Smart Display Campaigns Change in AdWords API and Google Ads API Starting January 31, 2020

On January 31, 2020, the AdWords API and Google Ads API will no longer allow positive user list criteria in Smart Display campaigns.

What happens to my existing Smart Display Campaigns?
Existing Smart Display campaigns with positive user list targeting:

• Will continue to serve without interruption.
• Will no longer allow adding a positive CampaignCriterion or AdGroupCriterion with a user list criterion.
• Will no longer serve if the ad group is paused and then restarted.

What code do I need to change?
Please update your code that manages Smart Display campaigns per the following updated validation rules:

AdWords API	Google Ads API
Positive CampaignCriterion.criterion set to CriterionUserList can no longer be added.	Positive CampaignCriterion.user_list can no longer be added.
Positive AdGroupCriterion.criterion set to CriterionUserList can no longer be added.	Positive AdGroupCriterion.user_list can no longer be added.

You will receive a CANNOT_TARGET_CRITERION error if you try to add one of these criteria.

Why is this changing?
Adding these criteria for Smart Display campaigns was never formally supported as outlined in our Smart Display campaigns guide. Additional validation is being put in place now to make sure that these values are not being set. Please see the guide for supporting criteria.

If you have any questions while updating your code, please reach out to us on our Google Ads API and AdWords API forum.
Nadine Wang, Google Ads API Team