Getting More Consistent Ad Results in Google SERP API

Ad availability in Google search results depends on several factors, including the keyword, location, language, device, and Google’s own ad-serving logic. Getting only a few ads — or no ads at all — in Google SERP API responses does not necessarily mean something is wrong with your request. While there is no setting that can guarantee ad presence, there are a couple of adjustments you can try to increase the chances of receiving paid results.

Use a relevant target location

Choose a location where advertisers are likely to be actively bidding on your target keyword.
For example, if you are tracking a commercial English-language query such as car insurance rates comparison, using London as the target location may return more representative paid results than a less popular location.

Try the adtest parameter

Google supports the adtest=on parameter for test ad requests. When enabled, the ad request is processed as a test and does not affect real impressions or advertising metrics.

You can pass it through the search_param field. Learn more about this parameter in Google Organic SERP API documentation.

Example request

[
  {
    "depth": 100,
    "language_code": "en",
    "location_name": "London,England,United Kingdom",
    "device": "desktop",
    "keyword": "car insurance rates comparison",
    "os": "windows",
    "search_param": "adtest=on"
  }
]

Note: the adtest=on parameter may affect some other elements in the search results. Additional SERP features, such as Knowledge Graph or video results, may be returned with incomplete content. However, if your main goal is to monitor paid and organic positions, this approach can still be useful for getting ad results more consistently.

Conclusion

To sum up, to improve your chances of receiving ads in Google SERP results:

• use a location that is relevant to the target market and keyword,
• choose commercially oriented queries where advertisers are more likely to compete,
• add adtest=on through the search_param field,
• keep in mind that ad availability is ultimately controlled by Google and may vary between requests.

Learn more about the adtest parameter in the Google Custom Search Ads documentation.