v2
latestOpenAPI 3.1.02026-08-075421692.0 MBCreate standalone ad
Creates a paid ad with custom creative across Meta, Google Ads, Pinterest, TikTok, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, and OpenAI Ads (ChatGPT Ads). Supports three mutually-exclusive request shapes selected by the body, a legacy single-creative shape (all platforms, default), a Meta-only multi-creative shape via the creatives array (one ad set with N ads sharing budget and targeting), and an attach shape via adSetId that adds one new ad to an existing ad set, inheriting its budget, targeting, and schedule (Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn; on LinkedIn adSetId is the existing Campaign id, and the budget, schedule, targeting and bidding fields must be omitted). Per-platform required fields, budget minimums, and video-ad rules are documented on each property below. LinkedIn creates a Single Image or Single Video Ad backed by a Direct Sponsored Content "dark post" authored by a Company Page (see organizationId); supported goals are engagement, traffic, awareness, and video_views (video ads use the video field; video_views requires a video), and traffic ads require linkUrl.
Idempotency: this endpoint is not idempotent at the platform level (a blind retry creates a second campaign/ad set/ad). Send an Idempotency-Key header to make retries safe: the first request with a given key creates the ad and we store the response; a retry with the same key replays that exact response (with Idempotent-Replayed: true) instead of creating duplicates. Reusing a key with a different body returns 422; a key whose first request is still in flight returns 409 (retry after a short backoff). Keys are scoped to your credential and expire after 24h.
Headers
Optional client-generated unique key (e.g. a UUID) that makes retries safe. Same key + same body replays the original response; same key + different body → 422; key still processing → 409.
Request body
Meta only. Exact campaign name. Overrides the default <name> - Campaign.
Meta only. Exact ad set name. Overrides the default <name> - Ad Set. (For per-ad names on the multi-creative shape, set name on each creatives[] entry.)
Meta only. Exact ad name (the single-creative ad object's name). Overrides the default, which is name. (For per-ad names on the multi-creative shape, set name on each creatives[] entry instead.)
Required on legacy and multi-creative shapes; the attach shape inherits it from the ad set. Available goals vary by platform.
Meta
- conversions: OUTCOME_SALES. Requires promotedObject.pixelId and promotedObject.customEventType with a commerce event such as PURCHASE or START_TRIAL, or promotedObject.customConversionId to optimise against a Custom Conversion, or customEventType: OTHER + customEventStr to optimise against a pixel custom event.
- lead_conversion: OUTCOME_LEADS optimizing website pixel leads. Same pixel and event fields, but with a leads-class event such as LEAD, SUBMIT_APPLICATION, SCHEDULE or CONTACT (or promotedObject.customConversionId to optimise against a Custom Conversion instead). Meta gates conversion events by objective, so leads-class events are rejected under conversions.
- lead_generation: OUTCOME_LEADS with instant forms. Requires leadGenFormId. promotedObject.pageId is optional and auto-filled from the connected Page.
- app_promotion: requires promotedObject.applicationId and promotedObject.objectStoreUrl.
- catalog_sales: Advantage+ catalog ads, for example vehicle inventory. Requires promotedObject.productSetId, promotedObject.pixelId and promotedObject.customEventType. Builds a catalog TEMPLATE creative from the copy fields, which may carry template tags like {{product.name}} or {{vehicle.make}}. No imageUrl or video is sent; Meta renders the visuals per catalog item. Discover catalogs via GET /v1/ads/catalogs and product sets via GET /v1/ads/catalogs/{catalogId}/product-sets. Single shape only, no creatives[], adSetId, dynamicCreative or placementAssets.
TikTok
- conversions: website-conversion ad group. Requires promotedObject.pixelId, your TikTok Pixel ID. Accepts an optional promotedObject.customEventType with a TikTok optimization_event code your pixel tracks (newer pixels use e.g. SHOPPING for purchase events; legacy pixels use ON_WEB_ORDER, INITIATE_ORDER, ON_WEB_REGISTER or FORM). To inherit pixel and event from an existing ad group, pass adSetId instead.
- engagement, traffic, awareness and video_views create standalone Direct Sponsored Content ads. traffic requires linkUrl; video_views requires video.
- job_applicants requires a platformSpecificData.jobs creative.
- For lead_generation or conversions on LinkedIn, or to promote an existing post, use POST /v1/ads/boost.
OpenAI Ads
- Only traffic, awareness, and conversions are supported (other goals return 400). Maps to OpenAI's bidding_type (clicks, impressions, conversions respectively). conversions requires an active conversion event setting on the account; create a tracking tag with defaultEventType via the tracking-tags API (POST /v1/accounts/{accountId}/tracking-tags), or configure a conversion event in OpenAI Ads Manager, or the request returns 422.
Meta only. Explicit ad-set optimization_goal (e.g. LANDING_PAGE_VIEWS, LINK_CLICKS, REACH, IMPRESSIONS, OFFSITE_CONVERSIONS, THRUPLAY, LEAD_GENERATION). Overrides the default derived from goal (e.g. traffic defaults to LINK_CLICKS). Forwarded verbatim to Meta, which validates compatibility with the campaign objective and rejects incompatible combinations.
Meta only. Explicit ad-set billing_event. Defaults to IMPRESSIONS. Forwarded verbatim to Meta, which validates compatibility with the optimization goal.
Meta only. RESERVED = Reach & Frequency: requires rfPredictionId (a RESERVED prediction from /v1/ads/rf-predictions + /reserve). Budget, schedule and pricing come from the reservation, so budgetAmount/budgetType are not required and bid fields are ignored. Only the plain single-ad shape (no creatives[], adSetId, existingCampaignId or dynamicCreative).
Meta only. The RESERVED prediction id the R&F ad set runs on (reserving mints a new id — pass that one). Requires buyingType RESERVED.
Meta only. Advantage+ creative enhancements: a partial map of Meta creative feature keys (snake_case, e.g. enhance_cta, image_brightness_and_contrast, text_optimizations) to enroll status, forwarded as degrees_of_freedom_spec.creative_features_spec. Meta validates the keys; unspecified features default to OPT_OUT. The legacy standard_enhancements bundle is deprecated by Meta and rejected.
Meta only, single standalone shape only (no creatives[], adSetId, or RESERVED). Dry-run: each node runs Meta's execution_options validate_only and NOTHING is created or persisted. Children need real parents, so a fresh tree validates the campaign + creative (the ad set needs its campaign to exist — pass existingCampaignId to validate it too; the ad itself is never validatable pre-create). A Meta validation failure returns the 400 verbatim; success returns 200 with per-node results instead of an ad.
Budget in WHOLE currency units (USD: 50 = $50.00), NOT cents — Meta's own Marketing API takes this same number in minor units, so it is an easy and expensive mix-up. Required on legacy + multi-creative shapes. Inherited on attach. OpenAI Ads requires a $1 minimum (its budget is lifetime-only, see budgetType).
Required on legacy + multi-creative shapes. Inherited on attach. OpenAI Ads accepts lifetime only (no daily-budget concept on the platform); sending daily returns 422. OpenAI Ads lifetime budgets require endDate to give the lifetime cap a spend window.
Meta and TikTok. Publish state of the created entities. Omitted or ACTIVE publishes live (default, back-compat); PAUSED creates them paused and skips activation, so you can review before they spend. On TikTok the whole campaign > ad group > ad hierarchy stays paused.
Meta only. Where the budget lives, which selects the Meta budget model:
- adset (default): ABO (Ad-set Budget Optimization). The budget is set on the ad set. This is the back-compatible behaviour — omit this field to keep it.
- campaign: CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization / Advantage Campaign Budget). The budget AND bidStrategy are set on the CAMPAIGN, and Meta distributes spend across ad sets automatically. Meta requires the budget at exactly one level, never both. Non-Meta platforms ignore this field. Ignored on the attach shape (adSetId), which inherits the existing budget.
Required for Meta, Google, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and OpenAI Ads on legacy + attach shapes (skip for multi-creative — use creatives[].headline). Ignored for TikTok and X/Twitter. Max: Meta=255, Google=30, Pinterest=100, LinkedIn=400, OpenAI=50 (min 3). On LinkedIn this is the ad's headline (the bold text on the creative); for traffic ads it's the link card title. On OpenAI Ads this is the chat card's title.
Google Display only — defaults to headline if omitted. On LinkedIn, reused as the optional secondary description text on traffic (link) ads; omitted if not provided.
Required on legacy + attach shapes. For X/Twitter this is the tweet text (max 280 chars including a ~24-char URL when linkUrl is set). On LinkedIn this is the post commentary (the intro text shown above the ad). On OpenAI Ads this is the chat card's body text. Max: Google=90, Pinterest=500, OpenAI=100.
Meta only (facebook/instagram). Link description — the secondary text shown below the headline (Meta's link_data.description; on video creatives mapped to video_data.link_description). When omitted, Meta auto-pulls the destination URL's OpenGraph description. Applies on legacy, attach, and placementAssets shapes; for multi-creative use creatives[].description (this field is the shared fallback). For multi-text variations use dynamicCreative.descriptions instead.
Required on legacy + attach shapes for Meta. Honoured on TikTok (passes through to the Spark Ad creative's call_to_action) and on LinkedIn (the CTA button on the ad; defaults to LEARN_MORE when linkUrl is set). LinkedIn accepts: LEARN_MORE, SIGN_UP, DOWNLOAD, SUBSCRIBE, REGISTER, JOIN, ATTEND, REQUEST_DEMO, VIEW_QUOTE, APPLY, SEE_MORE, SHOP_NOW, BUY_NOW. Ignored by Google, Pinterest, and X/Twitter.
Required on legacy + attach shapes (skip for multi-creative). On LinkedIn it's the ad's destination URL; required for traffic ads, optional for engagement / awareness. NOT required when goal is lead_generation (the ad opens a Lead Gen form instead of a destination). On LinkedIn, imageUrl + linkUrl publishes an ARTICLE-content creative; this is LinkedIn's article ad format, with the image as thumbnail and longHeadline as description. Required for OpenAI Ads (the chat card's target_url).
Meta Lead Gen forms only (facebook/instagram). The leadgen_forms ID to attach to the ad's creative — create one via POST /v1/ads/lead-forms. REQUIRED when goal is lead_generation, and on every ATTACH (adSetId) call that targets a lead ad set (the form attaches per-ad; Meta rejects a formless ad in a lead ad set). Ignored otherwise. The ad set's promoted_object.page_id + LEAD_GENERATION optimization + destination_type ON_AD are derived automatically from the goal. Both placementAssets (per-placement creative) and dynamicCreative (multi-text / multi-asset pool, e.g. multiple headlines and primary texts) ARE supported on instant-form lead ads — the form is attached for you, and for dynamicCreative the ad set is created as a Dynamic Creative ad set automatically (Meta requires that for any multi-text feed; there is no non-DCO multi-text path). Send a single imageUrls (or videoUrls) entry plus your text variations to get Meta's "Multiple Text Options" behavior on a lead ad.
Image creative for Meta/Google/Pinterest/LinkedIn on legacy + attach shapes (mutually exclusive with video). Required for LinkedIn ads unless video is set. Not required for Google Search campaigns. For TikTok, this field carries the VIDEO URL (the TikTok ads endpoint is video-only; the field retains the imageUrl name for cross-platform consistency). Ignored for X/Twitter. For Google Display, treated as the landscape image (alias of images.landscape); supply images.square alongside or the request is rejected. For LinkedIn the image is uploaded to LinkedIn under the authoring Company Page (see organizationId); recommended ratio 1.91:1 (e.g. 1200×627). Required for OpenAI Ads (uploaded as the chat card's image; OpenAI has no video ad format).
When present, switches to the attach shape: adds one new ad to this existing ad set without creating a new campaign. Budget, targeting, goal, schedule, AND bid strategy are inherited from the ad set on Meta — passing bidStrategy in attach mode returns 400. To change an existing ad set's bid, use PUT /v1/ads/ad-sets/{adSetId}. Mutually exclusive with creatives[].
The attached ad takes the full single-creative surface: headline/body/description/callToAction plus either imageUrl/video OR placementAssets (its own per-placement Feed/Story assets), and leadGenFormId when the target is a lead ad set (the parent must be ON_AD — true for ad sets created via goal lead_generation; Meta rejects a formless ad there, so pass the form on EVERY attached ad). This is the way to build N full ads sharing one ad set: create the first ad via the normal shape, then attach the rest one call each.
Supported on Meta (facebook, instagram), TikTok, and LinkedIn. On TikTok the adSetId is the ad group ID; the new ad inherits the ad group's bid + budget + targeting. On LinkedIn the adSetId is the LinkedIn Campaign ID (numeric); we attach a new Creative to that Campaign, so the Campaign's platformSpecificData bidding, targeting, budget and schedule are inherited (passing those fields returns 400).
Meta + LinkedIn. On Meta: add the new ad set under this EXISTING campaign instead of creating a new one (multi-ad-set audience testing). The new ad set's budget is matched to the campaign's mode automatically: for a CBO campaign (campaign-level budget) omit budgetAmount/budgetType — the campaign owns the budget; for an ABO campaign pass them (they go on the new ad set). On LinkedIn: create a new Campaign (and its Creative) under this EXISTING CampaignGroup. On failure only the entities we authored are cleaned up; the pre-existing parent is left untouched and is never (re)activated. Mutually exclusive with adSetId and creatives[].
Meta only. Reuse an EXISTING ad creative by id instead of building a new one from the copy/media fields (which are then ignored). Combine with existingCampaignId to build a multi-ad-set campaign that shares one creative. Mutually exclusive with creatives[], dynamicCreative, and placementAssets. The creative id used is returned as creativeId on the create response.
Google Display only
Pinterest only. Board ID (auto-creates if not provided).
LinkedIn only. The Company Page that authors the Direct Sponsored Content ("dark") post backing the ad — accepts a numeric organization ID or a full urn:li:organization:N URN. Required unless the resolved accountId is a connected LinkedIn Company-Page account (defaults to that page) or the LinkedIn ad account is org-owned (defaults to the account's owning organization). The authenticated member must be an ADMINISTRATOR or DIRECT_SPONSORED_CONTENT_POSTER of this page (and the page must be associated with the ad account), or LinkedIn returns 403. Ignored by every other platform.
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (e.g. ['NL']). Defaults to ['US'] when no other geo targeting (flat or nested targeting) is provided. (LinkedIn and OpenAI Ads currently honour country-level targeting only; any other targeting field returns 400 for OpenAI Ads.)
Normalized household-income tier. Meta and TikTok express all four; Google maps only top_10; rejected on LinkedIn, X, and Pinterest. On Meta, income targeting is incompatible with housing/employment/credit specialAdCategories.
Language codes restricting the audience by language. On Meta, ISO 639-1 codes (e.g. ['en'], ['de']); a bare code targets all regional variants ("en" = all English), or use a region-qualified code for a specific one ("en_GB", "pt_BR", "zh_TW"). Unknown codes are rejected. Other ad platforms use their own language-code systems.
ID of a saved_targeting audience (created via POST /v1/ads/audiences). When set, its stored TargetingSpec is expanded as the base targeting; inline fields on this body merge on top. Lets you reuse a named targeting preset without re-sending every field.
Meta only. A raw Meta-native targeting spec (snake_case: geo_locations, age_min, excluded_custom_audiences, flexible_spec, targeting_automation, user_os, wireless_carrier, business places, etc.) — exactly the shape GET /v1/ads/{adId} returns for external ads. Sent alone it reaches the ad set VERBATIM (the clone-a-campaign's-targeting-exactly path). Meta validates and surfaces any errors.
Can be combined with the camelCase targeting fields (countries/regions/cities/interests/ageMin/..., targeting, savedTargetingId, audienceId): rawTargeting is the BASE layer and the built camelCase spec is merged on top, key by key, with the camelCase side winning on collision (the camelCase precedence chain stays savedTargetingId < targeting < flat fields). The merge goes one level deep inside geo_locations and excluded_geo_locations: built sub-keys win, raw-only sub-keys such as location_types survive alongside built countries. Array values (flexible_spec, ...) are replaced as a WHOLE key when the camelCase spec builds them, never element-merged. When rawTargeting is present the defaults the camelCase builder normally injects (US geo, targeting_automation.advantage_audience: 0) are suppressed, so raw's values are not clobbered — include targeting_automation in the raw spec (or send advantageAudience) as Meta requires it on create. If cloning an EU campaign, also pass dsaBeneficiary / dsaPayor (those are separate fields, not part of targeting).
Meta only. Declares the ad's special category, required for housing, employment, credit, or political/social-issue ads (Meta enforces restricted targeting for these). Note: setting a special category disables income/zip targeting on Meta.
Meta (metaads) only. 2-letter ISO country codes the special ad category applies to. Requires specialAdCategories to be set (400 otherwise). Ignored when joining an existing campaign via existingCampaignId (the existing campaign's category/country already governs it).
Required for lifetime budgets
Meta only. Ad-set start time (ISO 8601, e.g. "2026-06-10T09:00:00Z"), mapped to the ad set's start_time. When omitted the ad starts delivering immediately. For lifetime budgets Meta also requires endDate. (Same schedule.startDate semantics already available on POST /v1/ads/boost.)
Meta only. Override the Instagram account the ad is delivered as — pass an Instagram Business Account ID (e.g. 17841...), mapped to the creative's instagram_user_id. When omitted we auto-resolve the IG account linked to the connected Facebook Page (the existing default). Useful when a Page has more than one eligible IG account.
Meta only. Language the top-level copy is written in (e.g. en, pt_BR), used by the translations default rule. Defaults to en. Meta rejects a language asset feed whose default rule carries no locales of its own. Must NOT also appear as an entry in translations.
Custom audience ID for targeting
Google only
Google Search only
Google Search RSA only. Extra headlines.
Google Search RSA only. Extra descriptions.
Meta only. Controls the Advantage audience feature (targeting_automation). 0 = disabled (default), 1 = enabled. Meta Marketing API requires this field on all ad set creation requests.
Restrict the audience by gender. 'male' targets men only, 'female' targets women only, 'all' (default) targets everyone. Applied on Meta, TikTok and Pinterest. Ignored on Google, LinkedIn and X.
Meta bid strategy. Same enum applies at campaign and ad-set level; ad-set value (when set) overrides campaign-level. Cross-field rules:
- LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP (default): auto-bid, forbids bidAmount and roasAverageFloor.
- LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP / COST_CAP: require bidAmount (whole currency units).
- LOWEST_COST_WITH_MIN_ROAS: requires roasAverageFloor (decimal multiplier, 2.0 = 2.0x). Source: facebook-business-sdk-codegen api_specs/specs/enum_types.json (AdSet_bid_strategy, Campaign_bid_strategy).
Bid cap in WHOLE currency units (USD: 5 = $5.00; JPY: 100 = ¥100). Required when bidStrategy is LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP or COST_CAP.
Minimum ROAS as a decimal multiplier (e.g. 2.0 = 2.0x ROAS). Required when bidStrategy is LOWEST_COST_WITH_MIN_ROAS. Sent to Meta as bid_constraints.roas_average_floor × 10000.
Meta only (facebook, instagram; other platforms return 400). Value rule set to attach to the new ad set, from /v1/ads/value-rule-sets. Attachment is driven by this id, so valueRulesApplied is optional alongside it.
Rejected with 400 in adSetId attach mode: that shape inherits the existing ad set's attachment, so the field would be silently ignored. Use PUT /v1/ads/ad-sets/{adSetId} there instead.
Ignored (stripped before the ad-set create) when buyingType is RESERVED: value rules only apply to auction ad sets on LOWEST_COST_WITHOUT_CAP or COST_CAP, and a Reach & Frequency reservation has no auction bid strategy.
Read back with GET /v1/ads/ad-sets/{adSetId}?fields=value_rule_set_id; the attachment is not mirrored onto Zernio's ad documents.
Meta only (facebook, instagram; other platforms return 400). Optional when attaching, and requires valueRuleSetId. false is REJECTED here with 400: a newly created ad set has nothing to detach, so detaching lives on PUT /v1/ads/ad-sets/{adSetId}.
Legal entity that benefits from the ad. Required when targeting EU users (EU DSA, Article 26). Optional if the ad account has a default beneficiary: set it once via PATCH /v1/ads/accounts or in Meta Ads Manager, and Meta fills it in whenever the field is omitted.
Legal entity that pays for the ad. Can differ from dsaBeneficiary (for example, an agency paying for a client's ads). Same rules as dsaBeneficiary: required for EU targeting unless the ad account has a default payor.
TikTok only. Forces the identity attribution on the ad:
- TT_USER: the posting account's open_id (real @username branding). Requires a connected TikTok posting account on the same profile.
- CUSTOMIZED_USER: synthetic Brand Identity (display name + avatar). Requires a configured Brand Identity (cached on the tiktokads SocialAccount via PATCH /v1/connect/tiktok-ads) or an inline brandIdentity to create one on the fly.
When omitted, defaults to TT_USER if a posting account is connected on this profile, else CUSTOMIZED_USER. Spark Ads (POST /v1/ads/boost) always use TT_USER regardless of this field — TikTok requires the original organic post's author identity for Spark.
Response
validateOnly dry-run passed — nothing was created
Always true in a validate-only response.