Google has begun pushing out version 25.2 of the Google Ads API. The new version brings competitive benchmarks, additional controls for Performance Max, improved discovery for creators, improved travel reporting, and additional bidding recommendations. Search Engine Land reported on the update on September 25, 2026.
The release opens up additional programmatic capability in some brand features that can influence campaign strategy. The three focus areas in the announcement are: data on competitive insights, performance max controls and decisions on how to bid. Google made it available on September 23rd. The release is a minor update that contains no breaking changes.
Most of the new features are targeted at developers as they are delivered via API rather than through Google Ads user interface. Agencies and platforms, which create dashboards and reports built on the API will be the first to get value from it.
What Version 25.2 Includes
The update will affect several distinct areas of the API. Competitive benchmarking is arguably one of the biggest new features. Performance Max gets a replacement method for leaving Smart campaigns, and new URL options for the asset group level. The Content Creator Insights service gains a more straightforward way of searching for creators. Hotel and travel reporting is expanded with additional dimensions and metrics. New recommended for search recommendations are added for search advertisers, linked to their bidding objectives.
Together, these (individually) are intelligent modifications. Every single modification is giving developers a new feature in a particular field, and none of those need existing work to be rebuilt. These sections explain each addition and what Google have said about it.
Competitive Benchmarks Arrive Through the API
The most significant new feature is competitive benchmark percentile data. The Google Benchmarks Service now offers visibility into how a client is performing relative to other advertisers in specific ranges via percentiles. This offers developers with an additional comparison for account performance.
Before now, the only way to compare a particular account with the rest was to retrieve and analyze that information outside of the API. The new percentile data gives that perspective within the same developer-driven setting where we retrieve rest of the campaign data.
How the Benchmark Data Works
They can also ask for percentile information and see how an advertiser is ranked against the “all advertisers” benchmark. They can also apply category filters, which lets the comparison focus on a specific segment instead of the whole pool.
The source refers to one potential application. If competitive benchmarking can be integrated as a native part of agency dashboards and reporting tools that would seem to provide a big advantage. Take one agency that reports on campaign results using its own dashboard. It could easily add a benchmark view alongside those results rather than running a comparison separately.
Percentile tiers tell you where an advertiser falls in the market instead of a lone statistic or raw number. As the standard may be examined by category, the identical account can be examined against many other groups based on what the team intends to find out.
A Programmatic Path From Smart Campaigns to Performance Max
Google is also enabling the migration of smart campaigns off the platform. There is now an API call that can create a Performance Max draft from a Smart campaign automatically. This now brings developers a programmatic way to upgrade campaigns.
The method creates a draft, which means the upgrade begins with a Performance Max campaign already built from the details of the Smart campaign. For programmers or account managers that handle multiple accounts, an automated technique is a different starting point from creating each Performance Max campaign manually.
New URL Controls for Asset Groups
With Performance Max, advertisers can now set tracking templates, custom URL parameters and final URL suffixes at the asset group level! Google announced these new asset group URL controls in the v25.2 release notes.
By setting these properties at the asset group level, the tracking information attaches to an asset group. Advertisers who use tracking templates or custom parameters can now manage them through the API at that level, which is where the new controls sit.
Creator Search by YouTube Handle
Google’s Content Creator Insights service currently is able to find creators in creator campaigns using YouTube channel handles. Before this change, services are only able to search by channel ID.
Handles are user-friendly names that identify people on YouTube, whereas a handle is a longer, more complex ID that very few people remember. The ability to search by handle may make creator discovery workflows easier, says the source. A team in possession of a creator’s handle can now simply use that handle for their searches.
More Detail for Hotel and Travel Advertisers
Google improves its hotel/travel reporting with more detailed dimensions. The said dimensions include advance booking time, stay duration, actual start date, and whether the date has been selected by user.
The new dimensions and metrics can also be combined to show the differences in prices and price tiers, and impressions likely to be gained. By using these new dimensions and metrics together, travel advertisers are able to analyze performance in more detail. This can include how far in advance people book, how long they stay for and whether the dates originated from a search choice by the user.
The dimension date is mainly separating out the case where two situations are statistically alike in a report. The dates selected by the user explicitly now can be distinguished by the dates by default not selected.
Warnings for Restrictive Bidding Targets
With Search advertisers, Google is releasing additional recommendations that will signal when Target CPA or Target ROAS might be set at a level that is preventing a campaign from entering auctions.
The source talks about this as one more automated indication to advertisers that bidding targets may be capping reach. The suggestion leads to the target as a potential reason, providing advertisers with a particular setting to check.
What Developers Need to Do
Accessing these features will require new client libraries and client code. Google prefers for integrations to be kept up-to-date with the most recent version of the API. While release version 25.2 is a minor release and as such has no backward breaking changes it should not, in theory, cause your integrations to break.
Developers will need to update their libraries and code before they can use the benchmark data, the draft method, the asset group URL controls or the other additions to the campaign. Until a developer has done the update, we won’t have the new features available in an integration. This will be an issue for developers with multiple integrations.
Release Timing and Support
Google released v25.2 on September 23. Its current schedule lists v26 for October. Version 25.2 is scheduled to remain supported until August 2027.
That timeline gives teams a clear window. Version 25.2 stays supported for nearly a year, while the next major version is listed for the month after this release.
Why the Update Matters to Advertisers
Search Engine Land explains that if viewed individually most of the these additions are developer focused. But together they reveal more of Google’s advertising intelligence through an API. That is competitive positioning pricing bidding recommendations and campaign migration.
On top of that, the report highlights that Google still keeps Performance Max as the main destination within campaign automation. The possibility to create Performance Max drafts from Smart campaigns can also be seen as Google trying to create migration paths between simpler campaign types and the more automated campaign system.
That is Search Engine Land’s take on the biggest changes, not a revolution. That the advanced advertisers and systems like platforms are getting more data and greater control, in particular about competitive benchmarking, Performance Max and automated bidding.
FAQs
Q 1: What is Google Ads API version 25.2?
This is the latest version of the Google Ads API that Google released on September 23. The update includes new competitive benchmarks, Performance Max controls, creator searches, travel reporting, and recommendations.
Q 2: Does version 25.2 have any breaking changes?
According to Google, there are no breaking changes in the latest version of Google Ads API. However, developers need to update their client libraries and code to access new features and improvements.
Q 3: What does the new benchmark feature show?
The new benchmarks service allows developers to see how their advertisers rank against competitors using percentiles. In addition, the source says that developers can view how they rank against the “all advertisers” benchmark and apply filters.
Q 4: How can agencies benefit from the new benchmark data?
According to the source, agencies can bring competitive benchmarking data directly into their existing agency dashboards and reporting tools. In addition, the article says that agencies can access the percentile data required to analyze the competition via the new API.
Q 5: How does the Smart campaign upgrade method work?
One of the new methods allows developers to create a Performance Max draft from an existing Smart campaign. In addition, the source says that this gives developers a programmatic opportunity to handle the Smart campaign upgrade process.
Q 6: What URL settings are now available for Performance Max?
Performance Max campaigns can now use tracking templates, custom URL parameters, and final URL suffixes at the asset group level. In addition, the article confirms that these features are available in the release notes for v25.2.
Q 7: What changes were made to the creator campaigns
The Content Creator Insights service can now search for creators by their YouTube handles. Previously, the feature only allowed searching by channel IDs.
Q 8: What updates were made to the travel advertisers’ feature?
The article says that new dimensions related to advance booking windows, length of stay, and start dates now support booked and unbundled stay date selection. In addition, price difference metrics, price tiers, and potential impressions are also available.
Q 9: What do the new Search recommendations flag?
The new recommendations flag targets issues with tight budgets and indicate when the Target CPA or Target ROAS settings in a campaign are too low for the system to find relevant auctions. In addition, the source says that this is another helpful automated signal that shows how the campaign’s targeting might suffer due to the specified budget.
Q 10: When will version 25.2 be deprecated?
According to Google’s support schedule, version 25.2 will be available through August 2027. In addition, the article says that the company plans to release version 26 in October.
