Google Ads Developer Blog: October 2017

Kotlin and the Google Mobile Ads SDK

Friday, October 27, 2017

One of the biggest cheers from the crowd at I/O '17 came in response to Stephanie Saad Cuthbertson's announcement that Kotlin would be an officially supported language for Android development starting with Android Studio 3.0. If you're an AdMob or Doubleclick publisher who's been eager to make the leap to a new language, we've got another announcement you might like: now that the new version of Android Studio has launched, we've released bunch of new mobile ads resources to support the Kotlin community. If you haven't seen Kotlin yet, it's a statically typed language developed by JetBrains that compiles down to the same JVM bytecode that Java does, but includes a number of new features that can make Android development faster and easier. Things like dedicated data classes with less boilerplate, the Elvis operator, lambdas, SAM conversion, explicit nullability for references, and lots of other modern language features come built-in. For more information, see Introduction to Kotlin (also from I/O '17) in which Andrey Breslav and Hadi Hariri code up examples of the language's best features: When you're done, you can see those same features in action in our new developer resources, which are now available to the AdMob and Doubleclick publisher community. Samples The Mobile Ads DevRel team maintains a GitHub repository of Android samples covering our API, and we've pushed Kotlin versions for each ad format. If you been wondering how Kotlin's Android extensions work with AdMob's banner ad layouts, for example, we've got a new sample app that'll show you. If you're curious how native ads work with all the new nullability stuff, we've got you covered with Kotlin samples for those formats as well. In addition, we've included a new version of our API Demo app, which features a navigation drawer full of individual API demos for things like banner sizes, category exclusions, and more, all in Kotlin.

Implementation Guides We've also updated our publisher guides with Kotlin snippets wherever code is shown. Similar to the mobile ads guides for iOS (which show either Swift or Objective-C syntax with a click of a tab), the Android guides now let developers easily switch back and forth between Java and Kotlin implementations. Questions? If you take a look at the Kotlin guides and samples and find you've got questions about the best way to implement something in Android's first ever new language, stop by our support forum. Our staff there will be happy to help.

- Andrew Brogdon, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Ad Exchange Seller REST API Deprecation

Thursday, October 26, 2017

The Ad Exchange Seller REST API is being deprecated as of October 26, 2017. No new API clients will be supported after this date. Existing API clients will need to migrate to the DoubleClick for Publishers API before July 26, 2018. After this date, all requests to the Ad Exchange Seller REST API will return errors.

What action is required

Current Ad Exchange Seller REST API users will need to migrate to the DoubleClick for Publishers API before July 26, 2018. This migration guide provides a mapping of each Ad Exchange reporting metric to its equivalent in the DFP API.

For more details about reporting in the DFP API, see the reporting guide.

For general assistance with the DFP API or your migration, reach out on our developer forum.

Why this is happening

As a part of our effort to provide a unified tool to manage your ad business and monetize your inventory, the DoubleClick for Publishers API now supports all of the features of the Ad Exchange Seller REST API. The DFP API is more robust and has more frequent updates.

What isn't changing

Users will not need to create new accounts. All Ad Exchange Seller users already have a DoubleClick for Publishers account.

No data is changing. The only change is how you programmatically access that data.

- Chris Seeley, DFP API Team

Get your ads ready for iPhone X

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Cross-posted from the AdMob blog. Every interaction a user has with your app matters. That's why we're constantly evolving our advertising recommendations and policies to ensure that no matter where and on what device users are engaging with your apps, they have good experiences.

Example of ad appearing outside of "safe area" on iPhone X With the launch of the iPhone X, app developers now need to plan for new design considerations as the rounded corners, notch, and home screen indicator on the extended screen can obscure content and lead to poor ad experiences for users when ads are placed in these areas. That's why we've put together a guide to help you adapt your ad strategy for iPhone X. This includes guidance for how you can shift placement of banner or native ads to designated "safe areas" for this new device. We've also updated our policies to indicate that ads must not be placed where objects may interfere with the user's typical interaction with the ad or app, such as under the home screen indicator on the iPhone X. Please review these policy updates and our suggested implementation guide to ensure you're compliant by November 20th. If you have any questions, visit the AdMob Help Center or contact your Google account team.Posted by Pablo Alvarez, Product Manager, AdMob

KeywordOptimizer: Call For Feature Requests

Thursday, October 19, 2017

The KeywordOptimizer open-source app demonstrates the exciting possibilities of using the Targeting Idea Service in the AdWords API to identify new keyword suggestions. The app shows how, in combination with estimated traffic volume, to generate new keyword targeting ideas for AdWords using an evolutionary approach. We think that there is a lot more that the tool could do to demonstrate these and other features so we’re asking for your ideas to help shape the future development of the app.

If you’re interested in using KeywordOptimizer or are already using it, we would like to hear your ideas on how we can improve the app. Please submit your suggestions via the GitHub issues page.

- Damien Allison, AdWords API Team

Announcing v201710 of the AdWords API

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Today we’re announcing the release of AdWords API v201710. Here are some of the highlights for key AdWords features:

Account-level placement exclusions. The new CustomerNegativeCriterionService allows you to exclude specific criteria across all campaigns in an account. The guide contains step-by-step instructions for using this service.
Promotion extensions. You can now create promotion extensions for different languages. Check out the updated Extension Settings guide for examples and instructions.
Shared sets for manager accounts. The AdWords API now supports the creation of shared negative keyword sets for manager accounts. Previously, creation of SharedSets via the AdWords API was only supported for client accounts.
Ad rotation settings. You can now manage the new ad rotation settings announced in August via the AdWords API. The updated code examples for adding AdGroups demonstrate how to set the new rotation options.
Customer match by phone number. You can now include phone numbers when uploading Members of a CrmBasedUserList. The updated remarketing guide contains requirements and details.
Batch job support for shared sets. BatchJobService now supports CampaignSharedSetOperations, SharedCriterionOperations, and SharedSetOperations for managing shared sets. Check out the updated Batch Processing guide for details.

If you’re using v201702 of the AdWords API, please note that it will be sunset on February 14, 2018. We encourage you to skip v201705 and v201708 and migrate straight to v201710. Please note that v201705 is deprecated. As mentioned in the recent blog post on the sunset and release schedule, both v201705 and v201708 will be sunset on March 28, 2018.

As with every new version of the AdWords API, please carefully review all changes in the release notes and the v201710 migration guide. The updated client libraries and code examples will be published within the next 48 hours.

If you have any questions or need help with migration, please post on the forum or the Ads Developers Plus Page.

- Josh Radcliff on behalf of the AdWords API Team

AdWords API release and sunset schedule in 2018

Monday, October 9, 2017

In 2016 and 2017 we supported at least three versions of the AdWords API at any given time and four versions for a brief period after each new release. This led to older versions of the API supporting outdated functionality and lacking new features.

To improve your AdWords API experience, we will be updating our release schedule. Starting in March 2018 we will only support two releases concurrently at all times, and three releases for a brief period of four weeks, allowing developers to skip a version. To get us back on schedule, we will concurrently sunset v201705 and v201708 in March 2018. This brings the average lifespan of every API version released in 2018 down to nine months.

Additionally, we will be moving back to a schedule that releases three versions per year. The 2018 releases are scheduled for February, June and September.

As usual, make sure to check our deprecation schedule for more details on sunsets. If you have any questions about the new schedule, please reach out to us on the AdWords API forum or the Ads Developers Plus Page.

Herlen Zoljargal, AdWords API Team

Sunset of DFP API v201611

Monday, October 9, 2017

On Thursday, November 30th, 2017, in accordance with the deprecation schedule, v201611 of the DFP API will be sunset. At that time, any requests made to this version will return errors.

If you’re still using this version, now’s the time to upgrade to the latest release and take advantage of new features like support for creating ImageOverlayCreatives, new Ad Exchange reporting dimensions and columns, and the change history table. In order to upgrade, check the release notes to identify any breaking changes, grab the latest version of your client library, and update your code.

Significant changes include:

Reporting dimensions and columns are now at parity with Ad Exchange.
Editing AdUnit assignments to Placements now happens in the Placement service.
AdUnit.inheritedAdSenseSettings has been replaced with AdUnit.adSenseSettings and AdUnit.adSenseSettingsSource.
The AdUnit fields mobilePlatform, partnerId, isSharedByDistributor, and crossSellingDistributor have been removed.
Placement fields adSenseTargetingLocale, isAdsenseTargetingEnabled, targetingDescription, targetingSiteName, and targetingAdLocation have been removed to align with the UI.
Company.Type enumerations AFFILIATE_DISTRIBUTION_PARTNER and CONTENT_PARTNER have been removed.
CrossSellingDistributor has been removed.
Old partner metrics have been replaced by new PARTNER_MANAGEMENT fields.

This is not an exhaustive list, so as always, don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions. To be notified of future deprecations and sunsets, join the DFP API Sunset Announcements group and adjust your notification settings.

- Gabe Rives-Corbett, DFP API Team

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