How to Create Performance Max Campaigns via Google Ads Scripts

May 23, 2024 at 4:01:01 PM

TL;DR Google Ads published a new guide on creating Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads scripts. These guides focus on using the new mutate function, which lets you access most features from the Google Ads API. By following these guides, you can customize operations to automate tasks with scripts. Check out the mutate strategy section for general advice.

How to Create Performance Max Campaigns via Google Ads Scripts

Google Ads published new guides on creating Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads scripts using the mutate function. This function provides access to most features of the full Google Ads API, enabling the automation of various tasks. Performance Max campaigns unify all Google Ads channels and inventory, optimizing performance and reducing management complexity by dynamically allocating budgets to high-performing channels like Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.

How to create a Performance Max campaign using Google Ads scripts

To create a Performance Max campaign using Google Ads scripts, follow these steps:

Create a Budget:

const budgetOperation = {
  "campaignBudgetOperation": {
    "create": {
      "resourceName": `customers/${customerId}/campaignBudgets/${getNextTempId()}`,
      "name": "Performance Max campaign budget",
      "amountMicros": "50000000",
      "deliveryMethod": "STANDARD",
      "explicitlyShared": false
    }
  }
};
operations.push(budgetOperation);

Create the Campaign:

const campaignOperation = {
  "campaignOperation": {
    "create": {
      "resourceName": `customers/${customerId}/campaigns/${getNextTempId()}`,
      "name": "Performance Max campaign",
      "status": "PAUSED",
      "advertisingChannelType": "PERFORMANCE_MAX",
      "campaignBudget": budgetOperation.campaignBudgetOperation.create.resourceName,
      "biddingStrategyType": "MAXIMIZE_CONVERSION_VALUE",
      "startDate": "20240314",
      "endDate": "20250313",
      "urlExpansionOptOut": false,
      "maximizeConversionValue": {
        "targetRoas": 3.5
      }
    }
  }
};
operations.push(campaignOperation);

Create an Asset Group:

const assetGroupOperation = {
  "assetGroupOperation": {
    "create": {
      "resourceName": `customers/${customerId}/assetGroups/${getNextTempId()}`,
      "campaign": campaignOperation.campaignOperation.create.resourceName,
      "name": "Performance Max asset group",
      "finalUrls": [
        "http://www.example.com"
      ],
      "finalMobileUrls": [
        "http://www.example.com"
      ],
      "status": "PAUSED"
    }
  }
};
operations.push(assetGroupOperation);

Link Assets to Asset Group:

operations.push({
  "assetGroupAssetOperation": {
    "create": {
      "assetGroup": assetGroupOperation.assetGroupOperation.create.resourceName,
      "asset": assetResourceName,
      "fieldType": "HEADLINE"
    }
  }
});

Execute All Operations:
```
AdsApp.mutateAll(operations);
```

These steps ensure that you create a Performance Max campaign with the necessary components and link them appropriately.

Read the full documentation here.

Q&A

To manage assets in a Performance Max campaign using Google Ads scripts, follow these steps:

Adding an Asset

Create the Asset:

const imageUrl = "http://www.example.com/example.png";
const imageBlob = UrlFetchApp.fetch(imageUrl).getBlob();
const assetOperation = AdsApp.adAssets().newImageAssetBuilder()
   .withName("new asset name")
   .withData(imageBlob)
   .build();
const imageAsset = assetOperation.getResult();

Add the Asset to an Existing Asset Group:

const campaignIterator = AdsApp.performanceMaxCampaigns()
   .withCondition(`campaign.name = '${campaignName}'`)
   .get();
let campaign;
if (campaignIterator.hasNext()) {
   campaign = campaignIterator.next();
} else {
   throw `No campaign found with name ${campaignName}.`
}

const assetGroupIterator = campaign.assetGroups().get();
const assetGroup = assetGroupIterator.next();
assetGroup.addAsset(imageAsset, 'MARKETING_IMAGE');

Removing an Asset

Remove the Asset from the Asset Group:

assetGroup.removeAsset(imageAsset, 'MARKETING_IMAGE');

Get a List of Assets in an Asset Group:

const assetGroupName = assetGroup.getResourceName();
const results = AdsApp.search(
   `SELECT asset.resource_name, asset_group_asset.field_type
    FROM asset_group_asset
    WHERE asset_group.resource_name = '${assetGroupName}'`
);

const row_info = results.next().asset;
assetGroup.remove(row_info.asset.resource_name, row_info.asset_group_asset.field_type);

These steps allow you to dynamically manage assets within your Performance Max campaigns, ensuring that your campaigns are always up-to-date with the most relevant assets.

The mutate strategy for creating Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads scripts involves creating all campaign components in a single atomic request. This ensures that all entities are linked correctly using temporary IDs. Here’s how to implement it:

Generate Temporary IDs:

let nextId = -1;

function getNextTempId() {
    const ret = nextId;
    nextId -= 1;
    return ret;
}

Create an Array for Operations:

const operations = [];

Get Customer ID:

const customerId = AdsApp.currentAccount().getCustomerId();

Create Operations with Temporary IDs:

const newOperation = {
    [OPERATION_TYPE_VARIES]: {
        create: {
            resourceName: `customers/${customerId}/[EXACT_PATH_VARIES]/${getNextTempId()}`
            // Other fields, relevant to the resource being created.
        }
    }
};
operations.push(newOperation);

Execute All Operations in a Single Batch:

AdsApp.mutateAll(operations);

This strategy ensures that all components of the Performance Max campaign are created and linked correctly in a single request, minimizing the risk of errors and ensuring data consistency.