Google Ads video rejects MP3, WAV and PCM: pair audio with a still

Google's video ads specification (read 2026-10-08) says audio files such as MP3, WAV or PCM files are not accepted. A radio spot therefore has to become a video before it can run. With Sume, send the audio as the Timeline spine and one still image as a single video slot: Timeline holds stills as static frames and returns an MP4. A 30-second spot costs $0.10 at the public rate of $0.10 per output minute, rounded up.

What Google accepts

Per the page, accepted formats include MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, WMV, AVI, MOV, FLV, MPEG-1 and MP4, and files must be under 256 GB. The in-video sizes listed are 1920x1080 for horizontal, 1080x1920 for vertical and 1080x1080 for square. Video action campaigns need videos of at least 10 seconds, and the page gives no longer recommended length.

The Timeline request

Both the still and the audio must already be on media.sume.com, so import them first. Set audio.url and audio.duration_seconds to the spot length, add one video[] slot with start: 0 and the same duration, and set output to the size you want. Output width and height are even integers from 256 to 2160, so 1920x1080 and 1080x1920 are both allowed. A still is a static hold; Timeline accepts a motion field on it but ignores it and reports motion_ignored.

{
  "audio": {
    "url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/spot.wav",
    "duration_seconds": 30
  },
  "video": [
    {
      "source_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/card.png",
      "start": 0,
      "duration": 30
    }
  ],
  "output": { "width": 1920, "height": 1080 }
}

Checks and limits

Send the body to POST /v1/timeline-1.0/plan first: it is unbilled and returns the duration, segment count and estimated cost. Then render with an Idempotency-Key and read the finished job at GET /v1/jobs/:id/result. Coverage can stop at most 0.5 seconds before the end of the spine, so give the slot the full length.

The spine can run from 1 to 1,800 seconds. A still-plus-audio file is a legitimate video, but Google reviews ads on content rather than on container, so make the still a real card with the brand, offer and next step rather than a blank frame. Remember the 10-second minimum for Video action campaigns when you set the duration.

A worked example

Take a 30-second radio spot recorded as a WAV file. Import the WAV and a 1920x1080 brand card to media.sume.com. The plan call reports 30 seconds, one segment and a cost of $0.10. The render returns an MP4 with a 1-second GOP and AAC audio, which is a container Google lists as accepted.

If you also need the vertical version, change output to 1080x1920 and set fit to cover so the card fills the frame, or build a vertical card instead. Each size is its own render and its own $0.10. Keep the sound at a normal level: the spine goes out as you supplied it, apart from the AAC encode, so level the audio before you upload it.