Targeting Types

This page documents the types of targeting available in the AdWords API and how each is implemented.

This table summarizes some of the basic properties for each target type.

Target Type	Implementation	Create With	Configurations
Age	AgeRange	Criterion ID	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Category exclusion	ContentLabel	Type enum	Campaign Negative
Custom radius	Proximity	Latitude number Longitude number Radius number Radius units enum	Campaign Positive
Device type	Platform	Criterion ID	Campaign Positive
Gender	Gender	Criterion ID	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Interest category	CriterionUserInterest	User interest category ID (In-market | Affinity)	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Keyword	Keyword	Text string Match type enum	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Language	Language	Criterion ID	Campaign Positive
Location group	LocationGroups	Criterion ID Matching function	Campaign Positive
Mobile and tablet carrier and wifi	Carrier	Criterion ID	Campaign Positive
Mobile and tablet operating system	OperatingSystemVersion	Criterion ID	Campaign Positive
Named location	Location	Criterion ID	Campaign Positive Campaign Negative
Network	NetworkSetting*	N/A	Campaign Positive
Parental status	Parent	Criterion ID	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Placement	Placement	URL string	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Product scope	ProductScope	Product dimensions	Campaign Positive
Remarketing list	CriterionUserList	UserList ID	Campaign Negative Campaign Positive Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative
Schedule	AdSchedule	Day enum Hour number Minute enum	Campaign Positive
Vertical	Vertical	Criterion ID	Campaign Negative Ad Group Biddable Ad Group Negative

* Not implementated using criteria.

For a complete list of where each type of targeting can be used, including a breakdown by campaign, ad group, and campaign type, check out the Criteria Usage matrix.

Keywords

These are implemented as Keyword criteria and are created using free-form text and one of the match type enum values. Only certain symbols are allowed in keyword text, and it has a maximum length.

Placements

These are implemented as Placement criteria and are created using a custom URL. There are limits on the length and depth of the URLs used.

Verticals

These are implemented as Vertical criteria and are created using a fixed set of category IDs.

Audiences

Note: User list targets don't support setting the urlCustomParameters, trackingUrlTemplate, finalUrls, finalAppUrls, or finalMobileUrls fields in Search and Shopping campaigns.

Remarketing lists and custom combinations

These are implemented as CriterionUserList criteria and are created using the ID of an existing UserList in your account.

Interest categories

These are implemented as CriterionUserInterest criteria and are created using a fixed set of user interest category IDs (In-market | Affinity).

Product scopes

These are implemented as ProductScope criteria and are created using a set of product dimensions.

Locations

Named locations

These are implemented as Location criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs. The available IDs are listed in the documentation and can be individually searched for using the LocationCriterionService. These criteria can be configured as either positive or negative, with negative targets overriding positive ones. By default a new campaign will contain no location criteria, which means that all locations are targeted.

Custom radius targets

Radius targets are implemented as Proximity criteria and are created using a latitude, longitude, and radius. They can only be configured as positive, and by default a new campaign will not contain proximity criteria.

Location groups

Location groups allow you to reach customers based on the types of places they visit, demographic information based on their location, or when they are at or near your places of business (based on your location extensions). Location groups are managed in the API through CampaignCriterionService.

Languages

These are implemented as Language criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs. The available IDs are listed in the documentation and can be retrieved programmatically using the ConstantDataService. Only positive targeting is allowed and by default for a new campaign will contain no language criteria, which means that all languages are targeted.

Networks

These are implemented as boolean fields within the NetworkSetting object, where a value of "true" targets the network and "false" excludes it. The fields map to the networks in the UI as follows:

Field	Network
targetGoogleSearch	Google search
targetSearchNetwork	Search partners
targetContentNetwork	Display Network
targetPartnerSearchNetwork	N/A

The targetPartnerSearchNetwork is available only to select partners and should be set to "false" or "null" for everyone else.

The NetworkSetting object is contained within the Campaign object, so updates must be made by calling CampaignService.mutate(). It is recommended to explicitly set a false value for networks you don't wish to target, as sending null values will leave the field unchanged. By default a new campaign created in the API will target the Google search and Search partners networks.

Note: You cannot use NetworkSetting to change the network target of existing campaigns from "Display Network Only" to the other two settings. You can still change between "Search Network Only" and "Search and Display Networks". See this blog post for more details.

Devices

Device types

These are implemented as Platform criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs that are listed in the documentation. Only positive targeting is allowed and by default a new campaign will contain a platform criterion for each of Desktop, HighEndMobile, and Tablet. With enhanced campaigns, removing Platform criteria is not allowed.

To favor HighEndMobile devices over Desktop and Tablet in ad targeting, use the AdGroupAdService.devicePreference field.

Mobile and tablet operating systems

These are implemented as OperatingSystemVersion criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs that are listed in the documentation. Only positive targeting is allowed and by default a new campaign will contain no OSV criteria, which means that all mobile operating systems are targeted.

Note: It's currently not possible to target specific mobile operating system versions (such as Android 4.0) in the API.

Mobile and tablet carriers and wifi

These are implemented as Carrier criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs. The available IDs are listed in the documentation and can be retrieved using the ConstantDataService. Only positive targeting is allowed and the default for a new campaign is no carrier criteria, which means that all mobile carriers are targeted.

Demographic targets

Note: Starting with v201802, demographic targets don't support setting the urlCustomParameters, trackingUrlTemplate, finalUrls, finalAppUrls, or finalMobileUrls fields in Search and Shopping campaigns. If you set these fields in older API versions, then they are ignored by AdWords for serving purposes.

Ages

These are implemented as AgeRange criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs that are listed in the documentation. By default a new campaign will contain no age range criteria, which means that all ages are targeted.

Genders

These are implemented as Gender criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs that are listed in the documentation. By default a new campaign will contain no gender criteria, which means that all genders are targeted.

Parental status

These are implemented as Parent criteria and are created using a fixed set of criteria IDs that are listed in the documentation. By default a new campaign will contain no parental status criteria, which means that all parental status categories are targeted.

Schedules

These are implemented as AdSchedule criteria. By default a new campaign will contain no ad schedules, meaning that ads will run for all time periods. You can set up an ad schedule, down to a quarter of an hour, to determine more precisely when to run your ads. See the Ad Scheduling guide for more information and example code.

Category exclusions

These are implemented as ContentLabel criteria and are created using a fixed set of enum values. Only negative targeting is allowed and the default for a new campaign is no content label criteria, meaning that all categories are targeted.