Product Bulletin

Welcome to the Yahoo Gemini API Product Bulletin. This update includes a quick snapshot of recent and upcoming releases and is focused on features supported by the API. A summary of supported functionality is also included.

Product Bulletins are updated on a monthly cadence for Gemini API partners, account managers and developers.

February, 2016

New Bulk Columns: Created Date and Last Updated Date

  • Two new read-only columns have been added in the bulk schema: “Created Date” and “Last Updated Date”. The format for both is YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss. Example: “2014-08-29 00:11:55”.

  • Note: These columns are always populated when using the Gemini APIs, regardless of the API request. They specify the creation timestamp for the entity/object type described on the CSV line, and the last updated timestamp, respectively (as long as there is no error on the line). For more information, see Bulk Operations.

New “App Locale” Field for Bulk

  • A new appLocale field has been added for Bulk. This is an optional field for INSTALL_APP campaigns. It can be used to specify the desired locale of the app store, and will default to “en-us” if not specified.

  • For more information, see Campaigns.

Device Now Available in Product Ads Cube

  • A Device field has been added to the product_ads cube.

  • Note: The first full date that this field is available is February 4, 2016. Dates prior will be blank.

  • For more information, see the product_ads section of Custom Reporting > Cubes.

Bidding Strategy and ECPA Goal columns have launched in the Gemini Bulksheet

  • “Bidding Strategy” and “ECPA Goal” columns have launched in the Gemini bulksheet. These fields are optional and map to biddingStrategy and ecpaGoal in the API. They are set on an ad group level only.

  • The minimum value for eCPA Goal varies by campaign objective. It is $1.00 when the campaign objective is app install and $0.20 when the campaign objective is visit my web. The maximum for both campaign objectives is $1,000.00.

  • For more details, see Ad Group.

Reminder: Planned deprecation of audience_stats cube at end of February; start using new user_stats cube

  • The audience_stats cube will be deprecated at the end of February 2016. We recommend partners start using user_stats instead of audience_stats now, due to the planned deprecation.

  • We introduced the new user_stats cube in December 2015. It is the next iteration of the audience_stats cube, and provides a breakdown across various targeting attributes, such as age, gender, device, geo (country, state, dma, city, zip) both for the physical location of the user and the location of his or her interest.

  • See Custom Reporting for more details.

New Custom Audience Type: Lookalike Audience Modeling - Website (Native)

  • In December 2015, we introduced a new Custom Audience type: Lookalike Audience Modeling. Lookalike audiences allow advertisers to find more people similar to their existing customers. A lookalike audience uses an existing custom audience segment as a “seed” and expands that seed using Yahoo data. Please note that initially, Lookalike Audience Modeling only supports using Website actions audiences to find similar users at this time.

  • Custom Audience, introduced in September 2015, enables you to better target your ads by creating audiences from your website, your customer lists, or your app. Available Custom Audience types include:
    • Introduced in December 2015: Lookalike Audience Modeling: See Lookalike audiences for more information.

    • Audiences from your mobile app: Introduced in November 2015, create segments using your SDK Partner (Kochava, Tune, AppsFlyer, Adjust, Flurry Pulse).

    • Website actions: Define and manage audience segments of people who have visited or have taken certain actions on your website.

    • Audiences from customer lists: Target your ads to a specific set of people with whom you’ve already established a relationship.

    • See Custom Audience for details.

Latest Gemini API Release Notes

Using the Gemini Sandbox Environment

  • The Gemini API lets you work with a sandbox environment to test campaigns you’ve created and managed. You use the same consumer key and consumer secret you obtained when you set up your OAuth to access the sandbox.

  • Resource URI: https://sandbox-api.admanager.yahoo.com/v1/rest/{resource}

  • The Gemini sandbox serves as a modified version of the production environment. While all operations are designed to function the same in the sandbox as in the production environment, the campaigns and ads you create in this environment do not actually serve. The sandbox environment is completely separate from your production environment.

  • All campaigns, ads, and keywords you create in the sandbox are available in the sandbox environment only. There is no possibility that the ads you create in the sandbox will be accidentally served. Nor will your production accounts be charged for any mock transactions in the sandbox environment.

  • You will need to create a sandbox account in order to test in this environment. You can do this by making a POST call to the sandbox signup endpoint and passing in the name you wish to call your test advertiser. The response will be a test advertiser object that will only be available in the sandbox environment. For more details, see Getting Started.

New Required Fields by Ad Type Matrix

  • We’ve added a new matrix which details the required fields when serving different ad types. For more information, see Ad documentation > Matrix view of required fields.

Overview of Search Features Currently Available

  • Keywords

    • MATCHING: Exact, Phrase, Broad, BMM. Entry Point: Bulk, API.

    • NEGATIVES: Exact, Phrase. Entry Point: Bulk, API.

    • KEYWORD URLS & PARAMS: Used to create dynamic text or for tracking. More info. Entry Point: Bulk, API.

  • Ad Settings

    • CHARACTER LIMITS: Title: 50; Description: 150; Display URL: 35; Destination URL: 2048. Entry Point: UI, Bulk, API.

  • Targeting

    • GEO: State, City, DMA, Zip, Radius. Entry Point: UI: State, City, DMA | Bulk, API: Zip.

    • Bid Adjustments available via Bulk, API. Range is -90% - +900%.

    • Radius can be specified in increments of 1 mile. Range is 1-500 miles, specified by longitude and latitude.

    • Advanced Geo Targeting options available to support physical location or interest. Entry Point: Bulk, API. For more information, see Campaigns and Ad Groups.

    • TIME OF DAY: Ad scheduling in 15 minute increments. Entry Point: Bulk, API.

    • DEVICE: Bid modifiers are available for all 3 devices, with varying ranges. Desktop: 0% to +100%; Smartphone: -100, -90% to +300%; Tablet: -20% to +300%. Entry Point: Bulk, API.

  • Reporting

    • Performance Reports: Reporting is available at the following levels: Campaign; Ad Group; Ad; Keyword; Targeting (campaign level only); Ad Extensions; Product Ad. Entry Point: UI, API.

  • Ad Formats

    • SITELINK EXTENSIONS: Entry Point: Bulk, API.

    • CALL EXTENSIONS: Entry Point: Bulk, API.

    • PRODUCT ADS - Pilot: Currently available on smartphones and tablets. Testing soon on desktop. Entry Point: UI, Bulk, API

    • LONG AD TITLES: Will not exceed 55 characters on smartphones or 65 on tablets.

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