Channel controls

  • Channel controls in Demand Gen campaigns allow you to specify where ads appear across Google's visual-first surfaces, including YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and the Google Display Network.

  • You can customize channel controls at the ad group level using the channel_configuration field within demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.

  • There are three possible configurations for channel controls: "All channels" (default), "All channels owned and operated by Google," and "Control each channel individually" by selecting specific channels.

  • The channel controls configuration can be retrieved by querying the ad_group resource and examining fields such as channel_config, channel_strategy, and the selected_channels properties.

Channel controls in Demand Gen campaigns let you choose where ads appear across Google's visual-first surfaces, including YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and the Google Display Network.

For example, you can tailor Demand Gen campaigns to serve specifically on YouTube Shorts.

You can customize channel controls at the ad group level using the demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls field on an AdGroup resource. If channel_controls is omitted when creating an ad group, it defaults to ALL_CHANNELS.

Configure channel controls

The DemandGenChannelControls message uses the channel_configuration oneof, which lets you specify either a high-level channel_strategy or granular selected_channels (never both at the same time). There are three possible configurations:

All channels (default)

This is the default strategy, and it delivers impressions on all channels supported by Demand Gen.

To enable this configuration, set the channel_strategy field to ALL_CHANNELS:

{
  "demand_gen_ad_group_settings": {
    "channel_controls": {
      "channel_strategy": "ALL_CHANNELS"
    }
  }
}

All channels owned and operated by Google

This strategy delivers impressions on all channels owned and operated by Google, such as the Discover feed, YouTube, Gmail, and Google Maps. Channels operated by third parties, such as the Google Display Network, are disabled.

To enable this configuration, set the channel_strategy field to ALL_OWNED_AND_OPERATED_CHANNELS:

{
  "demand_gen_ad_group_settings": {
    "channel_controls": {
      "channel_strategy": "ALL_OWNED_AND_OPERATED_CHANNELS"
    }
  }
}

Control each channel individually

This strategy offers the most granular level of control by letting you select which individual channels are enabled.

Enable this strategy by populating the boolean flags in the selected_channels field (true enables a channel and false disables it; explicitly specify all fields when updating selected_channels):

{
  "demand_gen_ad_group_settings": {
    "channel_controls": {
      "selected_channels": {
        "youtube_in_stream": false,
        "youtube_in_feed": false,
        "youtube_shorts": true,
        "discover": false,
        "gmail": false,
        "display": false,
        "maps": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Retrieve channel controls

You can query the channel controls configuration from the ad_group resource:

SELECT
  ad_group.id,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.channel_config,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.channel_strategy,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.youtube_in_feed,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.youtube_in_stream,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.youtube_shorts,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.discover,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.display,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.gmail,
  ad_group.demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.maps
FROM ad_group

The read-only channel_config field indicates whether an ad group is configured using CHANNEL_STRATEGY or SELECTED_CHANNELS. To view performance metrics segmented by channel and YouTube surface, see the reporting guide.

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