Today, we’re joined by Anastasia Braitsik, a globally recognized leader in digital marketing, SEO, and data analytics. We’ll be diving deep into the recent release of Google Ads API v23, exploring what its new features mean for the day-to-day reality of paid media management. We’ll discuss how enhanced Performance Max reporting is changing optimization, the new creative frontiers opened by AI-driven audience tools, and the practical impact of more granular administrative controls. We will also touch on the operational challenges and strategic adjustments required by Google’s move to a faster update schedule for its API.
With Performance Max campaigns now offering breakdowns by ad network type, how does this change daily optimization strategies? Could you share a step-by-step process for how a manager might use this new data to reallocate budgets or refine creative assets for better performance?
This is a game-changer for day-to-day management. Before, PMax felt like a black box where you’d feed it assets and hope for the best. Now, we can finally see where our money is going. A manager’s morning routine would transform. First, they’d pull the new ad network report. Let’s say they see that 40% of their PMax budget is being spent on the Display Network with a terrible conversion rate, while YouTube Shorts is only getting 15% of the spend but driving high-quality leads. The immediate action is to adjust the asset mix. They would pause the static image ads that are likely serving on Display and double down on vertical video creative for Shorts. This isn’t just a budget shift; it’s a creative-driven reallocation, ensuring our best assets are fueled by the budget they deserve on the platforms where they actually resonate.
The new API introduces AI-powered audience tools, from free-text descriptions to life-event targeting. What new opportunities does this unlock for advertisers, and can you walk us through an example of how a team could use these tools to discover and engage a previously untapped customer segment?
These tools move us from broad assumptions to incredible precision. The ability to use free-text descriptions to generate structured audiences is a massive leap. Imagine you’re working with a real estate agency. Previously, you might target broad interests like “real estate” or “investing.” Now, you can literally type “people actively looking to buy their first family home in the suburbs” into the tool. The API translates that into a combination of attributes, maybe layering in the new LIFE_EVENT_USER_INTEREST dimension to find users who recently got married or are expecting a child. Suddenly, you’ve created a highly motivated, previously unreachable micro-segment. It allows us to connect with users based on their immediate life context, making our ads feel less like interruptions and more like genuinely helpful solutions at the exact moment they need them.
Updates like campaign-level cost data in invoices and precise date-time scheduling seem to improve administrative control. Beyond clearer reporting, how might these features impact budget pacing and campaign flighting? Please share an anecdote where this level of granularity could have prevented a common management error.
Oh, this hits close to home for anyone who’s ever managed a time-sensitive promotion. I remember a Black Friday campaign years ago that was supposed to end at midnight. The old system only allowed for date-based scheduling, so the campaign technically ran for the entire next day, Saturday, when the sale was over. We burned through a significant portion of our budget on post-sale traffic that couldn’t convert, and it was a painful lesson in the limitations of the platform. With the new date-time scheduling, that simply wouldn’t happen. You can set the campaign to end at exactly 11:59 PM. This level of precision is crucial for flash sales, event promotions, or any flighted campaign, ensuring every dollar is spent within the intended window and preventing that sinking feeling of seeing your budget evaporate on irrelevant traffic.
Given that Google is moving to a faster API release cadence, what is the practical impact on marketing and engineering teams who must now upgrade more frequently? How should they adjust their planning and resource allocation to keep pace without disrupting ongoing campaign performance?
This faster cadence is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we get access to amazing new features sooner. On the other, it puts immense pressure on internal resources. The days of a “set it and forget it” approach to your tech stack are over. Marketing and engineering teams need to become much more integrated. I would advise them to move to an agile workflow, incorporating “API update sprints” into their quarterly planning. They must allocate dedicated development time specifically for these upgrades. This can’t be an afterthought. Proactive planning is key; otherwise, teams will constantly be playing catch-up, risking disruptions to their campaigns or, worse, failing to leverage powerful new tools that their competitors are already using.
What is your forecast for the future of paid media management as APIs become more sophisticated and AI-driven?
I believe we’re moving toward a future of “strategic supervision” rather than manual execution. The role of the PPC manager will evolve dramatically. Repetitive tasks like bid adjustments and keyword mining will be almost fully automated by AI, guided by sophisticated API inputs. The manager’s true value will lie in their ability to feed the machine the right strategic inputs: understanding the business goals, defining the creative vision, and interpreting complex, AI-surfaced insights to make high-level decisions. The focus will shift from pulling levers to designing the entire engine. The most successful professionals will be those who can blend creative strategy, data analysis, and a deep understanding of how to guide AI to achieve business outcomes, making them the architects of performance, not just the operators.
