Create campaign criteria

Page Summary

Campaign criteria for Smart campaigns are created using KeywordThemeConstant objects retrieved from the KeywordThemeConstantService .
Smart campaigns support specific criterion types including AD_SCHEDULE , KEYWORD_THEME , LOCATION , and PROXIMITY .
For location targeting, you can use multiple location criteria but only one proximity criterion, and you cannot use both simultaneously.
Negative keyword theme criteria in Smart campaigns must use a free-form keyword theme and behave like a negative phrase match keyword.

In Get suggestions , we demonstrated how to retrieve a set of KeywordThemeConstant objects using a word or phrase. In this step, we use those same keyword theme constants to create a set of CampaignCriterion objects for the Smart campaign to target.

Similar to how we used the budget amount suggested by the SmartCampaignSuggestService when creating a budget , we recommend that you create campaign criteria based on the keyword theme constants retrieved from the KeywordThemeConstantService in Get suggestions .

Here are the key requirements for Smart campaign criteria:

Smart campaigns only support the following criterion types:
For location targeting , if a location is not specified, targeting will default to include all regions.
Multiple location criteria can be associated with a Smart campaign, but only one proximity criterion can be used.
You cannot use both location and proximity targeting.

In the following example, the keyword theme constants have been converted to KeywordThemeInfo objects by setting their resource name onto the KeywordThemeInfo.keyword_theme_constant field. We set the campaign field using the temporary resource name set on the campaign in the previous step.

Java

 /** 
 * Creates {@link com.google.ads.googleads.v22.resources.CampaignCriterion} operations for add 
 * each {@link KeywordThemeInfo}. 
 */ 
 private 
  
 Collection 
< ? 
  
 extends 
  
 MutateOperation 
>  
 createCampaignCriterionOperations 
 ( 
  
 long 
  
 customerId 
 , 
  
 List<KeywordThemeInfo> 
  
 keywordThemeInfos 
 , 
  
 SmartCampaignSuggestionInfo 
  
 suggestionInfo 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 List<MutateOperation> 
  
 keywordThemeOperations 
  
 = 
  
 keywordThemeInfos 
 . 
 stream 
 () 
  
 . 
 map 
 ( 
  
 keywordTheme 
  
 - 
>  
 { 
  
 MutateOperation 
 . 
 Builder 
  
 builder 
  
 = 
  
 MutateOperation 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 (); 
  
 builder 
  
 . 
 getCampaignCriterionOperationBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 getCreateBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 setCampaign 
 ( 
 ResourceNames 
 . 
 campaign 
 ( 
 customerId 
 , 
  
 SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID 
 )) 
  
 . 
 setKeywordTheme 
 ( 
 keywordTheme 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 builder 
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
 }) 
  
 . 
 collect 
 ( 
 Collectors 
 . 
 toList 
 ()); 
  
 List<MutateOperation> 
  
 locationOperations 
  
 = 
  
 suggestionInfo 
 . 
 getLocationList 
 (). 
 getLocationsList 
 (). 
 stream 
 () 
  
 . 
 map 
 ( 
  
 location 
  
 - 
>  
 { 
  
 MutateOperation 
 . 
 Builder 
  
 builder 
  
 = 
  
 MutateOperation 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 (); 
  
 builder 
  
 . 
 getCampaignCriterionOperationBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 getCreateBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 setCampaign 
 ( 
 ResourceNames 
 . 
 campaign 
 ( 
 customerId 
 , 
  
 SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID 
 )) 
  
 . 
 setLocation 
 ( 
 location 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 builder 
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
 }) 
  
 . 
 collect 
 ( 
 Collectors 
 . 
 toList 
 ()); 
  
 return 
  
 Stream 
 . 
 concat 
 ( 
 keywordThemeOperations 
 . 
 stream 
 (), 
  
 locationOperations 
 . 
 stream 
 ()) 
  
 . 
 collect 
 ( 
 Collectors 
 . 
 toList 
 ()); 
 } 
   AddSmartCampaign 
 . 
 java

C#

 /// <summary> 
 /// Creates a list of MutateOperations that create new campaign criteria. 
 /// </summary> 
 /// <param name="customerId">The Google Ads customer ID.</param> 
 /// <param name="keywordThemeInfos">A list of KeywordThemeInfos.</param> 
 /// <param name="suggestionInfo">A SmartCampaignSuggestionInfo instance.</param> 
 /// <returns>A list of MutateOperations that create new campaign criteria.</returns> 
 private 
  
 IEnumerable<MutateOperation> 
  
 CreateCampaignCriterionOperations 
 ( 
 long 
  
 customerId 
 , 
  
 IEnumerable<KeywordThemeInfo> 
  
 keywordThemeInfos 
 , 
  
 SmartCampaignSuggestionInfo 
  
 suggestionInfo 
 ) 
 { 
  
 List<MutateOperation> 
  
 mutateOperations 
  
 = 
  
 keywordThemeInfos 
 . 
 Select 
 ( 
  
 keywordThemeInfo 
  
 = 
>  
 new 
  
 MutateOperation 
  
 { 
  
 CampaignCriterionOperation 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 CampaignCriterionOperation 
  
 { 
  
 Create 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 CampaignCriterion 
  
 { 
  
 // Set the campaign ID to a temporary ID. 
  
 Campaign 
  
 = 
  
 ResourceNames 
 . 
 Campaign 
 ( 
  
 customerId 
 , 
  
 SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID 
 ), 
  
 // Set the keyword theme to each KeywordThemeInfo in turn. 
  
 KeywordTheme 
  
 = 
  
 keywordThemeInfo 
 , 
  
 } 
  
 } 
  
 }). 
 ToList 
 (); 
  
 // Create a location criterion for each location in the suggestion info. 
  
 mutateOperations 
 . 
 AddRange 
 ( 
  
 suggestionInfo 
 . 
 LocationList 
 . 
 Locations 
 . 
 Select 
 ( 
  
 locationInfo 
  
 = 
>  
 new 
  
 MutateOperation 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 CampaignCriterionOperation 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 CampaignCriterionOperation 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 Create 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 CampaignCriterion 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Set the campaign ID to a temporary ID. 
  
 Campaign 
  
 = 
  
 ResourceNames 
 . 
 Campaign 
 ( 
 customerId 
 , 
  
 SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID 
 ), 
  
 // Set the location to the given location. 
  
 Location 
  
 = 
  
 locationInfo 
  
 } 
  
 } 
  
 }). 
 ToList 
 () 
  
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 mutateOperations 
 ; 
 } 
   AddSmartCampaign 
 . 
 cs

PHP

 private static function createCampaignCriterionOperations( 
 int $customerId, 
 array $keywordThemeInfos, 
 SmartCampaignSuggestionInfo $smartCampaignSuggestionInfo 
 ): array { 
 $operations = []; 
 foreach ($keywordThemeInfos as $info) { 
 // Creates the campaign criterion object. 
 $campaignCriterion = new CampaignCriterion([ 
 // Sets the campaign ID to a temporary ID. 
 'campaign' = 
> ResourceNames::forCampaign($customerId, self::SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID), 
 // Sets the keyword theme to the given KeywordThemeInfo. 
 'keyword_theme' => $info 
 ]); 
 // Creates the MutateOperation that creates the campaign criterion and adds it to the 
 // list of operations. 
 $operations[] = new MutateOperation([ 
 'campaign_criterion_operation' => new CampaignCriterionOperation([ 
 'create' => $campaignCriterion 
 ]) 
 ]); 
 } 
 // Create a location criterion for each location in the suggestion info object to add 
 // corresponding location targeting to the Smart campaign. 
 foreach ($smartCampaignSuggestionInfo->getLocationList()->getLocations() as $location) { 
 // Creates the campaign criterion object. 
 $campaignCriterion = new CampaignCriterion([ 
 // Sets the campaign ID to a temporary ID. 
 'campaign' = 
> ResourceNames::forCampaign($customerId, self::SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID), 
 // Set the location to the given location. 
 'location' => $location 
 ]); 
 // Creates the MutateOperation that creates the campaign criterion and adds it to the 
 // list of operations. 
 $operations[] = new MutateOperation([ 
 'campaign_criterion_operation' => new CampaignCriterionOperation([ 
 'create' => $campaignCriterion 
 ]) 
 ]); 
 } 
 return $operations; 
 }  AddSmartCampaign.php

def create_campaign_criterion_operations ( client : GoogleAdsClient , customer_id : str , keyword_theme_infos : List [ KeywordThemeInfo ], suggestion_info : SmartCampaignSuggestionInfo , ) - > List [ MutateOperation ]: """Creates a list of MutateOperations that create new campaign criteria. Args: client: an initialized GoogleAdsClient instance. customer_id: a client customer ID. keyword_theme_infos: a list of KeywordThemeInfos. suggestion_info: A SmartCampaignSuggestionInfo instance. Returns: a list of MutateOperations that create new campaign criteria. """ campaign_service : CampaignServiceClient = client . get_service ( "CampaignService" ) operations : List [ MutateOperation ] = [] info : KeywordThemeInfo for info in keyword_theme_infos : mutate_operation : MutateOperation = client . get_type ( "MutateOperation" ) campaign_criterion_operation : CampaignCriterionOperation = ( mutate_operation . campaign_criterion_operation ) campaign_criterion : CampaignCriterion = ( campaign_criterion_operation . create ) # Set the campaign ID to a temporary ID. campaign_criterion . campaign = campaign_service . campaign_path ( customer_id , _SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID ) # Set the keyword theme to the given KeywordThemeInfo. campaign_criterion . keyword_theme . CopyFrom ( info ) # Add the mutate operation to the list of other operations. operations . append ( mutate_operation ) # Create a location criterion for each location in the suggestion info # object to add corresponding location targeting to the Smart campaign location_info : LocationInfo for location_info in suggestion_info . location_list . locations : mutate_operation : MutateOperation = client . get_type ( "MutateOperation" ) campaign_criterion_operation : CampaignCriterionOperation = ( mutate_operation . campaign_criterion_operation ) campaign_criterion : CampaignCriterion = ( campaign_criterion_operation . create ) # Set the campaign ID to a temporary ID. campaign_criterion . campaign = campaign_service . campaign_path ( customer_id , _SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID ) # Set the location to the given location. campaign_criterion . location . CopyFrom ( location_info ) # Add the mutate operation to the list of other operations. operations . append ( mutate_operation ) return operations

add_smart_campaign

. py

# Creates a list of mutate_operations that create new campaign criteria. def create_campaign_criterion_operations ( client , customer_id , keyword_theme_infos , suggestion_info ) operations = [] keyword_theme_infos . each do | info | operations << client . operation . mutate do | m | m . campaign_criterion_operation = client . operation . create_resource . campaign_criterion do | cc | # Sets the campaign ID to a temporary ID. cc . campaign = client . path . campaign ( customer_id , SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID ) # Sets the keyword theme to the given keyword_theme_info. cc . keyword_theme = info end end end # Create a location criterion for each location in the suggestion info object # to add corresponding location targeting to the Smart campaign suggestion_info . location_list . locations . each do | location | operations << client . operation . mutate do | m | m . campaign_criterion_operation = client . operation . create_resource . campaign_criterion do | cc | # Sets the campaign ID to a temporary ID. cc . campaign = client . path . campaign ( customer_id , SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID ) # Sets the location to the given location. cc . location = location end end end operations end

add_smart_campaign

. rb

# Creates a list of MutateOperations that create new campaign criteria. sub _create_campaign_criterion_operations { my ( $customer_id , $keyword_theme_infos , $suggestion_info ) = @_ ; my $campaign_criterion_operations = [] ; foreach my $keyword_theme_info ( @$keyword_theme_infos ) { push @$campaign_criterion_operations , Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Services::GoogleAdsService:: MutateOperation - > new ({ campaignCriterionOperation = > Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Services::CampaignCriterionService:: CampaignCriterionOperation - > new ({ create = > Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Resources:: CampaignCriterion - > new ({ # Set the campaign ID to a temporary ID. campaign = > Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Utils::ResourceNames:: campaign ( $customer_id , SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID ), # Set the keyword theme to the given KeywordThemeInfo. keywordTheme = > $keyword_theme_info })})}); } # Create a location criterion for each location in the suggestion info object # to add corresponding location targeting to the Smart campaign. foreach my $location_info ( @ { $suggestion_info - > { locationList }{ locations }}) { push @$campaign_criterion_operations , Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Services::GoogleAdsService:: MutateOperation - > new ({ campaignCriterionOperation = > Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Services::CampaignCriterionService:: CampaignCriterionOperation - > new ({ create = > Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Resources:: CampaignCriterion - > new ({ # Set the campaign ID to a temporary ID. campaign = > Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V22::Utils::ResourceNames:: campaign ( $customer_id , SMART_CAMPAIGN_TEMPORARY_ID ), # Set the location to the given location. location = > $location_info })})}); } return $campaign_criterion_operations ; }

add_smart_campaign . pl

Negative keyword theme campaign criteria

To negatively target a keyword theme campaign criterion in a Smart campaign, you must use a free-form keyword theme by setting the free_form_keyword_theme field on a KeywordThemeInfo instance.

Negative keyword theme criteria behave differently from positive keyword theme criteria. Whereas a positive keyword theme criterion is adjusted to target other similar criteria automatically, a negative keyword theme criterion is restricted to only negatively target the exact given term. The behavior is equivalent to how a negative phrase match keyword behaves.

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-12-03 UTC.

Create campaign criteria

Page Summary

Java

C#

PHP

Python

Ruby

Perl

Negative keyword theme campaign criteria

Create campaign criteria Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Page Summary

Java

C#

PHP

Python

Ruby

Perl

Negative keyword theme campaign criteria

Create campaign criteria