If you submit AdWords API
exemption requests for policy violations, then you may need to modify your application as a result of
these recently announced policy changes.
What is changing?
For some policy violations, the values of the
externalPolicyName,
externalPolicyUrl, and
externalPolicyDescription fields on
PolicyViolationError will change.
What is not changing?
The
policyName field value on
PolicyViolationError.key will not change.
Could you remind me what a PolicyViolationError looks like?
Absolutely - glad you asked! In the following sample, after the policy changes go live, the content in
externalPolicyName,
externalPolicyUrl, and
externalPolicyDescription may change, but the
policyName field will stay the same.
<errors xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="PolicyViolationError">
<fieldPath>operations[0].operand.ad.headline</fieldPath>
<trigger/>
<errorString>AdPolicyError.POLICY_ERROR</errorString>
<ApiError.Type>PolicyViolationError</ApiError.Type>
<key>
<policyName>nonstandard_punctuation</policyName>
<violatingText>!!!</violatingText>
</key>
<externalPolicyName>Non-standard punctuation</externalPolicyName>
<externalPolicyUrl/>...</externalPolicyUrl>
<externalPolicyDescription>Google ads aren't allowed to have excessive or unnecessary punctuation or symbols such as the following:
...
<a href="https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/176095" target="_blank">See the full policy</a>
</externalPolicyDescription>
<isExemptable>true</isExemptable>
<violatingParts>
<index>18</index>
<length>3</length>
</violatingParts>
</errors>
What should you do?
If your application looks for specific values of
externalPolicyName,
externalPolicyUrl, or
externalPolicyDescription to decide if a failed
AdGroupAdOperation should be resubmitted with one or more
ExemptionRequests, please make the following changes:
- Modify your application to use the policyName instead of one of the
externalPolicy fields. The values for policyName are non-localized constants, so this is a more reliable field for this use case.
- In early June, 2016, monitor your logs for occurrences of
PolicyViolationError. Look for any new policyName values that you may want to incorporate into your application's logic for submitting exemption requests.
If you have any questions or need help, please post on the
forum or the
Ads Developers Plus Page.
- Josh Radcliff, AdWords API Team
