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Google Adwords API Essential Guide

Aug 9, 2024 • 6 minute read

What type of API does Google Adwords provide?

Google Adwords primarily uses a REST API. Here are the key points about the Google Ads API:

Type of API

  • Google Ads uses a REST API

Key Features

  • Provides programmatic access to Google Ads accounts and campaigns
  • Allows developers to automate tasks and integrate Google Ads data into their own systems
  • Uses JSON for data formatting
  • Requires authentication via OAuth 2.0
  • Has rate limits and quotas to manage API usage

API Versions

  • Google regularly updates the API, releasing new versions
  • Older versions are eventually deprecated and replaced by newer ones
  • Developers need to stay up-to-date with the latest API version

Endpoints

  • The API has multiple endpoints for different resources (campaigns, ad groups, keywords, etc.)
  • Each endpoint corresponds to a specific type of data or action

Best Practices

  • Use the official Google Ads API client libraries when possible
  • Implement proper error handling and retry logic
  • Stay within rate limits and quotas
  • Keep your API version up-to-date

While Google Ads primarily uses REST, it's worth noting that Google offers other API types for some of its services, including gRPC and GraphQL for certain applications. However, for Google Ads specifically, REST is the primary API architecture used.

Does the Google Adwords API have webhooks?

Based on the search results provided, it appears that the official Google Ads API does not have built-in webhook functionality. Here are the key points to consider:

  1. There is no direct mention of webhooks in the Google Ads API documentation.

  2. A user in the Google Ads API forum asked if there was a way to get campaign status updates on their endpoint as a webhook, suggesting this functionality is not readily available.

  3. Another user on the Google Ads Help forum asked about setting up webhooks for Google Ads, indicating that this is not a standard feature.

  4. The search results do not provide any information about specific events that can be subscribed to via webhooks for the Google Ads API.

  5. The only webhook-related information provided is for Google Cloud's Webhook connector, which is a separate product and not directly related to the Google Ads API.

While the Google Ads API does not appear to have native webhook support, there are alternative approaches you could consider:

  1. Polling: Regularly query the API for changes in the data you're interested in.

  2. Google Cloud Pub/Sub: If you need real-time updates, you might be able to use Google Cloud Pub/Sub in conjunction with the Google Ads API, though this would require additional setup and is not a direct webhook solution.

  3. Third-party solutions: There might be third-party services that offer webhook-like functionality for Google Ads data, but these would not be official Google solutions.

In conclusion, based on the provided search results, the official Google Ads API does not appear to offer webhook functionality. If you need real-time updates or event-based notifications, you may need to explore alternative solutions or architectures to achieve similar functionality.

Rate Limits and other limitations

Here are the key API rate limits for the Google Ads API:

Daily API Operation Limits

  • 15,000 API operations per day for Basic Access tokens
  • Higher limits available for Standard and Advanced Access levels

Request Limits

  • Mutate requests: 10,000 operations per request
  • Conversion Upload Service requests: 2,000 conversions per request
  • Billing and Account Budget Service requests: 1 operation per mutate request

Rate Limits

  • Uses a Token Bucket algorithm to determine QPS (queries per second) limits
  • Exact QPS limit varies depending on overall server load
  • Requests exceeding rate limits will receive a RESOURCE_TEMPORARILY_EXHAUSTED error

Best Practices to Avoid Rate Limits

  • Limit concurrent tasks
  • Batch requests where possible
  • Implement client-side throttling and rate limiting
  • Use queueing for requests

Other Limits

  • 64 MB maximum message size for requests/responses
  • 1 QPS limit for Planning Service requests

The exact QPS limits are not published, as they vary dynamically based on server load. Developers are advised to implement best practices like throttling and batching to avoid hitting rate limits. The daily operation limit of 15,000 for Basic Access equates to about 10 requests per minute on average.

Latest API Version

Based on the search results, here are the key points about the most recent version of the Google Ads API:

Latest Version

The most recent major version of the Google Ads API is v17, which was released in June 2024 [3][5].

Recent Updates

  • Version 17.1 was released as a minor update after v17.0 [3].
  • Version 17.1 includes new features like shareable ad previews, removing specified automatically created assets linked to Responsive Search Ads, retrieving offline conversion diagnostics, and more [3].

Key Changes in v17

  1. Resource Usage Policy Update: New values added to QuotaError to prepare for an upcoming policy change on June 17, 2024 [5].

  2. Page Size Fixed at 10,000: The page size for GoogleAdsService.Search is now fixed at 10,000 [5].

  3. New Reporting Views: Added campaign aggregate asset view and channel aggregate asset view for Performance Max and Search campaigns [5].

  4. Asset Group Operations: Added support for batch processing of Performance Max campaigns [5].

  5. Request Size Limit: New error for job requests larger than 10,484,504 bytes [5].

  6. Keyword Match Type: Added Campaign.keyword_match_type to set match type for all keywords in a campaign [5].

  7. Ad Group Criterion Status: Added primary status and reasons to AdGroupCriterion [5].

  8. New Shopping Product Report: Corresponds to the Products page in the Google Ads UI [5].

  9. Demand Gen Renaming: Discovery renamed to Demand Gen across relevant fields, enums, and errors [5].

Versioning Information

  • The Google Ads API follows semantic versioning with major and minor versions [2].
  • The format is MAJOR.MINOR or vMAJOR_MINOR (e.g., v17_0, v17_1) [2].
  • Google frequently updates the API to maintain feature parity with the online Google Ads interface [4].

It's important for advertisers and developers to be aware of these changes to take full advantage of new capabilities and avoid disruptions from deprecated features or policy changes.

How to get a Google Adwords developer account and API Keys?

Here are the key steps to get a developer account for Google Adwords to create an API integration:

  1. Select or create a Google Ads manager account:

    • If you already have a manager account, select it when applying for the token.
    • If you don't have one, create a new manager account following the Google Ads Help Center instructions.

  2. Apply for access to the Google Ads API:

    • Sign in to your manager account and go to the API Center.
    • Complete the API Access form and accept the Terms and Conditions.
    • Provide accurate information, including a functioning company website URL.
    • Use a regularly monitored email address as the API contact email.

  3. Obtain a developer token:

    • After completing the application, your developer token will appear in the API Center with a "Pending Approval" status.
    • The token will initially have "Test Access" level, allowing you to make API calls against test accounts.
    • Note the value of your developer token as you'll need it for making API calls.

  4. Set up OAuth2 credentials:

    • Create an OAuth2 client ID and client secret in the Google API Console.
    • Configure the OAuth consent screen.
    • Create credentials for a Desktop app.
    • Save these credentials for use in your Google Ads API library configuration.

  5. Make your first API call:

    • Follow the Google Ads API First Call tutorial to make a simple API call.

What can you do with the Google Adwords API?

Based on the search results, here are the key data models you can interact with using the Google Adwords API, along with what is possible for each:

Campaign Data Model

  • Query campaign information like Id, Name, Status, etc. [3][5]
  • Filter campaigns by status (e.g. ENABLED) [3][5]
  • Order and limit campaign results [3][5]
  • Access campaign performance metrics like Impressions, Clicks, Cost [5]

Ad Group Data Model

  • Retrieve ad group level data like Id, CampaignId [5]
  • Get ad group performance metrics like Impressions, Clicks, Cost [5]
  • Filter ad groups by status (e.g. ENABLED, PAUSED) [5]

Keyword Data Model

  • Access keyword level data [2]
  • Compare keyword performance across different attribution models [1]

Ad Data Model

  • Interact with ad level data [2]
  • Analyze ad performance across the conversion path [1]

Conversion Data Model

  • Track conversions and conversion actions [1]
  • Apply different attribution models to conversion data [1]
  • Compare conversion data across attribution models [1]

Report Data Model

  • Generate custom reports combining data from different entities [3][5]
  • Specify report parameters like date range, fields, predicates [5]
  • Output reports in various formats like CSV, XML, etc. [3][5]

Account Data Model

  • Manage accounts at the customer level [2]
  • Automate account management tasks [2]

Bidding Data Model

  • Manage Smart Bidding strategies [2]
  • Optimize bids based on performance data [2]

The API allows for complex interactions across these data models, enabling tasks like automated account management, custom reporting, inventory-based ad management, and bidding optimization [2]. The data can be queried using AWQL (AdWords Query Language) or XML-based report definitions [3][5].

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