Google Ads API v25.2 for Marketers in 2026: Benchmarks, PMax Drafts and Creator Insights

What Is Google Ads API v25.2 in 2026?

Google Ads API v25.2 is a minor release announced on 23 September 2026, and Google describes it as "a drop-in upgrade for v25". The release notes state the rule that matters most for anyone deciding whether to upgrade: "Minor versions like v25.2 don't contain breaking changes." To use the new capabilities, Google says "you must upgrade your client libraries and client code", but nothing that already works on v25 should stop working.

For a marketing team, v25.2 is worth knowing for what it lets your reporting and tooling see. Two additions stand out: competitive benchmark data in percentile tiers, and creator insights searchable by YouTube channel handle. A third, generating Performance Max drafts from Smart campaigns, matters to anyone still running Smart campaigns for small-business clients. If your tools are still on v22, read our v22 sunset guide first, because v22 requests begin to fail on 7 October 2026 and v25.2 is a sensible target.

What Are Competitive Benchmark Percentiles, and Why Do They Matter in 2026?

They tell you where an account stands against other advertisers, expressed as a percentile tier rather than a raw average. Google's release notes say BenchmarksService.GenerateBenchmarksMetrics now provides "metrics representing the customer's competitive standing among other advertisers in percentile tier format", returned in PercentileMetrics on the new CustomerMetrics.percentile_metrics field and expressed using BenchmarksCustomerPercentileTier.

That changes a familiar agency conversation. "Your click-through rate is 3.1 percent" invites the question "is that good?" A percentile tier answers it against advertisers in the same category, from Google's own data, inside the account's reporting. For client reporting in 2026 it is one of the more useful additions Google has made to the API in a while.

The conditions that make percentile data appear

The field is not populated by default. Google states CustomerMetrics.percentile_metrics "is only populated when both of the following conditions are met":

• PERCENTILE_DATA is requested in supplemental_data.
• BenchmarksSource.all_advertisers is set on benchmarks_source, "which also requires specifying category_filter".

There is also a coverage caveat worth knowing before you build a dashboard. Customer aggregate, rate and percentile metrics are supported across all dates in supported_dates, including open quarters, but customer share metrics and the benchmark source's own rate metrics "are not supported for open quarters and are omitted from the response" unless the date range falls within the narrower supported_dates_for_all_metrics range. Google also added a BenchmarksError.NO_METRICS_FOUND error for input combinations that return nothing.

How Does Creator Search by YouTube Handle Help in 2026?

It removes a lookup step from creator discovery. ContentCreatorInsightsService.GenerateCreatorInsights now supports searching by YouTube channel handles through YouTubeChannels.youtube_channel_handles, in addition to channel IDs. Google notes that "valid channel handles must start with @, such as @channel_handle."

The practical gain is that influencer and partnership shortlists are written in handles, because that is how people refer to creators. Until v25.2, a tool had to resolve each handle to a channel ID before requesting insights. For teams running creator programmes alongside YouTube campaigns in 2026, that is one less brittle step in the pipeline.

What Does Generating a PMax Draft From a Smart Campaign Do in 2026?

It lets a tool convert an existing Smart campaign into a Performance Max draft programmatically. The new SmartCampaignSettingService.GeneratePMaxDraftCampaign method generates a draft that Google says is "initialized with a status of CampaignStatus.PAUSED and a creation status of CampaignCreationStatus.INCOMPLETE". Nothing goes live automatically, which is the right default for a conversion an agency should review.

• Validate first: set GeneratePMaxDraftCampaignRequest.validate_only to true to receive warnings or conversion issues in validated_info without creating the draft.
• What comes back: the response returns resource names for the generated pmax_campaign, campaign_budget, asset_group and assets.
• Not yet supported: Google says to leave gbp_enabled and image_enabled unset or false, because setting them to true "is not yet supported" and returns an error.

For agencies managing many small local businesses, this is the most operationally useful item in the release, because migrating Smart campaigns one by one through the interface is slow.

What Else Is in v25.2 for Marketers in 2026?

The two Search bid recommendations are worth a sentence of their own. Google says RaiseTargetCpaPerformanceBidTooLowRecommendation provides a recommended multiplier "greater than 1.0" and LowerTargetRoasPerformanceBidTooLowRecommendation one "less than 1.0". Both exist to tell you a target is so tight that the campaign is not entering auctions, which is one of the more common silent causes of a Search campaign that spends nothing. Our guide to Google Ads that do not convert covers the wider diagnosis.

How Should a Team Upgrade to v25.2 in 2026?

If you already run v25, the upgrade is low risk by Google's own description, because minor versions carry no breaking changes. If you are on an older major version, upgrade to v25 first using Google's version migration guide, which notes that "your endpoint will change when you change major versions", then take v25.2.

1. Confirm which version your tools call, using the Google Cloud Console method described in our v22 guide.
2. Update your client library to a release that supports v25.2. Google's changelog for each language lists the required version.
3. Request PERCENTILE_DATA with the required benchmark source and category filter, and test on one account before rolling into client reports.
4. For Smart campaign conversions, run validate_only first and review every draft before enabling it.
5. Check whether any search campaigns are surfacing the new bid-too-low recommendations.

What Are the Common Mistakes in 2026?

• Expecting new features without updating the client library. Google is explicit that you must upgrade client libraries and client code.
• Building a benchmark dashboard without the required parameters. Percentile metrics only appear when PERCENTILE_DATA, the all-advertisers source and a category filter are all set.
• Assuming share metrics cover open quarters. They are omitted outside the narrower supported range.
• Setting gbp_enabled or image_enabled on PMax draft generation. Google says it is not yet supported.
• Treating a generated draft as live. It is created paused and incomplete by design.
• Jumping a major version straight into production. Major upgrades change the endpoint. Minor ones do not break, majors can.

Key Takeaways for 2026

• Google Ads API v25.2 was announced on 23 September 2026 as a drop-in upgrade for v25, with no breaking changes.
• Competitive benchmark percentile tiers give client reporting a defensible "how do we compare" answer, but only with the required request parameters.
• Creator insights now accept YouTube handles beginning with @, removing a lookup step.
• Smart campaigns can be converted into paused, incomplete Performance Max drafts, with validation before creation.
• New Search recommendations flag Target CPA and Target ROAS bids too tight to enter auctions.
• v25.2 sunsets in August 2027, which makes it a sensible landing point for anyone leaving v22 before 7 October 2026.

Distk helps agencies and in-house teams in India and internationally keep their Google Ads reporting stacks current and turn new API data, such as competitive percentile benchmarks, into client reporting that answers the questions clients actually ask. If your tooling needs upgrading this quarter, that is where we start.

Sources

• Google Ads Developer Blog, "Announcing v25.2 of the Google Ads API", Anash P. Oommen, 23 September 2026 (read via the blog's official feed).
• Google Ads API release notes, v25.2 (2026-09-23).
• Google Ads API deprecation and sunset timetable.
• Google Ads API, Upgrade your API version.