Changes to responsive ads in the AdWords API and Google Ads API

Update (Aug 6, 2019): Links and wording updated to reflect changes in v1 of Google Ads API. Renamed the existing ResponsiveDisplayAdInfo type to LegacyResponsiveDisplayAdInfo. Added a new ResponsiveDisplayAdInfo type for asset-based responsive display ads.

What's changing?
Starting May 15, 2019, AdWords API and Google Ads API requests that attempt to create or modify a responsive ad will fail. Make sure you migrate to the new asset-based responsive display ad before the deprecation date.

Due to changes and improvements to ad types in Display campaigns, keeping track of the names in the UI and APIs can be tricky, so here's a quick overview:

Ad type in the UI	AdWords API type	Google Ads API type
Responsive ad	ResponsiveDisplayAd	LegacyResponsiveDisplayAdInfo
Responsive display ad	MultiAssetResponsiveDisplayAd	ResponsiveDisplayAdInfo

After the deprecation date, behavior of the APIs will change as follows:

• AdWords API
  • AdGroupAdService requests that attempt to create a ResponsiveDisplayAd will fail with the error AdGroupAdError.CANNOT_CREATE_DEPRECATED_ADS. The API will continue to allow you to remove ResponsiveDisplayAds and modify the status of existing ads.
  • AdService requests that attempt to modify a ResponsiveDisplayAd will fail with the error AdError.CANNOT_MODIFY_AD.
• Google Ads API
  • AdGroupAdService requests that attempt to create a LegacyResponsiveDisplayAdInfo will fail with the error AdGroupAdError.CANNOT_CREATE_DEPRECATED_ADS. The API will continue to allow you to remove LegacyResponsiveDisplayAdInfos and modify the status of existing ads.

Both APIs will continue to return performance statistics for the deprecated ad types.

Why is this happening?
In October, 2018, responsive display ads replaced responsive ads as the default asset-based ad type for the Display network. To simplify the product suite, we'll be deprecating creation and modification of responsive ads.

What should you do?
Before the deprecation date:

• If you use the AdWords API, modify your code to use ResponsiveDisplayAdInfo wherever you currently use ResponsiveDisplayAd. Check out the guide and accompanying code example in the .NET, Java, Python, or Ruby client library to help you with the migration.
• If you use the Google Ads API, modify your code to use ResponsiveDisplayAdInfo whenever you currently use LegacyResponsiveDisplayAdInfo.

If you have any questions or need help, please contact us via the forum.
- Josh Radcliff, Google Ads API Team