In AdWords, finding the right keywords to trigger your ads is one of the main drivers of success — yet a major challenge at the same time. You can use our Keyword Planner to browse for new keyword ideas, or utilize the AdWords API services for keyword suggestion and traffic estimation to find and evaluate keywords at scale.

But wait, now there’s more! We’ve just released KeywordOptimizer, a sample app showcasing how to combine these services to find the perfect set of keywords. Starting from an initial set of seed keywords (obtained using a sample URL, business category etc.), the iterative process repeatedly discards low-quality keywords and “reproduces” high-quality ones. With each step, the average quality across all keywords increases, just like evolution!

KeywordOptimizer is designed to provide guidance on how to use the TargetingIdeaService and TrafficEstimatorService. Simply run it from the command-line to get a CSV file with keywords and estimation with minimal effort. Advanced users can easily extend the tool with custom implementations. For example, you can change the calculation for the keyword quality score to combine clicks with impressions, or your own metrics in a way that works best for you.

Get started with Keyword Optimizer’s GitHub repository. Feel free to ask questions or give feedback via the project’s issue tracker, the AdWords API Forum, or our Google+ page.

Timo Bozsolik, AdWords API Team

We’ve added support for bitcode in the latest release of the iOS Google Mobile Ads SDK! The Enable Bitcode setting was introduced in Xcode 7 as one of the components of app thinning - a technique to help re-optimize your app binary in the future without having to submit a new version to the App Store.

You can change this setting for your app in the project’s Build Settings. Under the Build Options section, set Enable Bitcode to Yes. Note that if you enable bitcode, all apps and frameworks in the app bundle need to include bitcode as well.

With the new release, we’ve also made some additional changes, one of which is an added dependency for the MediaPlayer framework. You will need to link this framework to your app’s binary. If you are using CocoaPods, then running a simple pod update will do the trick.

If you have any questions regarding the new iOS SDK release, feel free to contact us through our forum.

 - Tristan Emrich, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Today we're pleased to announce the release of the v201602 DFP API. This release introduces a slew of active view features. You can now do the following in the API:

• Create active view line items
• Create active view proposal line items
• Report on active view metrics
• Forecast with active view units

The world is now your mollusc.

We've also expanded availability forecast results to include alternative unit type forecasts. This includes additional forecast information depending on the primary unit type you're forecasting on, which is particularly useful when forecasting on active view. See our newly updated Forecasting guide for more information.

For other API changes in v201602, see the release notes.

With each new release comes a new deprecation. If you're using v201502 or earlier, it's time to look into upgrading. API version v201411 will be sunset at the end of February 2016, and v201502 will be sunset at the end of May 2016.

Also, please remember that we are tightening our sunset schedule. DFP versions v201508 and v201511 will both be sunset at the same time at the end of November 2016.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line on the DFP API forums or the Ads Developer Google+ page.

 - Vincent Tsao, DFP API Team

Today we're pleased to announce that we have released an updated BETA version of the Ads PHP Client Library. This is the first step in completely refactoring the Ads PHP Client Library to adhere to modern PHP standards. Major changes include:

• Namespaced and conforms to PSR-4 for autoloading.
• Conforms to PSR-3 for logging standards.
• Entry point classes use a builder pattern for their construction.
• Core class design is composition-based instead of inheritance-based.
• Classes generated from WSDLs now use getters and setters for accessing fields.

To get started with this new library, please see the README's "Basic usage" section.

As a reminder, since this new client library is in BETA, it is not yet recommended for production usage. We do however recommend that you test it out, play around with it, and give us your feedback on the issue tracker.

Stay tuned for more changes to this BETA library in the coming year.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line on the AdWords API forums, DFP API forums or the Ads Developer Google+ page.

 - Vincent Tsao, DFP API Team

We have added support for AdWords API v201601 reports in AdWords scripts. The major changes in this release are:

• The new PARENTAL_STATUS_PERFORMANCE_REPORT is now available. This report lets you view stats and targeting information by the new Parent criterion type.
• CRITERIA_PERFORMANCE_REPORT now includes stats for Parental status and Custom affinity criteria. These were filtered out in older report versions.
• Some obsolete columns (AvgCostForOfflineInteraction, OfflineInteractionCost, TotalCost) related to phone calls have been removed from various reports.
• Several new fields have been added to existing reports.

The release also introduces some improvements to several reports in existing versions (v201506, v201509).

• The CALL_METRICS_CALL_DETAILS_REPORT now allows you to specify a date range via the DURING clause of your AWQL statement.
• The CRITERIA_PERFORMANCE_REPORT now returns REMOVED ProductPartition criteria if those criteria have statistics. Previously, REMOVED ProductPartition criteria did not appear in this report.
• The StartTime and EndTime columns on the PLACEHOLDER_FEED_ITEM_REPORT can now be used for filtering in report requests for all versions.

See our release notes for more details.

If you use API versioning in your reports, you need to modify your code to use v201601 as shown below. If you don’t use API versioning, no code changes are required.

var report = AdWordsApp.report(query, {
   apiVersion: 'v201601'
});

If you have any questions about these changes or AdWords scripts in general, you can post them on our developer forum.

 - Anash P. Oommen, AdWords Scripts Team

We would like to remind you to upgrade destination URLs for ads, criteria, and sitelinks by March 25, 2016.

Shortly after March 25, 2016, we will apply the following changes to the ads, criteria, and extensions in your account that have not been upgraded:

• Ads and sitelinks will be permanently designated as “Removed” and will stop serving. In rare cases, destination URLs for ads may be upgraded for you, which may impact how your ads run.
• Destination URLs for your keywords will be removed. Clicks on your ads for these keywords will go to the ad's landing page. You'll need to set up new landing page URLs and tracking parameters.
  
  Note: Dynamic Display Ads, Gmail Sponsored Promotion, and Lightbox ads are not impacted by this change and will continue to serve.

How to upgrade your remaining destination URLs
To ensure your existing ads continue to run and your URL tracking works as expected, you'll need to:

• Identify all remaining enabled or paused destination URLs within your account that require an upgrade.
• Upgrade your destination URLs by following the steps in the Upgraded URL guide.

What if I can’t upgrade in time?
If you do not plan to upgrade destination URLs by March 25, 2016 or wish to keep the destination URL details for future use, then we advise you to download the ads, criteria and extensions that are not upgraded using an appropriate AdWords API service. Destination URL data is accessible for now via AdWords API reports and services, but this field will be removed in a future version of the AdWords API.

If you have any questions or need help with migration, please post on our developer forum or the Ads Developers Plus Page.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords API Team

We’re pleased to announce the first round of workshops for AdWords scripts in 2016. The workshops will be held at the following locations:

• Sydney: 5 April 2016 (register)
• Singapore: 11 April 2016 (register)

This round of workshops will cater to both novice and experienced scripters. We'll have code labs where you’ll build your own scripts from scratch with help from the Scripts team. Bring your laptop and some scripting ideas, and we’ll turn them into reality!

Whether you’re an advertiser who wants to learn about how scripts can automate your account management tasks, a developer who wants to polish your scripting skills, or a scripts enthusiast who wants to bounce around some ideas, you can find it all in these workshops.

Visit our website to check out the full agenda and sign up.

If you have any questions about the workshops, you can post them on our forums. Check out our Google+ page for AdWords Scripts updates.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords Scripts Team