demographics targeting in adgroup

[V54328u]

I am able to create campaign successfully and  adgroup.

i have added code for demographics targeting : age, gender and parental status.

Suppose a user has selected age range "18-24"

next i am using 

AgeRange newAge = new AgeRange();

newAge.setId("id as per google api");

BiddableAdGroupCriterion biddableAdGroupCriterion = new BiddableAdGroupCriterion();

    biddableAdGroupCriterion.setAdGroupId(adGroup.getId());

    biddableAdGroupCriterion.setCriterion(newAge);

AdGroupCriterionOperation genderAdGroupCriterionOperation = new AdGroupCriterionOperation();

genderAdGroupCriterionOperation.setOperand(biddableAdGroupCriterion);

genderAdGroupCriterionOperation.setOperator(Operator.ADD);

// i am adding all "AdGroupCriterionOperation" to an array "adGrpOperations".

adGrpOperations.add(genderAdGroupCriterionOperation);

AdGroupCriterionReturnValue adGrpresult = adGroupCriterionService.mutate(adGrpOperations.toArray(new AdGroupCriterionOperation[adGrpOperations.size()]));

this code is working fine, i do not get any error.. my campaign and adgroup is created. but when i check in google , all age range are targeted... for not including the other age range, do i need to use NegativeAdGroupCriterion?

am i doing something wrong in this?..please help

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hello, 

When a new ad group is created, until you explicitly set a demographic targeting criterion, everything will be targeted by default. No targeting criteria would mean target all criteria. That said, when you explicitly set a targeting criterion, the other ranges in that demographics should be automatically set to "Removed" status. I was able to test this using the API. To be sure, could you please try to create a new ad group and target any one criterion in a demographic, for instance age range 18to24 (503001) and then check the UI to see if the correct status is reflected? If not, could you confirm the API version that you are using? Also, if you could share that ad group id without making any further updates, it will help me in troubleshooting. 

Thanks,
Sreelakshmi, AdWords API Team

[V54328u]

Hello Sreelakshmi,

Thanks for looking into the issue..

i created a campaign again, targeting the following criterion:

age range: 18-24(503001),
Gender: Female(11),
Parental Status: Parent(300)

In the UI, it shows that all the criterion are targeted.
API version: 201802
Ad group ID: 56741940436

[V54328u]

Also, i am having the same issue when setting device type. Using AdGroupBidModifierService.

On Friday, June 29, 2018 at 12:18:56 AM UTC+5:30, Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team) wrote:

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hello, 

Thanks for the details. I was able to recreate the issue that you specified. However, one way to confirm that the criterion is really set is to perform an AdGroupCriterionService.get() for that ad group and check that the ones you set are the only ones which are being returned by the API. If you wish to specifically exclude other ranges in a given demographic, you could explicitly set it as a NegativeAdGroupCriterion. I will confirm with the team if the UI not reflecting the status is actually the expected behavior. In the meantime, could you please use the method suggested above to identify which demographic criterion is set?

About the AdGroupBidModifierService, you will have to have the criterion explicitly set in order to set the bid adjustments via this service. Could you please elaborate what is the behavior you are observing while using this service? If you have the SOAP logs, that will be helpful too. Please use reply privately to author while sharing the details. 

[V54328u]

hello, could you please help me on this issue.. i sent you privately required details earlier

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hello,

I had replied to you on the private thread that I am following up with the team for further updates and to check if the current behavior is the expected behavior. Also, that the AdGroupBidModifierService can only be used to set the bid adjustments for the supported criterion types. To add the criterion, you will still need to use the AdGroupCriterionService. 

I do have some updates regarding the demographic criterion like Gender, AgeRange, Parental status. These criteria types are special as they have discrete set of possible values and all the possible values will be enabled by default on each campaign and ad group. Which means, all the values are targeted by default. 

If you want to target only one of the values (such as AgeRange 35-44 for example), the proper approach is to exclude all the other values for the campaign or ad group based on your use case. That said, the API's behavior is inline with what is shared above. Since all the values are enabled anyway, setting one range explicitly is not making the difference. Hope this clarifies your question. Please let me know if you have any further questions. 

Thanks,
Sreelakshmi, AdWords API team

[V54328u]

so, i added negative criterion and then it worked for me.. thanks for the reply.

sorry for the late feedback.

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hello, 

Glad to know that you were able to work with the suggested approach.