AdWords API v201101 launch -- providing enhanced reporting, generic selectors, support for filtering and more

We’re pleased to announce the launch of AdWords API v201101, which allow you to more efficiently run reports, as well as implement campaign experiments and other recently released advertising features at scale. Through the AdWords API forum and developer events we’ve heard frequent requests for the newly available services. We’ve highlighted some of the new features below. A complete list of changes is available in the v201101 release notes.

v201101 highlights:

• Easily run reports across clients: ReportDefinitionService now supports My Client Center (MCC) cross-client reports, which are fetched asynchronously. The ReportDefinition type has two new fields with which you specify retrieval of a cross-client report, and all report types have new fields for use in cross-client reporting. In addition, the following new reports have been added: Geo Performance, Demographic Performance, Ad Extensions Performance, Destination URL and Creative Conversion. See Report Types for more information.

• Greater data control and filtering with a single generic selector: The get operations for a number of services now use a single generic selector, rather than service-specific selectors. The generic selector provides more control over the data returned, lets you filter on almost any field, and specify sorting and paging. For information about migrating your code, see the Selector Migration Reference.

• Try out campaign experiments: A campaign can now try out sets of ads experimentally by using the ExperimentData in the AdGroupAd type. A new set of report fields provide information about how an advertiser experiment performed. The Ad Group Performance, Campaign Performance, Keywords Performance, and Managed Placements Performance reports each have a field that lets you segment on the control arm or experiment arm. In addition, a report field for each statistic indicates the significance in the change of that statistic in the experiment arm. For more information about campaign experiments, see the AdWords Campaign Experiments overview.

• Differentiate locations for desired targeting: A new setting for the Campaign type -- GeoTargetTypeSetting -- lets you specify how to apply geo targeting. The setting lets you differentiate between the user’s physical location and the location that’s targeted in the search.

• Run interest-based advertising at scale (coming soon): Adwords API will fully support interest-based advertising via the ConversionTrackerService, which enables you to create a new conversion event and get the Javascript tag to create new lists. This service will be released in the coming weeks.

Deprecation timeline for previous versions

With the release of equivalent functionality in v201101, the following versions and services will be deprecated:

• API versions v13 (ReportService and TrafficEstimatorService only), v200909, v201003, v201008
• BidLandscapeService (being moved to the DataService)

We will be sunsetting these versions and services in August 2011.

As with every new version of the AdWords API, we encourage you to review the resources in the AdWords API client libraries. If you have any questions please post them on the AdWords API forum.

Posted by Katie Wasilenko, Agency Team

Using ads services with new Google Account security features

We recently announced an advanced opt-in 2-step verification process to help make your Google Accounts significantly more secure. 2-step verification adds an extra layer of security to your Google Account by requiring unique “verification codes” in addition to your username and password at sign-in. This means that if your password is stolen, you still have an extra line of defense against a potential hijacker.

If you opt to use 2-step verification, when you log into your Google AdWords account, you’ll enter a code obtained through your phone in addition to your usual password when you sign in.

If your Google Account is associated with other Google products, such as the AdWords API or AdWords Editor, you may need to enter an application-specific password instead of your regular account password when you sign in to these specific services. This is because certain applications aren’t designed to prompt for a code in addition to a password.

To create an application-specific password, click on "Authorizing applications & sites" on your Account Settings page.

Under the application-specific passwords section, provide a name for the application you wish to generate a password for, for example “AdWords Editor - Desktop”.

Here’s what the generated password looks like:

To learn more about application-specific passwords, visit the Google Accounts Help Center and AdWords Editor Help Center. Please visit the Official Google Blog for the complete announcement.

Posted by Katie Wasilenko, Agency Team

A new approach to how we work with advertising agencies

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog and the Inside AdWords Blog)

As the advertising industry has grown and evolved, so too has our relationship with advertising agencies. These companies, from SEMs to the largest traditional agencies, play a critical role in the continued success of Google, our advertisers and our industry — so we spend a lot of time talking to agencies about how we can make it easier for them to work with us and our advertisers.

We’ve had a lot of great feedback from agencies and today we’re announcing changes designed to offer them better training and more rigorous certification in AdWords proficiency, and to lower costs for those who help advertisers get the most out of AdWords. We’re also making it easier for advertisers to find certified agency partners to work with them on digital advertising. Here’s an overview of what’s changing today.

Raising the bar for Google AdWords Certification

We're retiring our long-standing Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program and replacing it with a new Google AdWords Certification program for those managing AdWords accounts on behalf of advertisers. The new program provides agencies and their employees with more up-to-date, comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts, including:

• New training materials to help agencies better understand recent changes in search marketing and AdWords functionality, available via webinar series, learning center, or on-site training at Google
• More challenging certification exams to test practical application of knowledge and best practices (rather than simple recall of knowledge)
• Advanced-level exams to highlight competency in search, display, reporting and analysis
• A redesigned Certified Partner badge, which includes a “Click to Verify” element so advertisers can view the partner’s profile page for additional information.

For more information on the AdWords Certification Program or to create an account, visit the Google Certification program site and help center.

Helping advertisers find Google Certified Partners

Google Certified Partners can opt in to Google Partner Search, an online, searchable directory that helps advertisers identify Certified Partners that meet their criteria. Small and medium-sized advertisers who haven’t previously used an agency have told us that evaluating potential partners can be a daunting task, so we think Google Partner Search will be especially valuable for them.

To show up in advertiser searches through Google Partner Search, agencies must opt in and fill in details about their core attributes and capabilities. Searches can be filtered by location, agency experience within a particular budget range, the types of services provided and the industry verticals an agency serves. Advertisers can then evaluate the list of Certified Partners that meet their criteria and contact the partners who seem best suited to their needs. To learn more about Google Partner Search, visit the Help center.

Introducing preferred AdWords API pricing

The Google AdWords API allows developers to build applications that interact directly with the AdWords platform. Agencies and developers of search engine marketing tools use these applications to manage large AdWords campaigns more efficiently and creatively.

Today, we’re announcing preferred AdWords API pricing. This gives qualified Google AdWords Certified Partners who manage client AdWords accounts free use of the AdWords API based on managed client spend. To apply, agencies must have an active agency profile page and remain compliant with the AdWords API terms and conditions. We’ll evaluate applications for preferred AdWords API pricing based on the criteria listed here.

We hope preferred AdWords API pricing will encourage agencies and developers to experiment with new strategies, expand the functionality of their tools, and build more comprehensive client campaigns without worrying about increased costs. You can learn more about preferred pricing and how to apply at the preferred AdWords API pricing site.

We’re looking forward to receiving feedback on all of these initiatives and to continuing to improve our partnership with agencies.

Posted by, Penry Price, Vice President, Global Agency Development

30 days until AdWords API v13 sunset

For those of you who use the AdWords API, we wanted to remind you that on April 22, just 30 days from today, most v13 services will be turned off. Visit the AdWords API blog to learn more about what's changing and how to migrate your application to the new AdWords API.

Posted by Jason Shafton, Product Marketing Manager

AdWords API v2009 updates - released, future and deprecated features

We're happy to announce the newest version of AdWords API v2009 beta -- v200909. If you're a current API user, check out the updates below. If you're not yet using the API, please visit the Google AdWords API homepage for information on getting started.

New Features

• Asynchronous calls - Asynchronous calls allow you to work with large sets of data faster and more easily. Instead of having to wait for our system to fully complete your request before you can make another one, you’re now able to make another call as soon as the API service confirms that it has received your previous call. No more waiting for the server to complete large requests. v2000909 will also continue to support synchronous methods.
• Keyword and placement ideas - With the new TargetingIdeaService, you'll be able to get keyword and placement ideas through the API, using the functionality of the Search-based Keyword Tool.
• Location Extensions preview - Limited location extensions functionality is now available as a preview of the full functionality in development.
  

For a complete list of the changes in v200909, please see our release notes.

Coming Soon
Over the next few months, we'll continue to introduce new features and additional AdWords functionality. Feature updates include ReportService and the ability to pre-check for errors.

Deprecated Services
With the release of equivalent functionality in v200909, the following v13 services are now deprecated: CampaignService, AdGroupService, CriterionService, AdService, InfoService, KeywordToolService, SiteSuggestionService.

As v2009 introduces some new concepts and features, we have extended the sunset period for deprecated services to 6 months. Accordingly, the deprecated v13 services will be turned off on April 22, 2010. If you haven't already begun migrating your systems to the v2009 API, we strongly encourage you to start right away. The deprecation of remaining v13 services (AccountService, TrafficEstimatorService, and ReportService) and accompanying sunset dates will be announced in the future.

As with every new version of the AdWords API, we strongly encourage you to review the resources in the Developer's Guide to learn more. Additionally, if you aren't using the AdWords API client libraries yet, this is a good time to check them out as they are designed to work with both v2009 and v13.

Posted by Shreyas Doshi, Product Manager and Adam Wooley, Product Marketing Manager

AdWords API v2009

The AdWords API team has been working on the launch of the latest version, v2009, which we're happy to announce is now in production. This version offers more speed, scale, and flexibility to developers, at a lower cost. Since this version is a production beta, developers can sign up for access and will be whitelisted on a rolling basis. For full details on what you'll find in v2009 and how to get started, visit the AdWords API blog.

Posted by Adam Wooley, Product Marketing Manager