Optimization score and recommendations

ondemand_video Video: Deep dive

Recommendations can improve your campaigns in a few ways:

• Introduce new and relevant features
• Get more out of your budget with improved bids, keywords, and ads
• Increase the overall performance and efficiency of your campaigns

To increase optimization scores, you can use the RecommendationService to retrieve recommendations, and then apply or dismiss them accordingly. Starting in v15 of the Google Ads API, you can also subscribe to automatically apply recommendations by using the RecommendationSubscriptionService.

Optimization score

ondemand_video Video: Optimization score

Optimization score is an estimate of how well your Google Ads account is set to perform and is available at the Customer and Campaign levels.

The Customer.optimization_score_weight is only available for non-manager accounts and is used to compute the overall optimization score of multiple accounts. Retrieve the optimization score and optimization score weight of the accounts and multiply them together (Customer.optimization_score * Customer.optimization_score_weight) to compute the overall optimization score.

There are optimization-related metrics available for customer and campaign reports:

1. The metrics.optimization_score_url provides a deep link into the account to view information on the related recommendations in the Google Ads UI.
2. The metrics.optimization_score_uplift tells how much the optimization score would increase if all related recommendations are applied. It's an estimate based on all available recommendations as a whole, not just the sum of the uplift scores for each recommendation.

To group and order the returned recommendations, you can segment both of these metrics by recommendation type using segments.recommendation_type in your query.

Recommendation types

Retrieve recommendations

ondemand_video Video: Live coding

Like most other entities in the Google Ads API, Recommendation objects are fetched by using the GoogleAdsService.SearchStream with a Google Ads Query Language query.

For each type of recommendation, details are provided in a recommendation-specific field. For example, CAMPAIGN_BUDGET recommendation details are in the campaign_budget_recommendation field, and are wrapped in a CampaignBudgetRecommendation object.

Find all recommendation-specific fields in the recommendation union field.

Recommendation impact

Some recommendation types populate the impact field of the recommendation. RecommendationImpact contains an estimate of the impact on account performance as a result of applying the recommendation. The following recommendation metrics are available in the impact.base_metrics and impact.potential_metrics fields:

• impressions

• clicks

• cost_micros

• conversions

• all_conversions (available starting in v16 of the Google Ads API)

• video_views

Code example

The following sample code retrieves all available and dismissed recommendations of type KEYWORD from an account and prints some of their details:

try (GoogleAdsServiceClient googleAdsServiceClient =
        googleAdsClient.getLatestVersion().createGoogleAdsServiceClient();
    RecommendationServiceClient recommendationServiceClient =
        googleAdsClient.getLatestVersion().createRecommendationServiceClient()) {
  // Creates a query that retrieves keyword recommendations.
  String query =
      "SELECT recommendation.resource_name, "
          + "  recommendation.campaign, "
          + "  recommendation.keyword_recommendation "
          + "FROM recommendation "
          + "WHERE recommendation.type = KEYWORD";
  // Constructs the SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest.
  SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest request =
      SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest.newBuilder()
          .setCustomerId(Long.toString(customerId))
          .setQuery(query)
          .build();

  // Issues the search stream request to detect keyword recommendations that exist for the
  // customer account.
  ServerStream<SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse> stream =
      googleAdsServiceClient.searchStreamCallable().call(request);

  // Creates apply operations for all the recommendations found.
  List<ApplyRecommendationOperation> applyRecommendationOperations = new ArrayList<>();
  for (SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse response : stream) {
    for (GoogleAdsRow googleAdsRow : response.getResultsList()) {
      Recommendation recommendation = googleAdsRow.getRecommendation();
      System.out.printf(
          "Keyword recommendation '%s' was found for campaign '%s'%n",
          recommendation.getResourceName(), recommendation.getCampaign());
      KeywordInfo keyword = recommendation.getKeywordRecommendation().getKeyword();
      System.out.printf("\tKeyword = '%s'%n", keyword.getText());
      System.out.printf("\tMatch type = '%s'%n", keyword.getMatchType());

      // Creates an ApplyRecommendationOperation that will apply this recommendation, and adds
      // it to the list of operations.
      applyRecommendationOperations.add(buildRecommendationOperation(recommendation));
    }
  }
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.java
      

// Get the GoogleAdsServiceClient.
GoogleAdsServiceClient googleAdsService = client.GetService(
    Services.V16.GoogleAdsService);

// Creates a query that retrieves keyword recommendations.
string query = "SELECT recommendation.resource_name, " +
    "recommendation.campaign, recommendation.keyword_recommendation " +
    "FROM recommendation WHERE " +
    $"recommendation.type = KEYWORD";

List<ApplyRecommendationOperation> operations =
    new List<ApplyRecommendationOperation>();

try
{
    // Issue a search request.
    googleAdsService.SearchStream(customerId.ToString(), query,
        delegate (SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse resp)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Found {resp.Results.Count} recommendations.");
            foreach (GoogleAdsRow googleAdsRow in resp.Results)
            {
                Recommendation recommendation = googleAdsRow.Recommendation;
                Console.WriteLine("Keyword recommendation " +
                    $"{recommendation.ResourceName} was found for campaign " +
                    $"{recommendation.Campaign}.");

                if (recommendation.KeywordRecommendation != null)
                {
                    KeywordInfo keyword =
                        recommendation.KeywordRecommendation.Keyword;
                    Console.WriteLine($"Keyword = {keyword.Text}, type = " +
                        "{keyword.MatchType}");
                }

                operations.Add(
                    BuildApplyRecommendationOperation(recommendation.ResourceName)
                );
            }
        }
    );
}
catch (GoogleAdsException e)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Failure:");
    Console.WriteLine($"Message: {e.Message}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Failure: {e.Failure}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Request ID: {e.RequestId}");
    throw;
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.cs
      

$googleAdsServiceClient = $googleAdsClient->getGoogleAdsServiceClient();
// Creates a query that retrieves keyword recommendations.
$query = 'SELECT recommendation.resource_name, recommendation.campaign, '
    . 'recommendation.keyword_recommendation '
    . 'FROM recommendation '
    . 'WHERE recommendation.type = KEYWORD ';
// Issues a search request to detect keyword recommendations that exist for the
// customer account.
$response =
    $googleAdsServiceClient->search(SearchGoogleAdsRequest::build($customerId, $query));

$operations = [];
// Iterates over all rows in all pages and prints the requested field values for
// the recommendation in each row.
foreach ($response->iterateAllElements() as $googleAdsRow) {
    /** @var GoogleAdsRow $googleAdsRow */
    $recommendation = $googleAdsRow->getRecommendation();
    printf(
        "Keyword recommendation with resource name '%s' was found for campaign "
        . "with resource name '%s':%s",
        $recommendation->getResourceName(),
        $recommendation->getCampaign(),
        PHP_EOL
    );
    if (!is_null($recommendation->getKeywordRecommendation())) {
        $keyword = $recommendation->getKeywordRecommendation()->getKeyword();
        printf(
            "\tKeyword = '%s'%s\ttype = '%s'%s",
            $keyword->getText(),
            PHP_EOL,
            KeywordMatchType::name($keyword->getMatchType()),
            PHP_EOL
        );
    }
    // Creates an ApplyRecommendationOperation that will be used to apply this
    // recommendation, and adds it to the list of operations.
    $operations[] = self::buildRecommendationOperation($recommendation->getResourceName());
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.php
      

googleads_service = client.get_service("GoogleAdsService")
query = f"""
    SELECT
      recommendation.campaign,
      recommendation.keyword_recommendation
    FROM recommendation
    WHERE
      recommendation.type = KEYWORD"""

# Detects keyword recommendations that exist for the customer account.
response = googleads_service.search(customer_id=customer_id, query=query)

operations = []
for row in response.results:
    recommendation = row.recommendation
    print(
        f"Keyword recommendation ('{recommendation.resource_name}') "
        f"was found for campaign '{recommendation.campaign}."
    )

    keyword = recommendation.keyword_recommendation.keyword
    print(
        f"\tKeyword = '{keyword.text}'\n" f"\tType = '{keyword.match_type}'"
    )

    # Create an ApplyRecommendationOperation that will be used to apply
    # this recommendation, and add it to the list of operations.
    operations.append(
        build_recommendation_operation(client, recommendation.resource_name)
    )
detect_and_apply_recommendations.py
      

query = <<~QUERY
  SELECT recommendation.resource_name, recommendation.campaign,
      recommendation.keyword_recommendation
  FROM recommendation
  WHERE recommendation.type = KEYWORD
QUERY

google_ads_service = client.service.google_ads

response = google_ads_service.search(
  customer_id: customer_id,
  query: query,
)

operations = response.each do |row|
  recommendation = row.recommendation

  puts "Keyword recommendation ('#{recommendation.resource_name}') was found for "\
    "campaign '#{recommendation.campaign}'."

  if recommendation.keyword_recommendation
    keyword = recommendation.keyword_recommendation.keyword
    puts "\tKeyword = '#{keyword.text}'"
    puts "\ttype = '#{keyword.match_type}'"
  end

  build_recommendation_operation(client, recommendation.resource_name)
end
detect_and_apply_recommendations.rb
      

# Create the search query.
my $search_query =
  "SELECT recommendation.resource_name, " .
  "recommendation.campaign, recommendation.keyword_recommendation " .
  "FROM recommendation " .
  "WHERE recommendation.type = KEYWORD";

# Get the GoogleAdsService.
my $google_ads_service = $api_client->GoogleAdsService();

my $search_stream_handler =
  Google::Ads::GoogleAds::Utils::SearchStreamHandler->new({
    service => $google_ads_service,
    request => {
      customerId => $customer_id,
      query      => $search_query
    }});

# Create apply operations for all the recommendations found.
my $apply_recommendation_operations = ();
$search_stream_handler->process_contents(
  sub {
    my $google_ads_row = shift;
    my $recommendation = $google_ads_row->{recommendation};
    printf "Keyword recommendation '%s' was found for campaign '%s'.\n",
      $recommendation->{resourceName}, $recommendation->{campaign};
    my $keyword = $recommendation->{keywordRecommendation}{keyword};
    printf "\tKeyword = '%s'\n",    $keyword->{text};
    printf "\tMatch type = '%s'\n", $keyword->{matchType};
    # Creates an ApplyRecommendationOperation that will apply this recommendation, and adds
    # it to the list of operations.
    push @$apply_recommendation_operations,
      build_recommendation_operation($recommendation);
  });
detect_and_apply_recommendations.pl
      

Take action

Any retrieved recommendation can be applied or dismissed.

Depending on the recommendation type, recommendations can change on a daily basis or even multiple times a day. When that happens, a recommendation object's resource_name can become obsolete after the recommendation is retrieved.

It is good practice to take action on recommendations shortly after retrieval.

Apply recommendations

ondemand_video Video: Apply recommendations

You can apply active or dismissed recommendations with the ApplyRecommendation method of the RecommendationService.

Recommendation types can have mandatory or optional parameters. Most recommendations come with recommended values that are used by default.

Setting accounts for auto-applying recommendations is not supported for all recommendation types. However, you can implement similar behavior for the recommendation types that are fully supported by the Google Ads API. Refer to the DetectAndApplyRecommendations code example to learn more.

Use the apply_parameters union field of ApplyRecommendationOperation to apply recommendations with specific parameter values. Each suitable recommendation type has its own field. Any recommendation type not listed in the apply_parameters field does not use these parameter values.

Code example

The following code demonstrates how to build the ApplyRecommendationOperation and how to override the recommended values if you want to replace them with your own.

/** Creates and returns an ApplyRecommendationOperation to apply the given recommendation. */
private ApplyRecommendationOperation buildRecommendationOperation(Recommendation recommendation) {
  // If you have a recommendation ID instead of a resource name, you can create a resource name
  // like this:
  // String resourceName = ResourceNames.recommendation(customerId, recommendationId);

  // Creates a builder to construct the operation.
  Builder operationBuilder = ApplyRecommendationOperation.newBuilder();

  // Each recommendation type has optional parameters to override the recommended values. Below is
  // an example showing how to override a recommended ad when a TextAdRecommendation is applied.
  // operationBuilder.getTextAdBuilder().getAdBuilder().setResourceName("INSERT_AD_RESOURCE_NAME");

  // Sets the operation's resource name to the resource name of the recommendation to apply.
  operationBuilder.setResourceName(recommendation.getResourceName());
  return operationBuilder.build();
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.java
      

private ApplyRecommendationOperation BuildApplyRecommendationOperation(
    string recommendationResourceName
)
{
    // If you have a recommendation_id instead of the resource_name you can create a
    // resource name from it like this:
    // string recommendationResourceName =
    //    ResourceNames.Recommendation(customerId, recommendationId)

    // Each recommendation type has optional parameters to override the recommended values.
    // This is an example to override a recommended ad when a TextAdRecommendation is
    // applied.
    // For details, please read
    // https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/ApplyRecommendationOperation.
    /*
    Ad overridingAd = new Ad()
    {
        Id = "INSERT_AD_ID_AS_LONG_HERE"
    };
    applyRecommendationOperation.TextAd = new TextAdParameters()
    {
        Ad = overridingAd
    };
    */

    ApplyRecommendationOperation applyRecommendationOperation =
    new ApplyRecommendationOperation()
    {
        ResourceName = recommendationResourceName
    };

    return applyRecommendationOperation;
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.cs
      

private static function buildRecommendationOperation(
    string $recommendationResourceName
): ApplyRecommendationOperation {
    // If you have a recommendation_id instead of the resource name, you can create a resource
    // name from it like this:
    /*
    $recommendationResourceName =
        ResourceNames::forRecommendation($customerId, $recommendationId);
    */

    // Each recommendation type has optional parameters to override the recommended values.
    // This is an example to override a recommended ad when a TextAdRecommendation is applied.
    // For details, please read
    // https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/ApplyRecommendationOperation.
    /*
    $overridingAd = new Ad([
        'id' => 'INSERT_AD_ID_AS_INTEGER_HERE'
    ]);
    $applyRecommendationOperation->setTextAd(new TextAdParameters(['ad' => $overridingAd]));
    */

    // Issues a mutate request to apply the recommendation.
    $applyRecommendationOperation = new ApplyRecommendationOperation();
    $applyRecommendationOperation->setResourceName($recommendationResourceName);
    return $applyRecommendationOperation;
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.php
      

def build_recommendation_operation(client, recommendation):
    """Creates a ApplyRecommendationOperation to apply the given recommendation.

    Args:
        client: an initialized GoogleAdsClient instance.
        customer_id: a client customer ID.
        recommendation: a resource name for the recommendation to be applied.
    """
    # If you have a recommendation ID instead of a resource name, you can create
    # a resource name like this:
    #
    # googleads_service = client.get_service("GoogleAdsService")
    # resource_name = googleads_service.recommendation_path(
    #   customer_id, recommendation.id
    # )

    operation = client.get_type("ApplyRecommendationOperation")

    # Each recommendation type has optional parameters to override the
    # recommended values. Below is an example showing how to override a
    # recommended ad when a TextAdRecommendation is applied.
    #
    # operation.text_ad.ad.resource_name = "INSERT_AD_RESOURCE_NAME"
    #
    # For more details, see:
    # https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/ApplyRecommendationOperation#apply_parameters

    operation.resource_name = recommendation
    return operation
detect_and_apply_recommendations.py
      

def build_recommendation_operation(client, recommendation)
  # If you have a recommendation_id instead of the resource_name
  # you can create a resource name from it like this:
  # recommendation_resource =
  #    client.path.recommendation(customer_id, recommendation_id)

  operations = client.operation.apply_recommendation
  operations.resource_name = recommendation_resource

  # Each recommendation type has optional parameters to override the recommended
  # values. This is an example to override a recommended ad when a
  # TextAdRecommendation is applied.
  #
  # text_ad_parameters = client.resource.text_ad_parameters do |tap|
  #   tap.ad = client.resource.ad do |ad|
  #     ad.id = "INSERT_AD_ID_AS_INTEGER_HERE"
  #   end
  # end
  # operation.text_ad = text_ad_parameters
  #
  # For more details, see:
  # https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/latest/ApplyRecommendationOperation#apply_parameters

  return operation
end
detect_and_apply_recommendations.rb
      

sub build_recommendation_operation {
  my ($recommendation) = @_;

  # If you have a recommendation ID instead of a resource name, you can create a resource
  # name like this:
  # my $recommendation_resource_name =
  #   Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Utils::ResourceNames::recommendation(
  #   $customer_id, $recommendation_id);

  # Each recommendation type has optional parameters to override the recommended values.
  # Below is an example showing how to override a recommended ad when a TextAdRecommendation
  # is applied.
  # my $overriding_ad = Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Resources::Ad->new({
  #   id => "INSERT_AD_ID_AS_INTEGER_HERE"
  # });
  # my $text_ad_parameters =
  #   Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Services::RecommendationService::TextAdParameters
  #   ->new({ad => $overriding_ad});
  # $apply_recommendation_operation->{textAd} = $text_ad_parameters;

  # Create an apply recommendation operation.
  my $apply_recommendation_operation =
    Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Services::RecommendationService::ApplyRecommendationOperation
    ->new({
      resourceName => $recommendation->{resourceName}});

  return $apply_recommendation_operation;
}
detect_and_apply_recommendations.pl
      

The next example calls ApplyRecommendation, sending the apply recommendation operations that were created in the preceding code.

// Issues a mutate request to apply the recommendations.
ApplyRecommendationResponse applyRecommendationsResponse =
    recommendationServiceClient.applyRecommendation(
        Long.toString(customerId), applyRecommendationOperations);
for (ApplyRecommendationResult applyRecommendationResult :
    applyRecommendationsResponse.getResultsList()) {
  System.out.printf(
      "Applied recommendation with resource name: '%s'.%n",
      applyRecommendationResult.getResourceName());
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.java
      

private void ApplyRecommendation(GoogleAdsClient client, long customerId,
    List<ApplyRecommendationOperation> operations)
{
    // Get the RecommendationServiceClient.
    RecommendationServiceClient recommendationService = client.GetService(
        Services.V16.RecommendationService);

    ApplyRecommendationRequest applyRecommendationRequest = new ApplyRecommendationRequest()
    {
        CustomerId = customerId.ToString(),
    };

    applyRecommendationRequest.Operations.AddRange(operations);

    ApplyRecommendationResponse response =
        recommendationService.ApplyRecommendation(applyRecommendationRequest);
    foreach (ApplyRecommendationResult result in response.Results)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Applied a recommendation with resource name: " +
            result.ResourceName);
    }
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.cs
      

private static function applyRecommendations(
    GoogleAdsClient $googleAdsClient,
    int $customerId,
    array $operations
): void {
    // Issues a mutate request to apply the recommendations.
    $recommendationServiceClient = $googleAdsClient->getRecommendationServiceClient();
    $response = $recommendationServiceClient->applyRecommendation(
        ApplyRecommendationRequest::build($customerId, $operations)
    );
    foreach ($response->getResults() as $appliedRecommendation) {
        /** @var Recommendation $appliedRecommendation */
        printf(
            "Applied a recommendation with resource name: '%s'.%s",
            $appliedRecommendation->getResourceName(),
            PHP_EOL
        );
    }
}
DetectAndApplyRecommendations.php
      

def apply_recommendations(client, customer_id, operations):
    """Applies a batch of recommendations.

    Args:
        client: an initialized GoogleAdsClient instance.
        customer_id: a client customer ID.
        operations: a list of ApplyRecommendationOperation messages.
    """
    # Issues a mutate request to apply the recommendations.
    recommendation_service = client.get_service("RecommendationService")
    response = recommendation_service.apply_recommendation(
        customer_id=customer_id, operations=operations
    )

    for result in response.results:
        print(
            "Applied a recommendation with resource name: "
            f"'{result[0].resource_name}'."
        )
detect_and_apply_recommendations.py
      

def apply_recommendations(client, customer_id, operations)
  # Issues a mutate request to apply the recommendation.
  recommendation_service = client.service.recommendation

  response = recommendation_service.apply_recommendation(
    customer_id: customer_id,
    operations: [operations],
  )

  response.results.each do |applied_recommendation|
    puts "Applied recommendation with resource name: '#{applied_recommendation.resource_name}'."
  end
end
detect_and_apply_recommendations.rb
      

# Issue a mutate request to apply the recommendations.
my $apply_recommendation_response =
  $api_client->RecommendationService()->apply({
    customerId => $customer_id,
    operations => $apply_recommendation_operations
  });

foreach my $result (@{$apply_recommendation_response->{results}}) {
  printf "Applied recommendation with resource name: '%s'.\n",
    $result->{resourceName};
}
detect_and_apply_recommendations.pl
      

Dismiss recommendations

ondemand_video Video: Dismiss recommendations

You can dismiss recommendations with the RecommendationService. The code structure is similar to applying recommendations, but instead you use DismissRecommendationOperation and RecommendationService.DismissRecommendation.

Automatically apply recommendations

Starting with v15 of the Google Ads API, you can use the RecommendationSubscriptionService to automatically apply recommendations of a specific type.

To subscribe to a particular recommendation type, create a RecommendationSubscription object, set the type field to one of the supported recommendation types, and set the status field to ENABLED.

Retrieve subscriptions

To get information about an account's recommendation subscriptions, query the recommendation_subscription resource.

To view changes that were automatically applied, query the change_event resource, filtering the change_client_type to GOOGLE_ADS_RECOMMENDATIONS_SUBSCRIPTION.

Recommendations in campaign construction

Starting with v16 of the Google Ads API, you can use RecommendationService.GenerateRecommendationsRequest to generate recommendations during campaign construction, for a given set of recommendation types.

GenerateRecommendations accepts as input a customer ID, an advertising channel type which must be either SEARCH or PERFORMANCE_MAX, a list of recommendation types to generate, and various data points dependent on the specified types. It outputs a list of Recommendation objects based on the data you provide. If there isn't sufficient data to generate a recommendation for the requested recommendation_types, or if the campaign is already in the recommended state, the result set won't contain a recommendation for that type. Make sure your application handles the case where no recommendations are returned for the requested recommendation types.

The following table describes the recommendation types that GenerateRecommendations supports, and the fields you must provide to receive recommendations for that type. As a best practice, send the GenerateRecommendations request after all information has been collected related to the requested recommendation types. For additional details on required and optional fields, including nested fields, consult the reference documentation.

Example usage flow

Suppose your company is an advertising agency which provides a campaign construction workflow to users, and you want to offer suggestions to users during that flow. You can use GenerateRecommendationsRequest to generate recommendations on-demand, and incorporate those recommendations into your campaign construction user interface.

The usage flow might look like the following:

1. A user comes to your application to create a Performance Max campaign.

2. The user provides some initial information as part of the campaign construction flow. For example, they provide details to build a single SitelinkAsset, and they select TARGET_SPEND as their Smart Bidding strategy.

3. You send a GenerateRecommendationsRequest which sets the following fields:

   • campaign_sitelink_count: set to 1, which is the number of sitelink assets on the work-in-progress campaign.

   • bidding_info: set the nested bidding_strategy_type field to TARGET_SPEND.

   • conversion_tracking_status: set to the ConversionTrackingStatus of this customer. For guidance on how to retrieve this field, visit the Getting started guide for conversion management.

   • recommendation_types: set to [SITELINK_ASSET, MAXIMIZE_CLICKS_OPT_IN].

   • advertising_channel_type: set to PERFORMANCE_MAX.

   • customer_id: set to the ID of the customer creating the campaign.

4. You can take the recommendations in the GenerateRecommendationsResponse — in this case, a SitelinkAssetRecommendation and a MaximizeClicksOptInRecommendation —and suggest them to the user by displaying them within your campaign construction interface. If the user accepts a suggestion, you can then incorporate it into the campaign creation request once the user completes the campaign construction flow.