How to obtain human-readable names for all audience segments (criterion) through Google Ads API v20?
Mark Ignacio
Business need
I’m building a reporting tool that lists metrics (impressions, clicks, conversions, cost, etc.) per audience segment.
For every segment we must show the same friendly name the Google Ads UI displays.
Current workflow (API v20)
1. Metrics per audience criterion
```gaql
SELECT
ad_group_criterion.criterion_id,
metrics.impressions,
metrics.clicks,
metrics.conversions,
metrics.cost_micros
FROM ad_group_audience_view
WHERE campaign.id = <CAMPAIGN_ID>
AND segments.date BETWEEN 'YYYY-MM-DD' AND 'YYYY-MM-DD'
```
2. Attempt to map each `criterion_id` to a label
```gaql
SELECT
ad_group_criterion.criterion_id,
ad_group_criterion.user_list.user_list,
ad_group_criterion.display_name
FROM ad_group_criterion
WHERE campaign.id = <CAMPAIGN_ID>
AND ad_group_criterion.type = AUDIENCE
```
3. Translate numeric topic IDs (placeholders like “Audience #123 …”)
```gaql
SELECT
vertical_constant.resource_name,
vertical_constant.name
FROM vertical_constant
WHERE vertical_constant.resource_name IN ('verticalConstants/123', ...)
```
Processing logic
• use `display_name` when it’s non-empty
• look up user lists by resource name to get their `.name`
• replace “Audience #<n>” with the returned ` vertical_constant.name `
• tidy Google’s auto-generated strings `AdGroupPersona_<hash>_<ts>`
Problem
After all steps many criteria still show only “Audience #<ID>”.
Those same criteria display a friendly name in the Google Ads UI.
What we tried (and failed)
• Adding `ad_group_criterion.user_interest`, `.custom_audience`, `.combined_audience` to SELECT → GAQL error: “field may not be used in SELECT clause”.
• Querying `user_interest`, `custom_audience`, `combined_audience` tables directly – we have only numeric `criterion_id`, no resource names.
• Granting “Audience Manager” UI permissions is not possible for every customer.
Questions
1. Is there any supported way to convert **every** audience `criterion_id` to the same human-readable label the UI shows, especially when `display_name` is just “Audience #<ID>”?
2. Do the orphan numeric IDs map to an internal taxonomy that isn’t exposed via `vertical_constant`? If yes, what fallback should we show?
3. Are there other fields/services (GoogleAdsFieldService, etc.) that let us resolve names for user-interest, custom-audience, or combined-audience criteria programmatically?
Thanks for any guidance—our users need meaningful audience names and we’d like to avoid scraping or static mapping tables.
Thank you.
Google Ads API Forum Advisor
Hi,
Thank you for contacting the Google Ads API support team.
Please note that it is not clear to us what data you are trying to retrieve using the Google Ads API. In order to assist you further, please elaborate on your concern, provide your Google Ads customer Id , uncropped UI screenshot of your Google Ads account highlighting the data which you are trying to retrieve and the complete GAQL queries including campaign Id without redacting any information and explain the meaning of the phrase “display a friendly name in the Google Ads UI.”
You can send the details via Reply privately to the author option, or direct private reply to this email.
Feedback
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[2025-09-08 15:28:27Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!500Ht01u622G:ref" (ADR-00332060)
Mark Ignacio
Hello Google Ads API support,
Thanks for the quick reply—here are the exact details you requested.
Google Ads Account Information
-
Customer ID(MCC): 🔵 601-996-9454
-
Campaign ID (Video campaign used for testing): 🔵 22709819255
What We Want to Retrieve
For every audience segment in a campaign we need:
-
the human-readable segment name (the same label users see in the Google Ads UI); and
-
impression / click / conversion / cost metrics for a selected date range.
By “display a friendly name in the Google Ads UI” we mean the text that appears in the UI table under Audiences ► Segments .
Example from the UI: “TV Lovers”, “Technology”, “Lifestyle & Hobbies” etc.
GAQL Queries
Code snippet
-- (1) Metrics per audience criterion
SELECT
ad_group_criterion.criterion_id,
metrics.impressions,
metrics.clicks,
metrics.conversions,
metrics.cost_micros
FROM ad_group_audience_view
WHERE campaign.id = 22709819255
AND segments.date BETWEEN '2024-08-01' AND '2024-08-31';
Code snippet
-- (2) Attempt to translate each criterion_id into a label
SELECT
ad_group_criterion.criterion_id,
ad_group_criterion.user_list.user_list,
ad_group_criterion.display_name
FROM ad_group_criterion
WHERE campaign.id = 22709819255
AND ad_group_criterion.type = AUDIENCE;
Code snippet
-- (3) Translate numeric topic / vertical IDs when needed
SELECT
vertical_constant.resource_name,
FROM vertical_constant
WHERE vertical_constant.resource_name IN ('verticalConstants/51668104735');
Problem We Need Help With
For criterion ID 51668104735, query #2 returns display_name = "Audience #51668104735" and query #3 returns no match.
Yet the UI shows the friendly name “TV Lovers” for that same criterion (see screenshot).
Questions
-
Is there an API method or mapping that converts all criterion_id values to the friendly names shown in the UI?
-
If certain IDs belong to an internal taxonomy that is not publicly exposed, what is the recommended workaround so our users don’t see “Audience #<ID>” placeholders?
Thank you for your assistance—let me know if any other details are needed.
Thanks,
Mark Ignacio
Client Success Manager
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Google Ads API Forum Advisor
Based on the adGroupCriterion with criterion ID 51668104735 and displayName: "uservertical::9280", you can use the user_interest resource to fetch the audience segments you need, such as the one named "TV Lovers". You can use the following query:
SELECT user_interest.availabilities, user_interest.launched_to_all, user_interest.name , user_interest.resource_name, user_interest.user_interest_id, user_interest.taxonomy_type, user_interest.user_interest_parent FROM user_interest WHERE user_interest.user_interest_id = 92800Additionally, you can utilize the Google Ads Query Builder and Query Validator to build and validate the queries for retrieving the data from the Google Ads API.
Thanks,
Feedback
How was our support today?
[2025-09-09 14:21:11Z GMT] This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!500Ht01u622G:ref" (ADR-00332060)
