As I reflect on the recent announcement, I realize that Google is taking a big step by sunsetting the ads developer support forums. By 2026, we will need to shift our reliance to official support channels for maintaining the smooth operation of our ad tools.
The upcoming closure will affect three long-standing Google Groups support forums for advertising developers. Google’s aim is to consolidate technical support into more official and structured channels.
Driving the news. It’s important to note that starting January 28, 2026, Google will cease responding to new posts in these forums. While they’ll remain accessible as read-only archives for a short while, eventually, new posts will be completely disabled.
After Jan. 28:
- Support agents will no longer reply on Google Groups.
- Replies to existing threads will initiate a new email conversation with Google support.
- Past discussions and solutions will remain available online for reference.
The shift. Google’s objective is to “streamline technical support channels,” guiding developers towards official tools that have better tracking and response processes, thereby improving our overall experience.
Where developers should go now. Since the announcement, I’ve been exploring the updated developer documentation that Google has provided. It directs developers to the following official support channels:
- Google Ads API
- Google Ads Scripts
- Campaign Manager 360 API – supported by the Campaign Manager 360 team.
Why we care. These forums have served as critical open Q&A hubs for us developers, particularly in dealing with Google Ads API, Google Ads Scripts, and the Campaign Manager 360 API. This change will impact how quickly and effectively we can resolve issues, which are essential for maintaining seamless bidding, reporting, and automation functions.
With the closure of the public forums, we’ll need to adjust our workflows. This means providing more detailed logs and relying less on community-shared solutions. Being prepared for this transition will help us avoid downtime and lapses in performance.
What Google wants from developers. To expedite issue resolution, Google urges us to include comprehensive diagnostic details in support tickets, such as:
- Google Ads API: request ID, full request + response logs
- Ads Scripts: script name, customer ID, execution logs, UI error messages
- CM360 API: profile/account IDs, API method, request + response logs
- All products: clear issue description, expected behavior, repro steps, code snippets, and error messages
Community still has a home. For those of us looking to stay connected with updates and participate in general discussions, Google recommends their “Google Advertising and Measurement Community” Discord server, which isn’t tied to official support.
The bottom line. Transitioning away from public troubleshooting forums towards standardized, direct support should streamline issue handling. However, it might also diminish the community-shared knowledge we’ve come to rely on.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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