[Video campaigns](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375497) let you show video ads on YouTube and across websites and
apps running on Google video partners.

## API limitations

The Google Ads API primarily supports fetching and reporting on existing Video
campaigns, ad groups, ads, and criteria. Video campaigns cannot be created or
mutated using the Google Ads API, with the following version-specific exceptions and
behaviors:

- **`VideoResponsiveAdInfo` mutability** : Starting in `v24`, [`VideoResponsiveAdInfo`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/VideoResponsiveAdInfo) objects are mutable (in earlier versions, they are immutable). When creating or mutating `VideoResponsiveAdInfo`, the `videos`, `business_name`, and `logo_images` fields are **required**.
- **Brand safety suitability** : Starting in `v24`, campaign-level `campaign.video_brand_safety_suitability` is removed. Query brand safety suitability at the account level using [`customer.video_brand_safety_suitability`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/Customer#video_brand_safety_suitability).
- **Video campaign experiments** : Starting in `v24`, [`experiment.video_experiment`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/Experiment#video_experiment) is available for configuring [`YOUTUBE_CUSTOM`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/ExperimentTypeEnum.ExperimentType#youtube_custom) experiments consisting of Video campaigns.

### Alternatives for campaign management

If you need to create or manage Video campaigns programmatically, consider the
following options:

- **Google Ads scripts** : You can manage Video campaigns using [Google Ads scripts](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/scripts/docs/campaigns/video-campaigns). This allows for automated management within the Google Ads interface.
- **Demand Gen campaigns** : If your goal is to serve video ads across Google properties including YouTube, [Demand Gen campaigns](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/demand-gen/overview) are fully supported in the Google Ads API for both creation and management.

## Get performance data

You can retrieve performance data for your Video campaigns, ad groups, and
criteria using [`GoogleAdsService.SearchStream`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/GoogleAdsService/SearchStream) by filtering for
`campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'VIDEO'`.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Use `metrics.video_trueview_views`, `metrics.video_trueview_view_rate`, and `metrics.trueview_average_cpv` for TrueView view metrics. Starting in **`v25`** , you can also select `segments.ad_sub_format_type` (alongside `segments.ad_format_type`) to break down non-skippable in-stream ads by duration, as well as video social engagement metrics (`metrics.youtube_comments`, `metrics.youtube_likes`, and `metrics.youtube_shares`).

### Ad group performance

The following query retrieves Video campaign and ad group metrics, including
TrueView video views and quartile completion rates, from the `ad_group`
resource:

    SELECT
      campaign.id,
      campaign.name,
      campaign.advertising_channel_type,
      ad_group.id,
      ad_group.name,
      metrics.impressions,
      metrics.clicks,
      metrics.ctr,
      metrics.video_trueview_views,
      metrics.video_quartile_p100_rate
    FROM ad_group
    WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'VIDEO'

### Video placement and criteria reporting

Because `ad_group_criterion` does not support metrics or segments directly, use
criteria view resources such as [`managed_placement_view`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/fields/v26/managed_placement_view) to retrieve
performance metrics for targeted YouTube videos, YouTube channels, or other
managed placements:

    SELECT
      campaign.id,
      ad_group.id,
      ad_group_criterion.criterion_id,
      ad_group_criterion.type,
      ad_group_criterion.youtube_video.video_id,
      ad_group_criterion.youtube_channel.channel_id,
      metrics.impressions,
      metrics.video_trueview_views
    FROM managed_placement_view
    WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'VIDEO'
      AND ad_group_criterion.type IN ('YOUTUBE_VIDEO', 'YOUTUBE_CHANNEL')
      AND segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

### Campaign reach and frequency reporting

For Video campaigns, you can query Unique Reach metrics on the `campaign`
resource to measure the number of unique individuals who were shown your ads at
specific impression frequencies.

The following unique user metrics measure audience reach across frequency
buckets:

- [`metrics.unique_users`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/Metrics#unique_users): The number of unique people who saw your ad at least once within the selected date range (up to 92 days). It can't be aggregated across rows.
- `metrics.unique_users_two_plus` through `metrics.unique_users_ten_plus`: The number of unique people who saw your ad at least 2 through 10 times, respectively, for date ranges of up to 31 days (with `metrics.unique_users_six_plus` through `metrics.unique_users_nine_plus` completing the 2+ through 10+ set in v26 and later).
- [`metrics.average_impression_frequency_per_user`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/Metrics#average_impression_frequency_per_user): The average number of times a unique user saw your ad during the requested period (up to 92 days). It can't be aggregated across rows and doesn't have a companion `_info` field.

In v26 and later, each reach metric has a companion metadata field of type
[`ReachMetricInfo`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/ReachMetricInfo):
[`metrics.unique_users_info`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/Metrics#unique_users_info) and
`metrics.unique_users_two_plus_info` through
`metrics.unique_users_ten_plus_info`.

In [Google Ads Query Language (GAQL)](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/query/structure), companion reach fields are `MESSAGE`
metrics selected directly in the `SELECT` clause (for example,
`metrics.unique_users_info`). Don't append `.reach_metric_states` in the
`SELECT` clause, because selecting nested message fields in GAQL fails with
`UNRECOGNIZED_FIELD`. Instead, selecting `metrics.unique_users_info` returns a
[`ReachMetricInfo`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/ReachMetricInfo) message containing the repeated enum
field `reach_metric_states` of type [`ReachMetricState`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/ReachMetricStateEnum.ReachMetricState),
which describes whether the metric was suppressed or is complete.

Whenever a reach metric is suppressed or outside the retention window
(`PRIVACY_SUPPRESSION`, `QUALITY_SUPPRESSION`, or
`DATE_RANGE_BEYOND_RETENTION`), its `optional int64` field on `Metrics` is
unset (which evaluates to `0` if field presence isn't checked), whereas
`LOW_QUALITY` still populates the numeric metric.

The [`ReachMetricState`](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v26/ReachMetricStateEnum.ReachMetricState) enum values indicate the status of
the reach data:

- `COMPLETE`: The reach metric is complete with no suppression due to privacy, quality, or other limits.
- `PRIVACY_SUPPRESSION`: Reach data was suppressed to protect user privacy (for example, when audience volume doesn't meet k-anonymity thresholds).
- `QUALITY_SUPPRESSION`: Reach data was suppressed due to data quality requirements.
- `LOW_QUALITY`: The reach metric was calculated but is flagged as low quality.
- `DATE_RANGE_BEYOND_RETENTION`: Reach metrics are unavailable because the selected date range exceeds the 3-year data retention period for reach data.

The following query retrieves reach metrics and their suppression states for a
Video campaign:

    SELECT
      campaign.id,
      campaign.name,
      segments.date,
      segments.device,
      metrics.unique_users,
      metrics.unique_users_info,
      metrics.average_impression_frequency_per_user,
      metrics.unique_users_two_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_two_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_three_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_three_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_four_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_four_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_five_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_five_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_six_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_six_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_seven_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_seven_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_eight_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_eight_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_nine_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_nine_plus_info,
      metrics.unique_users_ten_plus,
      metrics.unique_users_ten_plus_info
    FROM campaign
    WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'VIDEO'
      AND segments.date BETWEEN '2026-01-01' AND '2026-01-31'

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Reach and frequency metrics can't be aggregated across rows. While `metrics.unique_users` and `metrics.average_impression_frequency_per_user` support date ranges of up to 92 days and can be segmented by `segments.date`, `segments.device`, `segments.adjusted_age_range`, and `segments.adjusted_gender`, the `unique_users_*_plus` frequency bucket metrics (up to 31 days) and all companion `metrics.unique_users*_info` fields only support `segments.date` and `segments.device`. In addition, companion `metrics.unique_users*_info` fields are `MESSAGE` metrics with `filterable: false` and `sortable: false`, so they can't be used in `WHERE` or `ORDER BY` clauses. See [Reach metric suppression and zero
> values](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/reporting/zero-metrics#reach-suppression) for more details on handling suppressed reach metrics in reports.