We want to make sure that you know about some upcoming changes in Yandex.Direct so that you can get your apps ready.

Yandex.Direct currently divides users into five age groups: 0–17, 18–24, 25–34, 35–44, and 45+. The 45+ group combines too many different types of people, so we are splitting it into two: 45–54 and 55+. The transition to six age groups is planned for the second half of August.

Why are we doing this?

The new age groups will give you better flexibility for targeting ad impressions by managing bids in the BidModifiers service.You will be able to configure separate bid adjustments for the AGE_45_54 and AGE_55 audience segments.

The old AGE_45 segment will remain available for several months. We recommend that your apps support the new audience segments, since users can select them when creating bid adjustments in the web interface.

What about the stats?

In reports provided by the Reports service, the same users might be assigned to different age groups depending on the date of impression or click:

• before switching to the new categories, the Age field shows AGE_45.
• after the switch, it shows either AGE_45_54 or AGE_55.

If the transition date falls within the report period, all three values might appear in the report. Please note: the age group that the user is assigned to in the report depends on the date when statistics were collected, not on the date when the report was requested.

If you filter data by the Age, field in reports and you need statistics for all users over 45, the best practice is to specify all three values in the filter (AGE_45, AGE_45_54 and AGE_55):

"Filter": [{
   "Field": "Age",
   "Operator": "IN",
   "Values": ["AGE_45", "AGE_45_54", "AGE_55"]
}]

If the filter specifies AGE_45 but omits the new segments AGE_45_54 and AGE_55 and the report period begins after the transition date, you will get an error message, because such a request doesn't allow you to obtain correct data.

If the filter does not specify all the segments, statistics for a period that includes the transition date may be incomplete. For example, if you only specify the new segments, the report will not include users who were assigned to the old 45+ category.

When requesting a report for a period after the transition date, you only need to specify the new audience segments in the filter. It's also fine if you specify all three values: AGE_45, AGE_45_54 and AGE_55. You can already add the new AGE_45_54 and AGE_55 segments to the Age field filter right now.

The actual switch to six age groups in bid adjustments and statistics will be announced separately — check the site and the documentation.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask the experts on the Yandex.Direct API support team.