Finally… a Google AdWords API
I just got words from Andreas Ramos of the Adwords User Group about this.
This has been a long time coming, but Google finally released a Google AdWords API.
Google also launched a AdWords API Blog, but there's just an introductory post there right now.
The API is still in beta, and some of the links inside didn't work, when I worked my way through it, but this is what you'll find inside:
- Sample code inJava, .Net, perl, PHP & XML
- Developer's guide, which include the API reference guide
This should be enough to point you to the important sections.
But the most interesting part is which services are actually supported by the API.
What can you extract from Google AdWords, and what can you modify in the accounts you manage.
The currently offered services are:
- Campaign Service
The Campaign Service lets you create, list, and modify campaigns. For instance, you can change the name, set the daily budget, and define the end date. It also lets you perform actions on a campaign, such as pausing the campaign. - AdGroup Service
The AdGroup Service lets you create ad groups, list ad groups, associate ad groups with a campaign, and perform actions. For example, you can set the cost-per-click for all keywords in the ad group. - Keyword Service
The Keyword Service lets you get information about keywords. For example, you can get the keywords in an ad group, and create and modify keywords. - Creative Service
The Creative Service lets you create and modify creatives, and associate them with an ad group. - Traffic Estimator Service
The Traffic Estimator Service lets you estimate the performance of keywords, ad groups, and campaigns. You can estimate data, such as the cost-per-click, clickthrough rate, and average position of your ads. - Report Service
The Report Service lets you get reports on the performance of your keywords, ad groups, and campaigns. For example, you can receive the daily number of impressions, clicks, and clickthrough rate. - Info Service
The Info Service lets you get basic information about how much you have used the AdWords API.
The API is still in beta, and there are a few obvious limitations; the "estimateKeywordList" service for instance acts as if you are using Global Targeting, so you can't do any geo-targeted keyword research.
But all in all it should provide for some very interesting Google AdWords management applications.