Going forward, if you use Content API for Shopping through Google Apps Script or Google Ads scripts, new scripts will use Content API v2.1 by default. This change is part of the ...Read More

Going forward, if you use Content API for Shopping through Google Apps Script or Google Ads scripts, new scripts will use Content API v2.1 by default. This change is part of the deprecation of Content API for Shopping v2, scheduled for sunset on September 30th, 2021, after which scripts that depend on v2 features won’t work.

If you currently have a Google Apps script or Google Ads script that uses Content API for Shopping v2, then we strongly recommend you migrate to v2.1. Please note that some methods and fields in v2 are no longer supported in v2.1 (for example Inventory.set), so check the availability of methods and fields you use when you migrate. See the migration guide for more detail.

If you need help implementing this change, please visit the Content API for Shopping forum.
Ian Ballantyne, Content API for Shopping Team

Google Ads API v6 will sunset on September 8, 2021. After this date, all v6 API requests will begin to fail. Please migrate to a newer version prior to September 8, 2021 to ensure your API access is unaffected.Read More

Google Ads API v6 will sunset on September 8, 2021. After this date, all v6 API requests will begin to fail. Please migrate to a newer version prior to September 8, 2021 to ensure your API access is unaffected.

We've prepared various resources to help you with the migration:

• Upgrading to the newest version
• Release notes

If you have questions while you’re upgrading, please reach out to us on the forum or at googleadsapi-support@google.com.
 -  Thanet Knack Praneenararat, Google Ads API Team

Today we’re launching the beta version of the new Google Ads scripts experience. Existing scripts won’t be affected, but if you're interested in trying some new features and performance improvements, you can opt in on an individual script basis. To do so, open your script and switch on the ...Read More

Today we’re launching the beta version of the new Google Ads scripts experience. Existing scripts won’t be affected, but if you're interested in trying some new features and performance improvements, you can opt in on an individual script basis. To do so, open your script and switch on the new scripts experience (Beta) toggle above the code:

The code works on the same interface you've been using all along, so your existing scripts will be compatible with minimal changes.

Some highlight features include:

• Support for ES6, including let, classes, for..of loops, and more.
• Improved throughput, meaning you can process more entities in the same amount of time. We've also removed the entity limits on processing, although time limits remain in place.
• More control over setting up and maintaining bidding strategies.

The beta doesn’t currently support manager account scripts or bulk uploads, but watch out for those features in a future update.

See our developers site for full information on the new experience, including migration information, performance improvements, and updated best practices.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding the new experience, please leave a post on our forum so that we can help.
- Mike Cloonan, Google Ads Scripts Team

We are pleased to announce a new Content API interface developers can use to verify phone numbers for Merchant Center accounts. Phone verification is an important step in providing contact information ...Read More

We are pleased to announce a new Content API interface developers can use to verify phone numbers for Merchant Center accounts. Phone verification is an important step in providing contact information for an account and can also help address account status issues such as PENDING_PHONE_VERIFICATION, which in some cases can enable the option for an account re-review. Prior to this release, this was only possible in the Merchant Center user interface.

Two new methods are provided in the 2-step verification process:

• accounts.requestphonenumberverification - Initializes the verification of a provided phone number via phone call or SMS through issuing a verification code.
• accounts.verifyphonenumber - Allows the phone number to be verified with the sent verification code.

Once verified, the phone number will appear in the Accounts.AccountBusinessInformation. The new methods replace the prior approach of setting a phone number directly. We strongly recommend you use these new methods to verify the phone numbers for all Merchant Center accounts to avoid future issues. See the Phone Verification guide for examples and more detail.

If you require further support implementing this change, please visit the Content API for Shopping forum.
Ian Ballantyne, Content API for Shopping Team

We previously announced changes to how Smart Bidding strategies are organized to help advertisers choose the right one. Google Ads API developers can now create new or update existing Search campaigns using the following bidding strategies ...Read More

We previously announced changes to how Smart Bidding strategies are organized to help advertisers choose the right one. Google Ads API developers can now create new or update existing Search campaigns using the following bidding strategies:

• MaximizeConversions, with an optional target_cpa field (mutable starting in v8)
• MaximizeConversionValue, with an optional target_roas field

What’s changing
Starting on September 30, 2021, Google Ads API developers won’t be able to create new TargetCpa or TargetRoas standard bidding strategies in Search campaigns. This change will prevent creating new Search campaigns that use these strategies, as well as prevent updating existing Search campaigns to use these strategies. Instead, use the new optional target CPA field with MaximizeConversions, and the new target ROAS field with MaximizeConversionValue. This change will not affect portfolio (shared) bidding strategies.

AdWords API
AdWords API users can continue to use the old style TargetRoasBiddingScheme and TargetCpaBiddingScheme bidding strategies, since v201809 of that API does not contain the MaximizeConversions.target_cpa field required to migrate to the new style bidding strategies. Their usage will sunset when the AdWords API itself sunsets in April, 2022. Switch to using the new bidding strategies when you migrate your code to the Google Ads API.

What to do
Update any code that creates or updates standard (non-portfolio) TargetCpa or TargetRoas Search campaigns. Use MaximizeConversions or MaximizeConversionValue strategies with their target_cpa (mutable starting in v8) or target_roas fields instead.

There will be no impact to bidding behavior due to this update. Using MaximizeConversions with target_cpa will have the same bidding behavior as TargetCpa. Likewise, using MaximizeConversionValue with target_roas will have the same bidding behavior as TargetRoas.

Refer to our product level announcement for more details on this change.

All existing campaigns using TargetCpa or TargetRoas will continue to run as usual, and you will still be able to manage their bidding strategies and budgets as before. We’ll give advance notice before automatically migrating these old bidding strategies to the new format in 2022.

If you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the forum or at googleadsapi-support@google.com.
Adam Ohren, Google Ads API Team

We’re announcing our tentative 2022 release and sunset schedule for upcoming versions of the Google Ads API to bring greater clarity to your planning cycle. Please keep in mind that these dates are only estimates and may be adjusted going forward. Additionally, releases may be added, removed or switched between major and minor. Check back with our ...Read More

We’re announcing our tentative 2022 release and sunset schedule for upcoming versions of the Google Ads API to bring greater clarity to your planning cycle. Please keep in mind that these dates are only estimates and may be adjusted going forward. Additionally, releases may be added, removed or switched between major and minor. Check back with our release notes and deprecation schedule for updates.

Note: The AdWords API will sunset in April 2022. Migrate all requests to the Google Ads API by then to continue managing your Google Ads accounts.

Version	Planned Release Type*	Projected launch*	Projected sunset*
v7	Major	April 28, 2021 (launched)	January/February 2022
v8	Major	June 9, 2021 (launched)	March/April 2022
v8_1	Minor	August 2021	March/April 2022
v9	Major	October 2021	June/July 2022
v10	Major	February/March 2022	October/November 2022
v10_1	Minor	April/May 2022	October/November 2022
v11	Major	June/July 2022	March/April 2023
v11_1	Minor	August/September 2022	March/April 2023
v12	Major	October/November 2022	June/July 2023

*Estimated and subject to change
Where can I learn more?
The following resources can help you with your development planning:

• Release Notes
• Deprecation Schedule
• Migration Guide
• AdWords API to Google Ads API Migration

If you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the forum.
- David Stevens, Google Ads API Product Manager

We're excited to announce that performance reporting is now available in v2.1 of the Content API for Shopping. With the search method of the Reports service, you can programmatically retrieve all of the performance data that's ...Read More

We're excited to announce that performance reporting is now available in v2.1 of the Content API for Shopping. With the search method of the Reports service, you can programmatically retrieve all of the performance data that's available in the Merchant Center.

Requests to the Reports service use the new Merchant Center Query Language, which gives you control over which metrics to download, how to segment/group your data, and which criteria to apply for selecting the result set. If you also use the reporting features of the Google Ads API, you’ll find that many of these concepts are familiar.

For example, the following query will result in a report of impressions, clicks, and clickthrough rate (CTR) over the last 30 days, summarized by date, brand, and offer ID.

SELECT
  segments.date,
  segments.brand,
  segments.offer_id,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.ctr
FROM MerchantPerformanceView
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
  AND segments.category_l2 IN ('Clothing', 'Shoes')

For more details, check out the Reporting guides, which include an overview, a quick example to get you started, and an explanation of key concepts, including how to compose queries in the Merchant Center Query Language.

If you have any questions or need help with the new reporting service, please contact us through the Content API for Shopping forum.

Josh Radcliff, Content API for Shopping Team

 - Jonathon Imperiosi, Publisher Ads Audits Team Read More

Today, we're announcing the general release of Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse v1.5.0. The major highlights of this release are:

• New ad JS blocking time metric.
• Cumulative Ad Shift changes to align with the new, windowed CLS definition.
• Updates to support Lighthouse v8.0.0.

A number of smaller enhancements and fixes are also included. For complete details, see the release notes and the changelog on GitHub.

Try it out and let us know what you think

Publisher Ads Audits v1.5.0 is already available to use. You can try generating an updated report from the web app, or grab the latest CLI release from GitHub or npm to run locally. Updates to the Chrome DevTools version will land in Chrome Stable with the Chrome 94 release (est. Sept 2021).

Have questions about this or anything else Ad Speed related? Interested in contributing? Visit our GitHub repo.

 - Jonathon Imperiosi, Publisher Ads Audits Team