Can You Still Exclude Digital Content Labels Through the Display & Video 360 API?

No — as of October 1, 2026, Display & Video 360's API and Structured Data File (SDF) workflows no longer support excluding inventory by digital content label, and most sensitive-category exclusions were removed from those same two workflows at the same time; both targeting controls are gone from programmatic line-item creation through the DV360 API and SDF, per Google's own announcement.

What's Being Removed

• Digital content label exclusions — advertisers can no longer use the DV360 API or an SDF upload to exclude inventory by specific digital content label, the ratings-style labels Google assigns to content, such as general audiences or mature audiences.
• Most sensitive category exclusions — the majority of sensitive-category exclusion targeting is also removed from the API and SDF, though Google has not published which specific sensitive categories, if any, remain excludable through those workflows.

What Google Announced and When

Google announced both removals on August 27, 2026, giving advertisers roughly five weeks' notice before the October 1, 2026 cutover. The changes apply specifically to the Display & Video 360 API and Structured Data Files — the two workflows programmatic teams and agencies typically use to build and manage line items at scale, rather than through manual clicks in the DV360 interface.

What's Replacing These Controls

Google's stated direction is to move advertisers toward inventory modes and content themes as the newer way to manage where ads do and don't appear, rather than the older label- and category-based exclusion lists. Google has not detailed exactly how inventory modes and content themes map onto the specific exclusions being removed, so teams relying on digital content label or sensitive category exclusions should not assume a like-for-like replacement is already in place.

What Wasn't Answered

Coverage of the change doesn't say whether an API call or SDF row that still tries to set one of the removed exclusions after October 1 will return an error or simply be ignored silently — a meaningful difference for any automated pipeline that assumes a failed write would be visible. Teams with automated DV360 line-item creation should test behavior against the removed fields directly rather than assuming either outcome.

Why This Matters Beyond Brand Safety Settings

Any agency or in-house team managing DV360 campaigns through scripts, a management platform, or bulk SDF uploads rather than by hand needs to audit those workflows for digital content label or sensitive category exclusion fields before October 1, 2026 — not because the exclusions necessarily stop working everywhere, but because the specific API and SDF paths used to set them are being removed, which can break an automated process that assumes those fields are always writable.

Bottom Line

If your DV360 campaign management runs through the API or SDF uploads, remove any dependency on setting digital content label or sensitive category exclusions through those paths before October 1, 2026, and test what your pipeline does if it still tries — Google hasn't said whether the result is an error or a silent no-op.

Source: PPC Land, "Google cuts two DV360 brand safety exclusion controls on October 1" (ppc.land), reporting on Google's August 27, 2026 announcement; cross-checked against Search Engine Land's coverage of Google's October 2026 Display & Video 360 API changes.