Adwords currently supports demographic targeting only for Display network campaigns, but
starting September 19, 2016 and launching over the subsequent days, demographic targeting will also be supported for Search campaigns.
All existing AdWords API versions will retroactively allow these criteria in Search campaigns.
The benefit here for AdWords API users is that
AgeRange and
Gender criteria will be allowed in Search campaigns. Formerly, you would receive a
CriterionError.CANNOT_ADD_CRITERION_TO_SEARCH_PLUS_CAMPAIGNS error when trying to add these types.
If your application does any type of automatic bidding, make sure that you update your app to accommodate these new potential bid modifiers on Search campaigns before September 19. These new criteria may be added by users of the AdWords user interface, so your code may have to handle them even if your application doesn't add them explicitly. This may be particularly relevant if you use the "Target and bid" (
targetAll=false) option in
TargetingSettingDetail, because the new criteria will begin restricting targeting.
If you have any questions about this change, or other questions about the AdWords API, contact us via the
forum.
- Michael Cloonan, AdWords API Team
