Sunsetting CONVERSION DURATION THRESHOLD feed placeholder in AdWords API

Update: The sunset date was changed from April 7th, 2014 to April 28th, 2014. --Stan Grinberg

If you use AdWords call extensions, you know that you can count phone calls as conversions based on the duration of the call (e.g., 60 seconds). When using AdWords API feeds, this duration threshold is specified as theCONVERSION DURATION THRESHOLD placeholder. This placeholder is sunsetting on April 7th, 2014. You will not receive errors if you continue to read and set values associated with this placeholder. However, these values will not be honored past the sunset date.

How do I set conversion duration threshold in the future?
After the sunset date, if you’d like to continue using conversion duration threshold, then you must upgrade to the AdWords API v201402:

• Use the ConversionTrackerService to create an AdCallMetricsConversion
• Set the call duration threshold in the AdCallMetricsConversion.phoneCallDuration field
• Use the new CONVERSION TYPE feed placeholder and setting the feed attribute value to the value of the newly created AdCallMetricsConversion.Id

Note: CONVERSION TYPE placeholder is not available for use at the time of this post. We will make a separate announcement when it’s ready.

What will happen to my existing conversion duration threshold values?
If you used CONVERSION DURATION THRESHOLD in a Feed Mapping prior to the sunset date, then we will automatically migrate those values after the sunset date - and they will be accessible via the AdWords API v201402 as follows:

• New AdCallMetricsConversion will be automatically created for you with the existing conversion duration threshold.
  
  Note: If you have 3 feed items with call duration threshold, where two of them are set to 120 seconds, and one of them are set to 30 seconds, then only two AdCallMetricsConversion will be created - one with AdCallMetricsConversion.phoneCallDuration set to 120 seconds, and another one set to 30 seconds.
• Feed attributes using CONVERSION DURATION THRESHOLD will remain, setting and reading those values will not throw errors. However, any associated feed attribute values will not be honored.
• A new feed attribute will be automatically created in your existing feed, and it will be automatically be mapped to the new CONVERSION TYPE placeholder type
• The new conversion type feed attribute will be associated to the newly createdAdCallMetricsConversion

Note that in order to get the name and field attribute ID of the newly created conversion type field attribute, you should use the FeedMappingService to determine the feed attribute ID that is associated with theCONVERSION TYPE placeholder type.

If you have any questions about this upcoming change or anything else related to the AdWords API, please contact us on the AdWords API forum or via the Google Ads Developers Google+ page.

 - Ray Tsang, AdWords API Team