Google Ads API to remove Demand Gen campaign-level Display opt-out

Any script or integration that creates Demand Gen campaigns with Display switched off at campaign level will start returning errors from the week of 1 December 2026, and the same change pauses some existing ad groups. Google set this out on the Google Ads Developer Blog on 9 November 2026. Nothing here is live yet: every change in the post is dated to that week.

What changed

The campaign-level field network_settings.target_content_network stops being a real switch for Demand Gen. Display targeting will instead be managed at ad group level, using demand_gen_ad_group_settings.channel_controls.selected_channels.display and channel strategies.

Rolling out from the week of 1 December 2026 (the post gives no more precise date):

• New Demand Gen campaigns default target_content_network to true, where it was false before.
• You can no longer set the field to false at campaign level. Setting it on creation or update returns an OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT error.
• Existing campaigns currently set to false are updated to true, with automatic changes to their ad groups.

The backfill treats ad groups in four ways, according to the post:

• Where Display is already opted out at both campaign and ad group level, the campaign flag becomes true and the ad groups are untouched.
• Ad groups using the ALL_CHANNELS strategy become ALL_OWNED_AND_OPERATED_CHANNELS.
• Ad groups targeting Display alongside other channels get selected_channels.display set explicitly to false.
• Ad groups that only target Display, while Display was opted out at campaign level, are set to PAUSED with their channel controls left intact. Google explains that Demand Gen ad groups must target at least one channel, so turning Display off would leave them with none, which is an invalid configuration.

Google says the reason for the change is that disabling Display at campaign level used to override the ad group setting. Managing it only at ad group level, it says, removes that dual-level configuration and keeps channel representation consistent across the Google Ads API, the Google Ads UI and Google Ads Editor.

On serving, the developer blog states: "Overall default campaign serving behavior will remain unchanged." The reasoning given is that ad group channel controls default to Display off, so new campaigns still target owned and operated inventory unless Display is explicitly opted in. Google also says none of the backfilled campaigns will change serving behaviour, because they are already opted out of Display. That is Google's description, and the audit below is how you check it against your own accounts.

For opting out through the API, the post's example sets display to false inside demandGenAdGroupSettings.channelControls.selectedChannels alongside the other channel flags (youtubeInStream, youtubeInFeed, youtubeShorts, discover, gmail). It also says you can set channel_strategy to ALL_OWNED_AND_OPERATED_CHANNELS as a high-level way to opt out of Display without listing every channel.