Generate a reach curve

Page Summary

The feature discussed is only available to allowlisted accounts and requires contacting a Google representative for access.
A curve of budgets versus potential reach can be generated using the GenerateReachForecast method after gathering targeting settings and a product mix.
Certain user_interest_category values are not supported for reach forecasts within the GenerateReachForecastRequest.Targeting.AudienceTargeting object.
Individual curves can be saved for user convenience, but caching curves in bulk is strictly prohibited.
YouTube Select in Reach Plan Service now supports lineup-level targeting with Instant Reserve pricing, which may result in errors related to inventory or account status.
When generating curves for DEMAND_GEN products, an expected conversion rate must be included, which can be obtained using the GenerateConversionRates method.

Once you've gathered the targeting settings and a product mix for your media plan, you can generate a curve of budgets versus potential reach using the GenerateReachForecast method in ReachPlanService. See the glossary and media plan guide for details on the request fields.

Forecast metrics

The response from GenerateReachForecast includes various metrics within the Forecast message, providing insights into the potential performance of your planned campaign. These metrics include:

Reach (on-target and total, including co-view)
Impressions (on-target and total, including co-view, and viewable)
Effective frequency breakdowns (how many unique users are reached at least a certain number of times; for example, 1+, 2+, or 3+ impressions)
User actions (TrueView views, conversions, and clicks)

Forecast reach for Demand Gen

When generating curves for DEMAND_GEN plannable products, you must also include an expected conversion rate for each product.

To obtain conversion rate suggestions for supported plannable products, use the GenerateConversionRates method. This method returns conversion rate suggestions based on either historical performance for your account or suggested rates based on performance for all advertisers.

For DEMAND_GEN products, GenerateConversionRates may return multiple suggestions for the same product. Some suggestions have the surface_targeting field populated, which indicates that the suggestion applies only to that specific combination of surfaces (for example, YouTube Shorts). If surface_targeting is not populated, the suggestion is a Demand Gen campaign average for that product. When generating forecasts for Demand Gen campaigns with surface targeting, use the most specific conversion rate suggestion available.

In addition to conversion rates, Demand Gen users can use GenerateReachForecast to project clicks, which is particularly relevant for campaigns optimizing for clicks, such as Demand Gen with Max Clicks bidding.

Forecast reach for YouTube Select

YouTube Select (YTS) in ReachPlanService supports lineup-level targeting for all eligible YTS locations on Instant Reserve pricing. Use the youtube_select_lineup_targeting field in ReachPlanService.ListPlannableProducts to identify available lineups (youtube_select_lineup_targeting replaced the youtube_select_lineups field, which was deprecated in v23 and removed in v24).

With Instant Reserve, the following errors can occur when requesting a forecast for YTS:

Save curves

You can only save individual curves to provide convenience for your users. Caching curves en masse is strictly prohibited. If you need to generate curves en masse, contact your Google account representative first.

Error handling

Requests to ReachPlanService must follow the basic API structure and may return common errors if they fail validation.

In addition to common errors, ReachPlanService can return errors specific to reach planning listed in ReachPlanError.

Code example

The curve includes impression and user reach in absolute numbers, as well as universe sizes corresponding to the census population and YouTube audience size for the requested demographic and country.

Java

private void getReachCurve(
    ReachPlanServiceClient reachPlanServiceClient, GenerateReachForecastRequest request) {
  GenerateReachForecastResponse response = reachPlanServiceClient.generateReachForecast(request);
  System.out.println("Reach curve output:");
  System.out.println(
      "Currency, Cost Micros, On-Target Reach, On-Target Imprs, Total Reach, Total Imprs,"
          + " Products");
  for (ReachForecast point : response.getReachCurve().getReachForecastsList()) {
    System.out.printf(
        "%s, \"",
        Joiner.on(", ")
            .join(
                request.getCurrencyCode(),
                String.valueOf(point.getCostMicros()),
                String.valueOf(point.getForecast().getOnTargetReach()),
                String.valueOf(point.getForecast().getOnTargetImpressions()),
                String.valueOf(point.getForecast().getTotalReach()),
                String.valueOf(point.getForecast().getTotalImpressions())));
    for (PlannedProductReachForecast product : point.getPlannedProductReachForecastsList()) {
      System.out.printf("[Product: %s, ", product.getPlannableProductCode());
      System.out.printf("Budget Micros: %s]", product.getCostMicros());
    }
    System.out.printf("\"%n");
  }
}ForecastReach.java

C#

public void GetReachCurve(ReachPlanServiceClient reachPlanService,
    GenerateReachForecastRequest request)
{
    GenerateReachForecastResponse response = reachPlanService.GenerateReachForecast(
        request);
    Console.WriteLine("Reach curve output:");
    Console.WriteLine(
        "Currency, Cost Micros, On-Target Reach, On-Target Impressions, Total Reach," +
        " Total Impressions, Products");
    foreach (ReachForecast point in response.ReachCurve.ReachForecasts)
    {
        Console.Write($"{request.CurrencyCode}, ");
        Console.Write($"{point.CostMicros}, ");
        Console.Write($"{point.Forecast.OnTargetReach}, ");
        Console.Write($"{point.Forecast.OnTargetImpressions}, ");
        Console.Write($"{point.Forecast.TotalReach}, ");
        Console.Write($"{point.Forecast.TotalImpressions}, ");
        Console.Write("\"[");
        foreach (PlannedProductReachForecast productReachForecast in
            point.PlannedProductReachForecasts)
        {
            Console.Write($"(Product: {productReachForecast.PlannableProductCode}, ");
            Console.Write($"Budget Micros: {productReachForecast.CostMicros}), ");
        }

        Console.WriteLine("]\"");
    }
}ForecastReach.cs

PHP

private static function getReachCurve(
    GoogleAdsClient $googleAdsClient,
    int $customerId,
    array $productMix,
    string $locationId,
    string $currencyCode
) {
    // Valid durations are between 1 and 90 days.
    $duration = new CampaignDuration(['duration_in_days' => 28]);
    $targeting = new Targeting([
        'plannable_location_id' => $locationId,
        'age_range' => ReachPlanAgeRange::AGE_RANGE_18_65_UP,
        'genders' => [
            new GenderInfo(['type' => GenderType::FEMALE]),
            new GenderInfo(['type' => GenderType::MALE])
        ],
        'devices' => [
            new DeviceInfo(['type' => Device::DESKTOP]),
            new DeviceInfo(['type' => Device::MOBILE]),
            new DeviceInfo(['type' => Device::TABLET])
        ]
    ]);

    // See the docs for defaults and valid ranges:
    // https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/GenerateReachForecastRequest
    $response = $googleAdsClient->getReachPlanServiceClient()->generateReachForecast(
        GenerateReachForecastRequest::build($customerId, $duration, $productMix)
            ->setCurrencyCode($currencyCode)
            ->setTargeting($targeting)
    );

    printf(
        "Reach curve output:%sCurrency, Cost Micros, On-Target Reach, On-Target Imprs," .
            " Total Reach, Total Imprs, Products%s",
        PHP_EOL,
        PHP_EOL
    );
    foreach ($response->getReachCurve()->getReachForecasts() as $point) {
        $products = '';
        /** @var ReachForecast $point */
        foreach ($point->getPlannedProductReachForecasts() as $plannedProductReachForecast) {
            /** @var PlannedProductReachForecast $plannedProductReachForecast */
            $products .= sprintf(
                '(Product: %s, Budget Micros: %s)',
                $plannedProductReachForecast->getPlannableProductCode(),
                $plannedProductReachForecast->getCostMicros()
            );
        }
        printf(
            "%s, %d, %d, %d, %d, %d, %s%s",
            $currencyCode,
            $point->getCostMicros(),
            $point->getForecast()->getOnTargetReach(),
            $point->getForecast()->getOnTargetImpressions(),
            $point->getForecast()->getTotalReach(),
            $point->getForecast()->getTotalImpressions(),
            $products,
            PHP_EOL
        );
    }
}ForecastReach.php

Python

def request_reach_curve(
    client: GoogleAdsClient,
    customer_id: str,
    product_mix: list[PlannedProduct],
    location_id: str,
    currency_code: str,
):
    """Creates a sample request for a given product mix.

    Args:
        client: an initialized GoogleAdsClient instance.
        customer_id: The customer ID for the reach forecast.
        product_mix: The product mix for the reach forecast.
        location_id: The location ID to plan for.
        currency_code: Three-character ISO 4217 currency code.
    """
    # See the docs for defaults and valid ranges:
    # https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/GenerateReachForecastRequest
    request: GenerateReachForecastRequest = client.get_type(
        "GenerateReachForecastRequest"
    )
    request.customer_id = customer_id
    # Valid durations are between 1 and 90 days.
    request.campaign_duration.duration_in_days = 28
    request.currency_code = currency_code
    request.cookie_frequency_cap = 0
    request.min_effective_frequency = 1
    request.planned_products = product_mix

    request.targeting.plannable_location_id = location_id
    request.targeting.age_range = (
        client.enums.ReachPlanAgeRangeEnum.AGE_RANGE_18_65_UP
    )

    # Add gender targeting to the request.
    gender_type: GenderTypeEnum
    for gender_type in [
        client.enums.GenderTypeEnum.FEMALE,
        client.enums.GenderTypeEnum.MALE,
    ]:
        gender: GenderInfo = client.get_type("GenderInfo")
        gender.type_ = gender_type
        request.targeting.genders.append(gender)

    # Add device targeting to the request.
    device_type: DeviceEnum
    for device_type in [
        client.enums.DeviceEnum.DESKTOP,
        client.enums.DeviceEnum.MOBILE,
        client.enums.DeviceEnum.TABLET,
    ]:
        device: DeviceInfo = client.get_type("DeviceInfo")
        device.type_ = device_type
        request.targeting.devices.append(device)

    reach_plan_service: ReachPlanServiceClient = client.get_service(
        "ReachPlanService"
    )
    response: GenerateReachForecastResponse = (
        reach_plan_service.generate_reach_forecast(request=request)
    )

    print(
        "Currency, Cost, On-Target Reach, On-Target Imprs, Total Reach,"
        " Total Imprs, Products"
    )
    point: ReachForecast
    for point in response.reach_curve.reach_forecasts:
        product_splits = []
        p: PlannedProductReachForecast
        for p in point.planned_product_reach_forecasts:
            product_splits.append(
                {p.plannable_product_code: p.cost_micros / ONE_MILLION}
            )
        print(
            [
                currency_code,
                point.cost_micros / ONE_MILLION,
                point.forecast.on_target_reach,
                point.forecast.on_target_impressions,
                point.forecast.total_reach,
                point.forecast.total_impressions,
                product_splits,
            ]
        )forecast_reach.py

Ruby

def get_reach_curve(
  client,
  reach_plan_service,
  customer_id,
  product_mix,
  location_id,
  currency_code)
  duration = client.resource.campaign_duration do |d|
    # Valid durations are between 1 and 90 days.
    d.duration_in_days = 28
  end

  targeting = client.resource.targeting do |t|
    t.plannable_location_id = location_id
    t.age_range = :AGE_RANGE_18_65_UP
    t.genders << client.resource.gender_info do |gender|
      gender.type = :FEMALE
    end
    t.genders << client.resource.gender_info do |gender|
      gender.type = :MALE
    end
    t.devices << client.resource.device_info do |device|
      device.type = :DESKTOP
    end
    t.devices << client.resource.device_info do |device|
      device.type = :MOBILE
    end
    t.devices << client.resource.device_info do |device|
      device.type = :TABLET
    end
  end

  # See the docs for defaults and valid ranges:
  # https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/GenerateReachForecastRequest
  response = reach_plan_service.generate_reach_forecast(
    customer_id: customer_id,
    campaign_duration: duration,
    planned_products: product_mix,
    currency_code: currency_code,
    targeting: targeting,
  )

  puts "Reach curve output:"
  puts "Currency, Cost Micros, On-Target Reach, On-Target Imprs, " \
    "Total Reach, Total Imprs, Products"

  response.reach_curve.reach_forecasts.each do |point|
    products = ""
    point.planned_product_reach_forecasts.each do |product|
      products += "(Product: #{product.plannable_product_code}, "\
        "Cost Micros: #{product.cost_micros})"
    end
    puts "#{currency_code}, #{point.cost_micros}, " \
      "#{point.forecast.on_target_reach}, " \
      "#{point.forecast.on_target_impressions}, " \
      "#{point.forecast.total_reach}, " \
      "#{point.forecast.total_impressions}, " \
      "#{products}"
  end
endforecast_reach.rb

Perl

sub pull_reach_curve {
  my ($reach_plan_service, $reach_request) = @_;

  my $response = $reach_plan_service->generate_reach_forecast($reach_request);
  print "Reach curve output:\n";
  print "Currency,\tCost Micros,\tOn-Target Reach,\tOn-Target Imprs,\t" .
    "Total Reach,\tTotal Imprs,\tProducts\n";
  foreach my $point (@{$response->{reachCurve}{reachForecasts}}) {
    printf "%s,\t%d,\t%d,\t%d,\t%d,\t%d,\t'[", $reach_request->{currencyCode},
      $point->{costMicros}, $point->{forecast}{onTargetReach},
      $point->{forecast}{onTargetImpressions}, $point->{forecast}{totalReach},
      $point->{forecast}{totalImpressions};
    foreach my $productReachForecast (@{$point->{plannedProductReachForecasts}})
    {
      printf "(Product: %s, Budget Micros: %d), ",
        $productReachForecast->{plannableProductCode},
        $productReachForecast->{costMicros};
    }
    print "]'\n";
  }
}forecast_reach.pl

curl

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