Using symbols in keywords when setting a Google Ads API task [Regex included]
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Google Ads endpoints of Keywords Data API represent the single most comprehensive source of up-to-date keyword data. However, you should be aware that it comes with its own list of limitations, which – while might appear unwarranted – are paramount to the successful integration of this API into your product.
One of the limitations you will come across after setting a task is that certain keywords you specified in the POST array do not return data. What’s more, a single “wrong” keyword in the array can result in the collapse of the entire batch.
The cause of this common problem is that Google Ads API does not support certain symbols in the keyword, or that the keyword falls within a list of “restricted categories.” The former is thoroughly described in another article you can find on our Help Center, so this time we’ll focus the latter one and help you figure out what symbols should be avoided in this API.
Below you will find a few cases describing the issue and a useful Regex.
- Invalid symbols: Some of the symbols you cannot use are:
, ! @ % ^ () = {} ; ~ ` <> ? \ | ― - Site and search operators: Both “site:” and “search:” operators will be removed from the keywords.
- Ignored symbols: Periods (.), minus (-) and plus (+)signs will be ignored in most cases, although exceptions are possible (for example C++).
- 4-byte Unicode characters: All the 4-byte Unicode characters are not valid and will cause an error if included in the array of keywords.
- 4-byte Unicode characters: All the 4-byte Unicode characters(after uFFFFF in the Regex below) along with surrogate pairs are not valid and will cause an error if included in the array of keywords.
For a more comprehensive list of UTF-8 symbols not supported in the keyword’s array of POST requests to Google Ads API, please refer to the Regex snippet below.
Note that you can only use this Regex for symbols before uFFFFF. All 4-byte symbols and surrogate pairs are not valid.
[\x{0000}-\x{001F}]|[\x{0021}]|[\x{0025}]|[\x{0028}-\x{002A}]|[\x{002C}]|[\x{003B}-\x{0040}]|[\x{005C}]|[\x{005E}]|[\x{0060}]|[\x{007B}-\x{009F}]|[\x{00A1}-\x{00A2}]|[\x{00A4}-\x{00A9}]|[\x{00AB}-\x{00B4}]|[\x{00B6}]|[\x{00B8}-\x{00B9}]|[\x{00BB}-\x{00BF}]|[\x{00D7}]|[\x{00F7}]|[\x{0250}-\x{0258}]|[\x{025A}-\x{02AF}]|[\x{02C2}-\x{02C5}]|[\x{02D2}-\x{02DF}]|[\x{02E5}-\x{02EB}]|[\x{02ED}]|[\x{02EF}-\x{02FF}]|[\x{0375}]|[\x{037E}]|[\x{0384}-\x{0385}]|[\x{0387}]|[\x{03F6}]|[\x{0482}]|[\x{0488}-\x{0489}]|[\x{055A}-\x{0560}]|[\x{0588}-\x{058F}]|[\x{05BE}]|[\x{05C0}]|[\x{05C3}]|[\x{05C6}]|[\x{05EF}]|[\x{05F3}-\x{060F}]|[\x{061B}-\x{061F}]|[\x{066A}-\x{066D}]|[\x{06D4}]|[\x{06DD}-\x{06DE}]|[\x{06E9}]|[\x{06FD}-\x{06FE}]|[\x{0700}-\x{070F}]|[\x{07F6}-\x{07F9}]|[\x{07FD}-\x{07FF}]|[\x{0830}-\x{083E}]|[\x{085E}]|[\x{0870}-\x{089F}]|[\x{08B5}]|[\x{08BE}-\x{08D3}]|[\x{08E2}]|[\x{0964}-\x{0965}]|[\x{0970}]|[\x{09F2}-\x{09FB}]|[\x{09FD}-\x{09FE}]|[\x{0A76}]|[\x{0AF0}-\x{0AF1}]|[\x{0B55}]|[\x{0B70}]|[\x{0B72}-\x{0B77}]|[\x{0BF0}-\x{0BFA}]|[\x{0C04}]|[\x{0C3C}]|[\x{0C5D}]|[\x{0C77}-\x{0C7F}]|[\x{0C84}]|[\x{0CDD}]|[\x{0D04}]|[\x{0D4F}]|[\x{0D58}-\x{0D5E}]|[\x{0D70}-\x{0D79}]|[\x{0D81}]|[\x{0DF4}]|[\x{0E3F}]|[\x{0E4F}]|[\x{0E5A}-\x{0E5B}]|[\x{0E86}]|[\x{0E89}]|[\x{0E8C}]|[\x{0E8E}-\x{0E93}]|[\x{0E98}]|[\x{0EA0}]|[\x{0EA8}-\x{0EA9}]|[\x{0EAC}]|[\x{0EBA}]|[\x{0F01}-\x{0F17}]|[\x{0F1A}-\x{0F1F}]|[\x{0F2A}-\x{0F34}]|[\x{0F36}]|[\x{0F38}]|[\x{0F3A}-\x{0F3D}]|[\x{0F85}]|[\x{0FBE}-\x{0FC5}]|[\x{0FC7}-\x{0FDA}]|[\x{104A}-\x{104F}]|[\x{109E}-\x{109F}]|[\x{10FB}]|[\x{1360}-\x{137C}]|[\x{1390}-\x{1399}]|[\x{1400}]|[\x{166D}-\x{166E}]|[\x{169B}-\x{169C}]|[\x{16EB}-\x{16ED}]|[\x{170D}]|[\x{1715}-\x{171F}]|[\x{1735}-\x{1736}]|[\x{17D4}-\x{17D6}]|[\x{17D8}-\x{17DB}]|[\x{17F0}-\x{180A}]|[\x{180E}-\x{180F}]|[\x{1878}]|[\x{1940}-\x{1945}]|[\x{19DA}-\x{19FF}]|[\x{1A1E}-\x{1A1F}]|[\x{1AA0}-\x{1AA6}]|[\x{1AA8}-\x{1AAD}]|[\x{1ABE}-\x{1ACE}]|[\x{1B4C}]|[\x{1B5A}-\x{1B6A}]|[\x{1B74}-\x{1B7E}]|[\x{1BFC}-\x{1BFF}]|[\x{1C3B}-\x{1C3F}]|[\x{1C7E}-\x{1C7F}]|[\x{1C90}-\x{1CC7}]|[\x{1CD3}]|[\x{1CFA}]|[\x{1DFA}]|[\x{1FBD}]|[\x{1FBF}-\x{1FC1}]|[\x{1FCD}-\x{1FCF}]|[\x{1FDD}-\x{1FDF}]|[\x{1FED}-\x{1FEF}]|[\x{1FFD}-\x{1FFE}]|[\x{200B}-\x{2027}]|[\x{202A}-\x{202E}]|[\x{2030}-\x{203E}]|[\x{2041}-\x{2053}]|[\x{2055}-\x{205E}]|[\x{2060}-\x{2070}]|[\x{2074}-\x{207E}]|[\x{2080}-\x{208E}]|[\x{20A0}-\x{20AB}]|[\x{20AD}-\x{20C0}]|[\x{20DD}-\x{20E0}]|[\x{20E2}-\x{20E4}]|[\x{2100}-\x{2101}]|[\x{2103}-\x{2106}]|[\x{2108}-\x{2109}]|[\x{2114}]|[\x{2116}-\x{2118}]|[\x{211E}-\x{2123}]|[\x{2125}]|[\x{2127}]|[\x{2129}]|[\x{212E}]|[\x{213A}-\x{213B}]|[\x{2140}-\x{2144}]|[\x{214A}-\x{214D}]|[\x{214F}-\x{2169}]|[\x{2170}-\x{2179}]|[\x{2189}-\x{2BFF}]|[\x{2C2F}]|[\x{2C5F}]|[\x{2CE5}-\x{2CEA}]|[\x{2CF9}-\x{2CFF}]|[\x{2D70}]|[\x{2E00}-\x{2E2E}]|[\x{2E30}-\x{2FFB}]|[\x{3001}-\x{3004}]|[\x{3006}-\x{3020}]|[\x{3030}]|[\x{3036}-\x{3037}]|[\x{303D}-\x{303F}]|[\x{309B}-\x{309C}]|[\x{30A0}]|[\x{30FD}-\x{30FE}]|[\x{312F}]|[\x{3190}-\x{319F}]|[\x{31BB}-\x{31E3}]|[\x{3200}-\x{33FF}]|[\x{4DBF}-\x{4DFF}]|[\x{4E28}]|[\x{4EDD}]|[\x{4F00}]|[\x{4F03}]|[\x{4F39}]|[\x{4F56}]|[\x{4F92}]|[\x{4F94}]|[\x{4F9A}]|[\x{4FC9}]|[\x{4FFF}]|[\x{5040}]|[\x{5042}]|[\x{5046}]|[\x{5094}]|[\x{50D8}]|[\x{50F4}]|[\x{514A}]|[\x{5164}]|[\x{519D}]|[\x{51BE}]|[\x{51EC}]|[\x{529C}]|[\x{52AF}]|[\x{5307}]|[\x{5324}]|[\x{53DD}]|[\x{548A}]|[\x{54FF}]|[\x{5759}]|[\x{5765}]|[\x{57AC}]|[\x{57C7}-\x{57C8}]|[\x{58B2}]|[\x{590B}]|[\x{595B}]|[\x{595D}]|[\x{5963}]|[\x{5CA6}]|[\x{5CF5}]|[\x{5D42}]|[\x{5D53}]|[\x{5DD0}]|[\x{5F21}]|[\x{5F34}]|[\x{5F45}]|[\x{608A}]|[\x{60DE}]|[\x{6111}]|[\x{6130}]|[\x{6198}]|[\x{6213}]|[\x{62A6}]|[\x{63F5}]|[\x{6460}]|[\x{649D}]|[\x{661E}]|[\x{6624}]|[\x{662E}]|[\x{6659}]|[\x{6699}]|[\x{66A0}]|[\x{66B2}]|[\x{66BF}]|[\x{66FA}-\x{66FB}]|[\x{670E}]|[\x{6766}]|[\x{6801}]|[\x{6852}]|[\x{68C8}]|[\x{68CF}]|[\x{6998}]|[\x{6A30}]|[\x{6A46}]|[\x{6A73}]|[\x{6A7E}]|[\x{6AE2}]|[\x{6AE4}]|[\x{6C6F}]|[\x{6C86}]|[\x{6D96}]|[\x{6DCF}]|[\x{6DF2}]|[\x{6EBF}]|[\x{6FB5}]|[\x{7007}]|[\x{7104}]|[\x{710F}]|[\x{7146}]|[\x{72B1}]|[\x{72BE}]|[\x{7324}]|[\x{73BD}]|[\x{73F5}]|[\x{7429}]|[\x{769C}]|[\x{7821}]|[\x{7864}]|[\x{7994}]|[\x{799B}]|[\x{7AE7}]|[\x{7B9E}]|[\x{7D48}]|[\x{7E8A}]|[\x{8362}]|[\x{837F}]|[\x{83F6}]|[\x{84DC}]|[\x{856B}]|[\x{8807}]|[\x{88F5}]|[\x{891C}]|[\x{8A37}]|[\x{8AA7}]|[\x{8ABE}]|[\x{8ADF}]|[\x{8B53}]|[\x{8B7F}]|[\x{8CF0}]|[\x{8D12}]|[\x{9067}]|[\x{91DA}]|[\x{91DE}]|[\x{91E4}]|[\x{91EE}]|[\x{9206}]|[\x{923C}]|[\x{924E}]|[\x{9259}]|[\x{9288}]|[\x{92A7}]|[\x{92D3}]|[\x{92D5}]|[\x{92D7}]|[\x{92E0}]|[\x{92E7}]|[\x{92FF}]|[\x{9302}]|[\x{931D}]|[\x{9325}]|[\x{93A4}]|[\x{93C6}]|[\x{93F8}]|[\x{9431}]|[\x{9445}]|[\x{969D}]|[\x{96AF}]|[\x{9733}]|[\x{9743}]|[\x{974D}]|[\x{974F}]|[\x{9755}]|[\x{9857}]|[\x{9927}]|[\x{9ADC}]|[\x{9B72}]|[\x{9B75}]|[\x{9B8F}]|[\x{9BB1}]|[\x{9BBB}]|[\x{9C00}]|[\x{9E19}]|[\x{9FEB}-\x{9FFF}]|[\x{A490}-\x{A4C6}]|[\x{A4FE}-\x{A4FF}]|[\x{A60D}-\x{A60F}]|[\x{A670}-\x{A673}]|[\x{A67E}]|[\x{A6F2}-\x{A716}]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