Quick cases on why you could use the AdWords API

1. Why Use the
AdWords API

2. Agenda
● What is the AdWords API?
● How to use it
● Alternative solutions
● Sample use cases

3. What is the AdWords
API?

4. Web API
● API = Application Programming Interface
● A way for computers or programs to talk to each
other over the internet
● Just as a UI (User Interface) enables
users to interact with software, an API
enables another piece of software to
do the same

5. How does this apply to AdWords?
AdWords AdWords UI
API
AdWords API
AdWords Application User

6. For example: AwReporting
AdWords AdWords UI
API
AdWords API
Customer Application UserAw-reporting

7. What can AdWords API do?
● Almost everything that the website can do!
● It allows users to apply their own business logic and
data to develop tools that make informed changes
at scale to their AdWords accounts.
○ Flexible level of automation
○ Step-by-step approach
○ Integrate with other systems

8. Benefits of using AdWords API
● Reduce costs
○ Automate tedious manual operations
○ One account manager can handle more accounts
● Increase revenue
○ Use tool to do monitoring / alerting
○ Find and fix problems more efficiently

9. How to use it

10. Before working on AdWords API...
● Get developer token
○ Sign AdWords API Terms and Conditions
○ Submit application form
○ Provide supporting docs throughout review
○ Upgrade access level if needed
○ Adhere to RMF
■ Not applicable for internal tools!

11. Implementing an API tool
● Design considerations
○ Security
○ Data collection
○ Rate limit handling
● Test account
○ Dry-run on testing environment
○ Work with dev token that is pending approval
○ Some limitations implied

12. Implementing an API tool (Cont.)
● Development
○ Refer to documentation
○ Make use of client libraries
○ Get technical support when in trouble
○ Must keep API tool updated
■ AdWords API releases on schedule

13. Alternative solutions

14. Manual account management
● Fine-grained optimization
● Experienced AM team
● High labor cost
● Human errors
● Not scalable

15. Platform providers
● Account volume
● Expensive
● Low customization
● Possible contract
complexities
● Good performance & optimization
● Focus on sales, not software development
● Scalable

16. AdWords scripts
● Not full automation
● Limited integration
● More resource limits
● Adequate technical capacity
● Some level of automation
● Easy to setup and maintain
● Scalable

17. Your Own AdWords API tool
● Full automation, sophisticated logic
● Highly customizable
● Strong competency in business
● Scalable
● Dedicated development resources
● Advanced technical capacity
● Investment in resource and time
● Continuous maintenance

18. Sample use cases

19. Automatic reporting
Produce and dispatch customised account performance reports
monthly to each of my 100,000 advertisers
AdWords
Application
CRM
Report
Template
API
E-mail
System
1. Get customer’s information
(name, email, AW CID)
2. Get account performance report
for last month
3. Process report data & produce
a snazzy PDF
4. Send the PDF to the advertiser

20. Monitoring and alerting
Download daily adwords/reporting data, and fire alerts based on pre-
defined conditions.
● Accounts running out of budget soon
● Accounts with low budget utilization
● Campaigns whose CTRs suddenly drop
● Underperforming keywords (high CPC but low CTR)
● Underperforming ads with low impressions
● Disapproved creatives

21. Ad text bulk creation and upload

22. Integration with inventory system
Dynamically integrate your online storeʼs inventory database with your
AdWords campaigns
● Generate ads, creative text, and keywords for new products
● Turn off campaigns for products that are out of stock
● Adjust bids according to stock level (or other data sources)
● Manage account budget according to inventory

23. Automatic optimization
The tool can automatically optimize based on performance reporting,
keywords suggestion and traffic estimation.

24. Managing conversions
● Conversion tracking
○ Advertisers care more about conversions than clicks
○ Conversions could be anything
● Offline conversions upload
○ Online ad click may indirectly lead to offline conversion
○ Need to associate clicks with offline conversions
○ Track offline conversions via GCLID

25. So...
● What is the AdWords API?
● How to use it
● Alternative solutions
● Sample use cases

26. Resources
● AdWords API dev site
● Blog
● Forum
● Email group