Important information for Performance Max campaigns using page feeds with text asset automation opted out

Note: You can ignore this if you are not using Google Ads Performance Max with page feeds and text asset automation

What’s happened?

In October 2023, as part of Google Ads API v15, we launched the ability to configure your campaign to automatically generate text assets. Assets such as dynamic headlines or descriptions that match your landing page content can be configured by setting the Campaign.AssetAutomationSetting of TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION to be opted-in or opted-out. We also launched the ListingGroupFilterDimension.Webpage dimension to allow Performance Max campaigns to filter URLs from a page feed specified by a CampaignAssetSet linking the campaign to an AssetSet of type PAGE_FEED.

For this feature to work correctly, developers need to provide BOTH the page feed configuration AND set text asset automation to OPTED_IN (which is the default behavior, if you do not specify a Campaign.AssetAutomationSetting of type TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION). We noticed that some developers have included a page feed or a listing group filter for a webpage, but have text asset automation set to OPTED_OUT. Unfortunately this combination will not correctly utilize the page feed for Performance Max campaigns as might be expected.

What is happening today?

Starting Feb 15, 2024, we will begin throwing OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT errors if a Performance Max campaign is created or updated such that it contains the follow incompatible state:

Incompatible state for a Performance Max campaign with a page feed and text asset automation
Campaign.AssetAutomationSetting of type TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION is set to OPTED_OUT	AND	A CampaignAssetSet linking the campaign to an AssetSet of type PAGE_FEED
		OR
		An AssetGroupListingGroupFilter with ListingGroupFilterDimension set to Webpage.

We are doing this to let you know that this combination is not valid and won’t serve ads utilizing landing page content as expected.

What happens next?

For those developers who have campaigns in this incompatible state, starting April 15, 2024, we will automatically fix the compatibility by removing CampaignAssetSet resources linking a campaign to an AssetSet of type PAGE_FEED and removing AssetGroupListingGroupFilter resources with ListingGroupFilterDimension set to Webpage only if the Campaign.AssetAutomationSetting of type TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION is set to OPTED_OUT. This fix will match how the campaign is currently serving and no action is required if you would like the campaign to remain in this state. If you would like to utilize the landing page content, then you will need to opt-in to text asset automation.

What do I need to do?

First, confirm that you are using text asset automation and page feed assets or asset group listing filters with webpage dimensions in your Performance Max campaigns. Otherwise, you are not impacted by this change.

To check if your Performance Max campaign is in an incompatible state for page feeds, run the following GAQL queries:

1) Check for page feeds linked to campaigns that have text asset automation opted-out:

SELECT 
  asset_set.id, 
  asset_set.name, 
  asset_set.resource_name, 
  campaign.id, 
  campaign.name, 
  campaign.resource_name, 
  campaign.asset_automation_settings, 
  campaign_asset_set.status, 
  campaign.status 
FROM campaign_asset_set 
WHERE 
  campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX' 
  AND asset_set.type = 'PAGE_FEED' 
  AND asset_set.status = 'ENABLED' 
  AND campaign_asset_set.status = 'ENABLED' 
  AND campaign.status != 'REMOVED' 

You may be impacted if any of the CampaignAssetSet resources, linking a campaign to an AssetSet of type PAGE_FEED, have a campaign_asset_set.status that is set to ENABLED and an item in campaign.asset_automation_settings with TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION set to OPTED_OUT.

2) Check for asset group listing group filters with dimension webpage for campaigns that have text asset automation opted-out:

SELECT 
  asset_group.id, 
  asset_group.name, 
  asset_group.resource_name, 
  asset_group_listing_group_filter.case_value.webpage.conditions, 
  asset_group_listing_group_filter.id, 
  asset_group_listing_group_filter.resource_name, 
  asset_group_listing_group_filter.listing_source, 
  campaign.id, 
  campaign.name, 
  campaign.resource_name, 
  campaign.asset_automation_settings, 
  campaign.status 
FROM asset_group_listing_group_filter 
WHERE 
  asset_group.status != 'REMOVED' 
  AND campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX' 
  AND asset_group_listing_group_filter.listing_source = 'WEBPAGE' 
  AND campaign.status != 'REMOVED'

You may be impacted if any of the AssetGroupListingGroupFilter resources have a case_value that is a Webpage and an item in campaign.asset_automation_settings with TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION set to OPTED_OUT.

Manually fix the inconsistent state of the campaign

If you would like to manually configure the campaign yourself ahead of the automatic fix, we suggest one of the two options:

Options to manually fix the inconsistent state of a Performance Max campaign
OPTION A) Turn on text asset automation
Set Campaign.AssetAutomationSetting of type TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION to OPTED_IN
OPTION B) Remove associated page feed references
Remove BOTH:
The CampaignAssetSet linking the campaign to an AssetSet of type PAGE_FEED	AND	The AssetGroupListingGroupFilter with ListingGroupFilterDimension set to Webpage.

You will be able to make this change until April 15, 2024, after which option B will be automatically applied to fix the Performance Max campaign. Note that after the automatic fix is applied, the serving state of the campaign won't change from how it is serving today.

How do I get support?

For more details on how to correctly use automatically generated text assets with landing pages, see the automatically created assets section of the Performance Max guide. If you require further support, please reach out to our team via one of our support channels.

Ian Ballantyne, Google Ads API Team