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PolskiSmart Campaigns After 23 September 2026: API Creation Stops, Existing Campaigns Continue
Contents
Since 23 September 2026, Google no longer permits new Smart campaigns to be created through the Google Ads API. Existing campaigns can still be updated and continue serving ads. The announcement originally named 5 August; an update on 13 August moved the start date to 23 September. The distinction matters: this is a restriction on creating a campaign through the API, not an announcement that every existing Smart campaign has stopped. [1]
Where an agency can notice the change
A fictional agency has two automated jobs. One adjusts the budget of an existing local-business campaign. The other creates a new campaign whenever a branch opens. Both use the same account connection, but only the second depends on the operation being removed. A successful login and working reports therefore do not prove that onboarding still works.
The useful inventory is a list of operations, not merely a list of connected accounts. Campaign creation, budget changes, reporting and creative maintenance belong in separate rows. Otherwise a dashboard showing healthy API traffic can conceal a failing workflow for new customers.
Finding the affected creation path
Google identifies the relevant creation requests through the combination of campaign channel type SMART and channel subtype SMART_CAMPAIGN. This is a precise starting point for reviewing source code, queued jobs and request logs. A name containing “smart” is not sufficient: Smart Bidding, Smart campaigns and Dynamic Search Ads are different concepts. [1]
Operation being reviewed: campaign creation
advertising_channel_type: SMART
advertising_channel_sub_type: SMART_CAMPAIGNA request blocked by a product restriction should not be retried indefinitely as though a temporary network failure had occurred. The workflow needs a recorded failure reason and a different campaign-creation path. Repeatedly changing authentication settings would address the wrong part of the system.
A new migration method creates a draft
Google Ads API v25.2 introduces GeneratePMaxDraftCampaign. It uses an existing Smart campaign as the basis for a new Performance Max draft. The generated campaign starts with PAUSED and INCOMPLETE. This provides a review stage before advertising begins; it is not equivalent to turning the existing campaign into a fully configured, live replacement. [2, 3]
The response identifies the generated campaign, budget, asset group and assets. Those identifiers belong in the migration record immediately after a successful creation. If a client loses the response or a job is interrupted, the next run should first reconcile the account state. Blindly repeating a creation operation risks producing additional drafts.
Validation and creation are separate steps
The method accepts validate_only. When enabled, it checks the request without creating the draft and returns validation information. The resource name points to the existing Smart campaign setting. The following fragment illustrates the request data in the protocol-field notation used by the documentation; it is not a complete executable HTTP request.
resource_name:
customers/1234567890/smartCampaignSettings/987654321
validate_only: true
gbp_enabled: false
image_enabled: falseThe last two options deserve attention. Google documents them as not yet supported when set to true. A migration plan therefore cannot assume that this call automatically handles the Business Profile connection and required image generation. An available field in a schema is not necessarily an available capability. [2]
What belongs in the review before activation
For the fictional branch opening, a practical review covers the business objective, budget, conversion goals, locations, destination pages and creative assets. This is an editorial implementation checklist, not a claim that the API validates the commercial suitability of each choice. A technically acceptable campaign can still promote the wrong branch or optimise toward an unhelpful conversion.
The plan also needs a decision about the old campaign. Its continued operation and the new draft’s existence are two separate states. Unplanned overlap can complicate budget control and interpretation of results. The cutover should therefore record which campaign is active, from what time, and how the previous configuration can be located if a correction is needed.
Performance Max is an option, not a universal substitute
The original announcement names Performance Max as an alternative and also mentions Search and Demand Gen depending on business goals. That is a planning choice rather than a mechanical field mapping. A workflow built for one campaign type cannot become suitable for another merely by replacing an enum value. [1]
The immediate task is narrow: stop relying on a creation operation that is no longer supported, preserve the distinction between existing and new campaigns, and give any replacement an explicit review stage. A small, traceable migration is easier to diagnose than a broad rewrite performed under the assumption that all Smart campaigns must urgently disappear.
Related tool
GoogleAds – GAQL Query Explorer
Questions and answers
How can the Smart campaigns in an account be listed?
With a GAQL query on the campaign resource, filtered by channel type: SELECT campaign.id, campaign.name, campaign.status FROM campaign WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'SMART'. The list shows which campaigns are candidates for a later migration; their IDs belong in the migration record before the first draft is created.
How can a migration run be made safe to repeat if it breaks off during GeneratePMaxDraftCampaign?
By recording its intention before the call and, after an interruption, looking first instead of creating again. A workable sequence has four steps:
- Before the call, an entry in the migration record: which Smart campaign, what time, status “requested”.
- First, a check of the request with validate_only. An error at this stage leaves nothing in the account, so the check can be repeated as often as needed.
- After a successful creation, the returned IDs for campaign, budget, asset group and assets are entered and the status is set to “created”.
- If a new run finds an entry still at “requested”, it queries the account first and looks for a paused Performance Max draft created since the time of that entry; the change_status resource lists recently added campaigns with a timestamp for this purpose. Only if nothing matching turns up is the creation repeated.
Errors need separating by kind. Timeouts and temporary server errors justify a retry after the reconciliation; a rejection on the merits does not, because it will come back the same way on the next attempt and belongs in the record together with its reason.
Sources
- Google Ads: Changes to Support for Smart Campaigns, updated 13 August 2026
- Convert Smart campaigns to Performance Max
- Google Ads API release notes, v25.2
Sources checked: 24 September 2026.
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