Announcing deprecation and sunset of Similar Audiences

On November 1, 2022, we announced our plans to sunset Similar Audiences in 2023 as we work on simplifying our existing product portfolio and strengthening our future-proof solutions in a changing privacy landscape. We expect to roll out this change in two phases for both Google Ads API and Google Ads scripts:

1. Starting May 2023: New similar audiences segments will stop being generated, and existing similar audiences segments will no longer be added to campaigns and ad groups. Ad groups and campaigns that already have similar audience segments attached will continue to function as expected.
2. Starting August 2023: Similar audience segments will be removed from all ad groups and campaigns. You will continue to have access to historical reporting data for similar audience segments from past campaigns.

What is the impact on Google Ads API?
Any requests that mutate entities related to Similar Audiences will start failing with errors. This includes:

• Creating or updating logical user lists using UserListService.MutateUserLists or audiences using AudienceService.MutateAudiences.
• Setting targeting at campaign-level using CampaignCriterionService.MutateCampaignCriteria or at ad group-level using AdGroupCriterionService.MutateAdGroupCriteria.
• Setting conversion value rules using ConversionValueRuleService.MutateConversionValueRules.

The data retrieved using GoogleAdsService.Search or GoogleAdsService.SearchStream requests will gradually be depleted of any references to Similar Audiences. This includes queries relying on the reports user_list, audience, combined_audience, and any others that are based on targeting, or conversion values segments or metrics. When we get closer to the sunset date, check out the deprecation and sunset guide for the exact errors that will be thrown.

What is the impact on Google Ads scripts?
Any requests that relate to Similar Audiences are impacted. Mutating requests will start failing with errors and reporting requests will start returning data depleted of any references to Similar Audiences. This includes:

• Accessing or updating similar or logical user lists using AdsApp.UserList.
• Accessing targeting using AdsApp.Targeting, AdsApp.CampaignTargeting, or AdsApp.AccountAdGroupTargeting.
• Reporting from the Google Ads API reports user_list, audience, combined_audience, and any others that are based on targeting, or conversion values segments or metrics.

What should I do?
We recommend that API users manually migrate and stop using Similar Audiences before May 2023 in their calls to avoid any disruptions. You can refer to the announcement and Help Center article to learn more about migration options.

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