Retrieve bid simulations

Page Summary

• Bid simulations contain simulation data and information about the time range, type of simulation data, and the campaign, ad group, or criterion it relates to.

• The simulation data is a sequence of points showing predicted performance with different bids for a past time period.

• Bid simulations can be retrieved using a GAQL query by specifying the correct simulation data field and resource (bid level).

• Each bid level supports a limited set of simulation data field and SimulationType combinations.

• Campaign-level simulations can use a SCALING modification method to show the effect of scaling all keyword bids.

A bid simulation contains simulation data and information about the time range, type of simulation data, and the campaign, ad group, ad group criterion, or bidding strategy to which it applies. The simulation data is a sequence of simulation points that provides a histogram of predicted performance with different bids, targets, or budgets during the given timeframe. The information provided by a simulation point depends on the type of simulation data.

Key Point: The time range is always in the past, as bid simulations predict how your ads would have performed at those times and under the same conditions, but with different bids.

You can retrieve any bid simulation with a Google Ads Query Language query by selecting the appropriate simulation data field (type of simulation data) from the corresponding resource (bid level).

Key Point: Each bid level is associated with a specific set of supported combinations of field values. Refer to the documentation of each resource type for more details, such as CampaignSimulation.

Bid Level & Resource	SimulationType	Simulation Data Field	Simulation Point Type
Ad Group ad_group_simulation	CPC_BID CPV_BID TARGET_CPA TARGET_ROAS	ad_group_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points ad_group_simulation.cpv_bid_point_list.points ad_group_simulation.target_cpa_point_list.points ad_group_simulation.target_roas_point_list.points	CpcBidSimulationPoint CpvBidSimulationPoint TargetCpaSimulationPoint TargetRoasSimulationPoint
Ad Group Criterion ad_group_criterion_simulation	CPC_BID PERCENT_CPC_BID	ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points ad_group_criterion_simulation.percent_cpc_bid_point_list.points	CpcBidSimulationPoint PercentCpcBidSimulationPoint
Bidding Strategy (portfolio) bidding_strategy_simulation	TARGET_CPA TARGET_ROAS	bidding_strategy_simulation.target_cpa_point_list.points bidding_strategy_simulation.target_roas_point_list.points	TargetCpaSimulationPoint TargetRoasSimulationPoint
Campaign campaign_simulation	BUDGET CPC_BID TARGET_CPA TARGET_IMPRESSION_SHARE TARGET_ROAS	campaign_simulation.budget_point_list.points campaign_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points campaign_simulation.target_cpa_point_list.points campaign_simulation.target_impression_share_point_list.points campaign_simulation.target_roas_point_list.points	BudgetSimulationPoint CpcBidSimulationPoint TargetCpaSimulationPoint TargetImpressionShareSimulationPoint TargetRoasSimulationPoint

Note: In CampaignSimulation, the simulated metrics populated on each point can vary by advertising channel. For example, Demand Gen (DEMAND_GEN) campaigns populate interactions instead of clicks on TargetCpaSimulationPoint, and App (MULTI_CHANNEL) campaigns populate app_installs and in_app_actions on TargetCpaSimulationPoint.

Scaled simulation modification method in campaign simulations

Each simulation resource includes a modification_method field of type SimulationModificationMethod that indicates how the simulated values are applied (UNIFORM, DEFAULT, or SCALING). While UNIFORM and DEFAULT simulations populate explicit micro amounts on each simulation point (such as cpc_bid_micros or target_cpa_micros), campaign-level simulations for Search campaigns also support a SCALING modification method for both CPC_BID and TARGET_CPA simulations:

• When CampaignSimulation.type is CPC_BID and modification_method is SCALING, each CpcBidSimulationPoint populates cpc_bid_scaling_modifier (instead of cpc_bid_micros) to show what happens if all CPC bids in the campaign (both ad group default CPC bids and criterion-level CPC bids) are scaled by that modifier. For example, a scaling modifier of 2.0 shows what happens if all CPC bids in the campaign are doubled.
• When CampaignSimulation.type is TARGET_CPA and modification_method is SCALING, each TargetCpaSimulationPoint populates target_cpa_scaling_modifier (instead of target_cpa_micros) to show what happens if the campaign target CPA and all ad group target CPAs in the campaign are scaled by that modifier.

For more information, see Estimate your results with bid, budget, and target simulators.

Code example: retrieve ad group criterion bid simulations

The following example demonstrates how to retrieve and print all CPC bid (CPC_BID) simulations available for the criteria in a given ad group by filtering ad_group_criterion_simulation on ad_group_id.

Java

private void runExample(GoogleAdsClient googleAdsClient, long customerId, long adGroupId) {
  try (GoogleAdsServiceClient googleAdsServiceClient =
      googleAdsClient.getLatestVersion().createGoogleAdsServiceClient()) {
    // Creates a query that retrieves the ad group criterion CPC bid simulations.
    String query =
        String.format(
            "SELECT ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id, "
                + "ad_group_criterion_simulation.criterion_id, "
                + "ad_group_criterion_simulation.start_date, "
                + "ad_group_criterion_simulation.end_date, "
                + "ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points "
                + "FROM ad_group_criterion_simulation "
                + "WHERE ad_group_criterion_simulation.type = CPC_BID "
                + "AND ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id = %d",
            adGroupId);
    // Constructs the SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest.
    SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest request =
        SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest.newBuilder()
            .setCustomerId(Long.toString(customerId))
            .setQuery(query)
            .build();

    // Issues the search stream request.
    ServerStream<SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse> stream =
        googleAdsServiceClient.searchStreamCallable().call(request);

    // Iterates over all rows in all messages and prints the requested field values for
    // the ad group criterion CPC bid simulation in each row.
    for (SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse response : stream) {
      for (GoogleAdsRow googleAdsRow : response.getResultsList()) {
        AdGroupCriterionSimulation simulation = googleAdsRow.getAdGroupCriterionSimulation();
        System.out.printf(
            "Found ad group criterion CPC bid simulation for ad group ID %d, "
                + "criterion ID %d, start date '%s', end date '%s', and points:%n",
            simulation.getAdGroupId(),
            simulation.getCriterionId(),
            simulation.getStartDate(),
            simulation.getEndDate());
        for (CpcBidSimulationPoint point : simulation.getCpcBidPointList().getPointsList()) {
          System.out.printf(
              "  bid: %d => clicks: %d, cost: %d, impressions: %d, "
                  + "biddable conversions: %.2f, biddable conversions value: %.2f%s",
              point.getCpcBidMicros(),
              point.getClicks(),
              point.getCostMicros(),
              point.getImpressions(),
              point.getBiddableConversions(),
              point.getBiddableConversions());
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
GetAdGroupCriterionCpcBidSimulations.java
      

C#

public void Run(GoogleAdsClient client, long customerId, long adGroupId)
{
    // Get the GoogleAdsService.
    GoogleAdsServiceClient googleAdsService =
        client.GetService(Services.V26.GoogleAdsService);

    try
    {
        // Creates a query that retrieves the ad group criterion CPC bid simulations.
        string query = $@"
            SELECT
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id,
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.criterion_id,
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.start_date,
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.end_date,
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points
            FROM
                ad_group_criterion_simulation
            WHERE
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.type = CPC_BID AND
                ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id = {adGroupId}";

        // Issue a search stream request.
        googleAdsService.SearchStream(customerId.ToString(), query,
            delegate (SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse response)
            {
                // Iterates over all rows in all messages and prints the requested field
                // values for the ad group criterion CPC bid simulation in each row.
                foreach (GoogleAdsRow googleAdsRow in response.Results)
                {
                    AdGroupCriterionSimulation simulation =
                        googleAdsRow.AdGroupCriterionSimulation;

                    Console.WriteLine("Found ad group criterion CPC bid simulation for " +
                        $"ad group ID {simulation.AdGroupId}, " +
                        $"criterion ID {simulation.CriterionId}, " +
                        $"start date {simulation.StartDate}, " +
                        $"end date {simulation.EndDate}");

                    foreach (CpcBidSimulationPoint point in
                        simulation.CpcBidPointList.Points)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine($"\tbid: {point.CpcBidMicros} => " +
                            $"clicks: {point.Clicks}, " +
                            $"cost: {point.CostMicros}, " +
                            $"impressions: {point.Impressions}, " +
                            $"biddable conversions: {point.BiddableConversions}, " +
                            "biddable conversions value: " +
                            $"{point.BiddableConversionsValue}");
                    }

                    Console.WriteLine();
                }
            }
        );
    }
GetAdGroupCriterionCpcBidSimulations.cs
      

PHP

public static function runExample(
    GoogleAdsClient $googleAdsClient,
    int $customerId,
    int $adGroupId
) {
    $googleAdsServiceClient = $googleAdsClient->getGoogleAdsServiceClient();

    // Creates a query that retrieves the ad group criterion CPC bid simulations.
    $query = sprintf(
        'SELECT ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id, ' .
        'ad_group_criterion_simulation.criterion_id, ' .
        'ad_group_criterion_simulation.start_date, ' .
        'ad_group_criterion_simulation.end_date, ' .
        'ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points ' .
        'FROM ad_group_criterion_simulation ' .
        'WHERE ad_group_criterion_simulation.type = CPC_BID ' .
        'AND ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id = %d',
        $adGroupId
    );

    // Issues a search stream request.
    /** @var GoogleAdsServerStreamDecorator $stream */
    $stream = $googleAdsServiceClient->searchStream(
        SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest::build($customerId, $query)
    );

    // Iterates over all rows in all messages and prints the requested field values for
    // the ad group criterion CPC bid simulation in each row.
    foreach ($stream->iterateAllElements() as $googleAdsRow) {
        /** @var GoogleAdsRow $googleAdsRow */
        $simulation = $googleAdsRow->getAdGroupCriterionSimulation();
        printf(
            'Found ad group criterion CPC bid simulation for ad group ID %d, ' .
            'criterion ID %d, start date "%s", end date "%s", and points:%s',
            $simulation->getAdGroupId(),
            $simulation->getCriterionId(),
            $simulation->getStartDate(),
            $simulation->getEndDate(),
            PHP_EOL
        );
        foreach ($simulation->getCpcBidPointList()->getPoints() as $point) {
            /** @var CpcBidSimulationPoint $point */
            printf(
                '  bid: %d => clicks: %d, cost: %d, impressions: %d, ' .
                'biddable conversions: %.2f, biddable conversions value: %.2f%s',
                $point->getCpcBidMicros(),
                $point->getClicks(),
                $point->getCostMicros(),
                $point->getImpressions(),
                $point->getBiddableConversions(),
                $point->getBiddableConversionsValue(),
                PHP_EOL
            );
        }

        print PHP_EOL;
    }
}
GetAdGroupCriterionCpcBidSimulations.php
      

Python

def main(client: GoogleAdsClient, customer_id: str, ad_group_id: str):
    googleads_service: GoogleAdsServiceClient = client.get_service(
        "GoogleAdsService"
    )

    query = f"""
        SELECT
          ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id,
          ad_group_criterion_simulation.criterion_id,
          ad_group_criterion_simulation.start_date,
          ad_group_criterion_simulation.end_date,
          ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points
        FROM ad_group_criterion_simulation
        WHERE
          ad_group_criterion_simulation.type = CPC_BID
          AND ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id = {ad_group_id}"""

    # Issues a search request using streaming.
    stream: Iterable[SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse] = (
        googleads_service.search_stream(customer_id=customer_id, query=query)
    )

    # Iterates over all rows in all messages and prints the requested field
    # values for the ad group criterion CPC bid simulation in each row.
    batch: SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse
    for batch in stream:
        row: GoogleAdsRow
        for row in batch.results:
            simulation: AdGroupCriterionSimulation = (
                row.ad_group_criterion_simulation
            )

            print(
                "found ad group criterion CPC bid simulation for "
                f"ad group ID {simulation.ad_group_id}, "
                f"criterion ID {simulation.criterion_id}, "
                f"start date {simulation.start_date}, "
                f"end date {simulation.end_date}"
            )

            point: CpcBidSimulationPoint
            for point in simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points:
                print(
                    f"\tbid: {point.cpc_bid_micros} => "
                    f"clicks: {point.clicks}",
                    f"cost: {point.cost_micros}, "
                    f"impressions: {point.impressions},"
                    "biddable conversions: "
                    f"{point.biddable_conversions},"
                    f"biddable conversions value: "
                    f"{point.biddable_conversions_value}",
                )

            print()
get_ad_group_criterion_cpc_bid_simulations.py
      

Ruby

def get_ad_group_criterion_cpc_bid_simulations(customer_id, ad_group_id)
  # GoogleAdsClient will read a config file from
  # ENV['HOME']/google_ads_config.rb when called without parameters
  client = Google::Ads::GoogleAds::GoogleAdsClient.new

  query = <<~QUERY
    SELECT ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id,
           ad_group_criterion_simulation.criterion_id,
           ad_group_criterion_simulation.start_date,
           ad_group_criterion_simulation.end_date,
           ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points
    FROM ad_group_criterion_simulation
    WHERE ad_group_criterion_simulation.type = CPC_BID 
    AND ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id = #{ad_group_id}
  QUERY

  responses = client.service.google_ads.search_stream(
    customer_id: customer_id,
    query: query,
  )

  responses.each do |response|
    response.results.each do |row|
      simulation = row.ad_group_criterion_simulation

      puts "Found ad group criterion CPC bid simulation for " \
      "ad group ID #{simulation.ad_group_id}, " \
      "criterion ID #{simulation.criterion_id}, " \
      "start date '#{simulation.start_date}', " \
      "end date '#{simulation.end_date}', and points:"

      simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points.each do |point|
        puts "  bid: #{point.cpc_bid_micros} => " \
        "clicks: #{point.clicks}, " \
        "cost: #{point.cost_micros}, " \
        "impressions: #{point.impressions}, " \
        "biddable conversions: #{point.biddable_conversions.round(2)}, " \
        "biddable conversions value: #{point.biddable_conversions_value.round(2)}"
      end
    end
  end
end
get_ad_group_criterion_cpc_bid_simulations.rb
      

Perl

sub get_ad_group_criterion_cpc_bid_simulations {
  my ($api_client, $customer_id, $ad_group_id) = @_;

  # Create a query that retrieves the ad group criterion CPC bid simulations.
  my $search_query =
    "SELECT ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id, " .
    "ad_group_criterion_simulation.criterion_id, " .
    "ad_group_criterion_simulation.start_date, " .
    "ad_group_criterion_simulation.end_date, " .
    "ad_group_criterion_simulation.cpc_bid_point_list.points " .
    "FROM ad_group_criterion_simulation " .
    "WHERE ad_group_criterion_simulation.type = CPC_BID " .
    "AND ad_group_criterion_simulation.ad_group_id = $ad_group_id";

  my $search_stream_request =
    Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V26::Services::GoogleAdsService::SearchGoogleAdsStreamRequest
    ->new({
      customerId => $customer_id,
      query      => $search_query
    });

  # 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 => $search_stream_request
    });

  # Issue a search stream request, iterate over all rows in all messages and
  # print the requested field values for the ad group criterion CPC bid
  # simulation in each row.
  $search_stream_handler->process_contents(
    sub {
      my $google_ads_row = shift;
      my $simulation     = $google_ads_row->{adGroupCriterionSimulation};

      printf
        "Found ad group criterion CPC bid simulation for ad group ID %d, " .
        "criterion ID %d, start date '%s', end date '%s', and points:\n",
        $simulation->{adGroupId}, $simulation->{criterionId},
        $simulation->{startDate}, $simulation->{endDate};

      foreach my $point (@{$simulation->{cpcBidPointList}{points}}) {
        printf "  bid: %d => clicks: %d, cost: %d, impressions: %d, " .
          "biddable conversions: %.2f, biddable conversions value: %.2f\n",
          $point->{cpcBidMicros},
          $point->{clicks},
          $point->{costMicros},
          $point->{impressions},
          $point->{biddableConversions},
          $point->{biddableConversionsValue};
      }
    });

  return 1;
}
get_ad_group_criterion_cpc_bid_simulations.pl
      

curl

Note: While a direct REST code sample for this step isn't provided here, you can achieve this using a manual REST request.

Refer to the Google Ads API REST interface documentation and the method-specific reference pages. You will need to construct the JSON payload based on the proto definitions.

Key Resources:

• Using REST
• REST Interface Structure
• JSON Field Mappings
• Consult the REST API Reference for the specific service and method.