweight, has far fewer dependencies, boasts improved utilities and functionality, and perhaps most importantly, supports Python 2.7 as well as 3.x.

If you need a starting point on how to perform this switch, we have a blog post detailing the differences between the two, as well as a nifty migration guide on Github.

As usual, if you have any questions, feedback, or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out on the DFP or AdWords forums.

 - Nicholas Chen, DFP API Team

IMA iOS and Android SDK Quick Starts Have Been Updated

We recently updated the iOS and Android quick starts for IMA to make them more streamlined and informative. The new quick starts are done in the style of a code lab - we first provide a sample video player app with no ad integration, then walk you through the steps of adding the IMA SDK to the app. We also provide a completed example if you just want to follow along. If you haven’t yet tried the IMA SDKs for mobile, give our new quick starts a spin and let us know how you like them via our forum.
 - , IMA SDK Team

Life of a DFP Video Line Item Part II

In Part I, Chris showed you how to create and traffic a video ad. In Part II, you’ll learn how to get that ad displayed before your video content in Flash, HTML5, iOS, or Android.

The IMA SDK requires you to have an ad tag that points to your ad. An ad tag is a URL that returns a VAST response. The VAST (or VMAP) response contains information about your ad, including tracking URLs, clickthrough destinations, and the media files for the video ad. For more information about VAST, see the IAB website.

If you’re using DFP, the UI can generate an ad tag for you based on your line item and ad unit criteria. To generate the ad tag for your line item, follow these steps.

Now that you have your ad tag, let’s take a look at some of the parameters. We’ll use one of our standard sample tags for this exercise:

http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?
    sz=640x360&
    iu=/6062/iab_vast_samples/skippable&
    ciu_szs=300x250,728x90&
    impl=s&
    env=vp&
    gdfp_req=1&
    output=xml_vast2&
    unviewed_position_start=1&
    url=[referrer_url]&
    correlator=[timestamp]&
    scor=[timestamp]

sz
The size of the video ad that you’re requesting.
iu
Your “inventory unit” - the ad unit you created in Part I. This is in the format <network_code>/<ad_unit_code path>.
ciu_szs
If your ad unit has associated companion ads, their sizes will be listed here.
impl
The request mode. Here, “s” for “sync”.
env
The environment. Here, “vp” for “video player”. 
gdfp_req
Indicates that this is a DFP request rather than the legacy Google Ads Manager.
output
The type of output you want from your ad request. Typical values are “vast” or “vmap”.
unviewed_position_start
Enables delayed impressions for your ad. This ensures that an impression isn’t counted until the ad starts playing.
url
The URL of the page requesting ads. This will also be automatically filled in by the SDK.
correlator
This randomly-generated value will be filled in by the SDK. It’s used for a number of things, but they all boil down to detecting ad requests that come from the same instance of a page load.
scor
Like the correlator, but refreshed when your video stream changes rather than when the page refreshes. Used to detect ad requests that come from the same video stream instance.
For more info on these parameters, see this DFP help center article.

Now that you have a basic understanding of your ad tag, it’s time to plug it into your IMA SDK implementation. If you’d like to use a video player with the SDK pre-integrated, we have pre-baked solutions for HTML5, iOS, and Android. If you want to do your own SDK integration, check out the quick start guide for Flash, HTML5, iOS, or Android. In each of the sample implementations, you’ll find a reference to at least one ad tag.

For example, the HTML5 ad tag reference is in ads.js and looks like this:
adsRequest.adTagUrl = “YOUR_AD_TAG_HERE”;
Now fire up the sample and request an ad. Voila! You’ll now see the ad you trafficked in Part I serving as a pre-roll to your video content!

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact us via the support forum.

 - , IMA SDK Team

Monetize your Cocos2d games with AdMob

With more than $1 billion paid to app developers in the last two years, AdMob is committed to supporting industry growth. So we are happy to announce that Cocos2d developers can now easily monetize their games with AdMob!

AdMob has integrated with the AnySDK platform, which means Cocos2d developers who use the AnySDK Ads System can now easily include AdMob when publishing their Android and iOS apps. If you haven’t checked out Cocos2d before, you can learn more here.

Getting started with the AnySDK Framework and AdMob

  1. If your app isn’t already integrated with AnySDK, download the AnySDK Framework.
  2. Follow the getting started guide to import the framework.
  3. Update your app to integrate the AnySDK Ads System. AdMob supports the AD_TYPE_BANNER and AD_TYPE_FULLSCREEN ad types. The games guide discusses the calls that are relevant for AdMob.
  4. Use the AnySDK package tool so specify AdMob as your desired ad system.

AnySDK package tool

Once you’ve configured your app for ads, the AnySDK package tool is where the magic happens. In the SDK Management section of your app configuration, specify AdMob as your ad provider.

In the Parameter Config section, configure your ad unit IDs for banners and/or interstitials, as well as the size and position for banner ads.

When you reach the Publishing section, simply Browse for your app and select Start.

That’s it! This step will generate the new version of your app with AdMob included!

Where to get help

For help integrating AnySDK into your apps, consult the contact link on AnySDK’s homepage.

We’d also love to get your feedback! Please let us know your experience integrating AdMob into your Cocos2d apps on our developer forum.

 - , Mobile Ads Developer Relations

AdWords API v201402 Sunset – 2 weeks remaining

We'd like to remind you that the AdWords API v201402 was deprecated on July 9th and will be sunset on November 6th, 2014. With the sunset deadline only a few weeks away, if you haven't already migrated to v201406 or v201409, please do so as soon as possible.

As with each sunset, we have the following resources available for you:
If you have any questions or need help with the migration, please post on the forum or the Ads Developers Plus Page.
 - , AdWords API Team.