Menu

AdWords API Programming

If you find that your portfolio is highly varied and ever changing, you might want to keep your ads in sync too. The AdWords API – or Application Programming Interface – might give you just the edge you need. This tool is designed for developers to make dynamic modifications to AdWords Accounts at scale. If your advertising concept needs you to perform time consuming tasks on a regular basis, consider using the API. Our AdWords API programming experts are always ready to assist you.

Characteristics of API Projects

The AdWords API connects your website and its contents to Google AdWords in just the way you need. Consider the example of an online store. You are running highly specific AdWords campaigns that differentiate on the product level. What happens, if the availability of your products change rapidly? Surely, it would take a lot of time to manually pause and enable hundreds, if not thousands of Ad Groups and keywords on a daily basis. This is where the AdWords API kicks in. The API application runs on a daily basis and checks your database for the availability of products. Once the list is gathered, it automatically pauses and enables the products for you.

AdWords API projects are often – but not always – major tasks that require careful planning and a longer development schedule. Oftentimes we will need to access data directly from your website and use it as a source of information.  AdWords API programming is always custom work. It requires careful planning, development and testing to make sure that everything runs perfectly. These applications also need to be updated from time to time again to ensure compatibility with both Google and your website. In the end, it is your business needs that dictate whether you need API development or not. One important aspect to note however is that you can very seldom have highly targeted, cost efficient campaigns at scale without good API applications backing it up.

I am interested

The Power of API

So what does an API Project actually look like, and what is it good for? In general, it all boils down to whether you want to, or need to automate something in your account. Minor automation is possible with AdWords Automated Rules, the API is for more complex needs. Do you need your AdWords Account to dynamically adapt to the changes within your company? This is where the power of API comes into play.

An Understanding of API

To put things really simply, the AdWords API is a tool that allows programmers to write programs or even applications that interact with your AdWords account. This interaction has two main directions: you are either reading data from your account, or making changes to it. Sometimes, you need to do both. An example for fetching data from your account could come in handy if you have a custom corporate reporting tool. With the power of API at hand, it now becomes possible for the tool to include your advertising costs and results. Most commonly, you will want to change things in your AdWords account based on a trigger at your company. Are you low on stock for a certain product? The API allows you to display customized at text for this item, or even pause the ads if you are fully out of stock. Just about anything is possible and the sky is indeed the limit.

The Drawbacks of using API

Much like with everything else, there are things to consider when aiming for an API solution. An API project requires three things to work: time, resources and dedication. Writing programs and applications that connect your company to AdWords is a time consuming task. It also requires a lot of careful planning to make sure everything works without error and that data is kept safe at all times. To sum things up, you will need an expert in the area to set things up for you. Dedication is also extremely important. API programming requires you to set things straight – to know exactly what you need. Your AdWords account will be specialized to meet these needs, but specialization can come with the price of losing some flexibility for future additions.

The Advantage of using API

Despite being projects of great volme, the AdWords API gives massive power into your hands. Need your ads to adapt to product stock levels? To their prices? Even to the current weather? With the power of API any of these can become reality. OurAdwords can help you with your initial planning and provide you with the expert programming resources required. We will provide you with constant feedback on the status of development, and always get back to you with any details that need to be discussed.

I am interested

Common Use Cases

In the following we will give you a number of common use cases for which you can harness the AdWords API. Note that these are only the most common uses for AdWords API applications, so this list should not be considered comprehensive. In fact, the key idea behind the API is that it allows you to customize your AdWords account’s behavior in a way that best suits your needs.

Reporting

Perhaps one of the most common requirements is to feed information from AdWords to your corporate reporting system. This is especially useful for keeping a close eye on advertising costs and efficiency. Other common cases related to reporting include custom dashboards where you can have immediate access to specific reports you need.

Adapting to Website

In many common use cases you will want your AdWords ads to adapt to changes on your website. Have you run out of a particular product? Has a trip been fully booked? You will want to dynamically pause your ads related to these items and avoid unnecessary costs. Another common idea is to adjust your campaign budgets according to recent sales of a particular product category. This helps in keeping up with seasonal demand, balancing presence and budget to conform to current demand levels.

Feedback to Website

In this case, instead of modifying AdWords according to changes on your website, we do things in a reverse manner. AdWords can estimate fluctuations in demand surprisingly well. It is also quite useful for comparing demand for your products head-to-head. You can use this information from AdWords to modify certain settings on your website. One example is to adjust prices slightly based on average cost per click and average position indices.

Internal Actions

You can use the API to automate tasks that allow for more precise targeting. In this case, all operations are integral to your AdWords account. For example, geographic targeting is only available at the campaign level, but if you have fixed budgets for certain regions, you will end up with multiple campaign clones. In this case, we can help develop a custom application that synchronizes modifications inbetween campaigns. This is especially useful for keeping your keyword and ad sets consistent.

I am interested