Minor change to WSDL files

We made a small change to the AdWords API WSDL files today, changing the declared type of KeywordId from int (32 bit) to long (64 bit). The server has treated keyword IDs as longs since our launch, and the online docs declared them as such. Only the WSDL was in error.

Existing client code should see no effect of this. If you regenerate proxy code from the WSDL the type will change, and you may get some minor compile time errors about type conversions. We also are updating the new Java client library and this update will be available shortly.

Many thanks to our user Sabina for pointing out the discrepancy.

-- Nelson Minar, Software Engineer

New features: Creative IDs and Java Client library

Hi AdWords API Developers,

We’re happy to announce that we released two new items today: Creative IDs in reports and a Java Client library.

Over the last few months, many of you posted to the Developer Forum stressing the usefulness of Keyword IDs in reports, but wondered why we don’t provide Creative IDs. Based largely on this feedback, you can now schedule a CustomReport with Creative IDs. With Creative IDs, developers can get a full snapshot of their account activity by scheduling a single report. This should improve syncing your local systems with AdWords - enabling more efficient management of your quota.

The Java client library makes it easier to write Java clients. We know that getting started with your AdWords applications can be challenging, so we hope this client library will simplify your Java development process. The client library is provided in a single jar file that contains all the necessary Axis jars and pre-compiled stub classes. More details can be found at the Java Client Library page. As always, please post your thoughts on the Developer Forum . If many of you find client libraries useful, we will work with the community to provide access to more such resources.

Look forward to hearing from you on the Developer Forum.

Regards,

Nelson Minar, Software Engineer
Rohit Dhawan, Product Manager

June 24 System Maintenance

Hi AdWords API developers,

We are performing routine AdWords system maintenance from 9pm to 11pm PDT on June 24, 2005 (Friday). While all ads will continue to run as normal, you will not be able to perform any API operations during this time.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Regards,
Rohit Dhawan, Product Manager

Scheduled maintenance tonight

Hi AdWords API developers,

The API will be unavailable from 9pm to 9:45pm PDT tonight (5/20/05) for routine AdWords system maintenance. All ads will continue to run as normal, but you will not be able to perform any API operations during this time. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Best,
Rohit Dhawan, Product Manager

New release: Automated Policy Checking

Hi AdWords API Developers,

Today, we are integrating the automated AdWords editorial policy checking system into the API. This mechanism will identify AdWords editorial policy violations and return error messages immediately. This will allow you to correct basic policy violations before submitting creatives to AdWords for final approval.

What this means is that you may now see more errors (rejections) when submitting your items for approval. However, these are simply policy violations that you would have eventually encountered one to three days after submission. With the integration of the automated editorial policy checking system, the AdWords API will now flag basic violations immediately – saving you valuable time in getting your creatives approved.

In addition, you may now also submit policy exceptions via the API. Your exemption request and ad text will then be submitted to AdWords for approval.

Please note that operations containing rejected submissions do count against your quota.

We have updated the documentation to reflect the new error codes. As usual, if you have questions, please post to the Developer Forum and the community (which includes us) will hopefully be able to help.

Best,
Nelson Minar, Software Engineer
Rohit Dhawan, Product Manager

Increased quota limits

Hi AdWords API Developers,

Based on your feedback on the Developer Forum and our increased server capacity, we are raising quota limits across the board starting May 1. The quota structure remains the same as before; we are simply raising the quota allocations for everyone.

Our long term goal is to ensure all developers have access to enough quota to successfully build and run their applications. At the same time, we want to ensure our servers maintain production level uptimes, so we need to impose some limitations. We certainly appreciate your patience as we move closer to our goal. We ask that you continue to use your quota efficiently and focus on operations that drive value.

To view your new API quota, please login to your My Client Center account (starting May 1st) and go to the “AdWords API Center” under the “My Account” tab.

We hope that this quota increase will allow all of you to continue building creative programs and applications. Please continue to direct any feedback to the Developer Forum .

Best,
Nelson Minar, Software Engineer
Rohit Dhawan, Product Manager

New API release: MCC reports and image creatives

Hello, developers! We keep cranking out the AdWords API features, and this time around we have two new things to offer you.

The first new feature is MCC reports. Now you can create your reports with statistics for all of the campaigns you manage under MCC. No more scheduling a different report for each account! Using MCC reports will save you quota and make the report generation more efficient.

The second new feature is support for image creatives. We try hard to make the AdWords API support all the features of the AdWords product, but until now we were a bit behind on images. Now you can upload image creatives alongside your usual text ads.

Three caveats around the image ads. First, the first image for an account must be uploaded via the AdWords front-end; this is to ensure that the account owner agrees to let Google use their images in the AdWords program. Second, while we've tried hard to make all API changes backward compatible, there's a chance that your existing software may break if you download all the Creatives for an AdGroup that has an image creative in it. In the past you wouldn't have downloaded the image creative at all. The addition of that data may cause problems for your client software, particularly strongly typed languages like Java or C#. If you find yourself having trouble, refreshing and rebuilding the client from the WSDL file should take care of it. Finally, we will continue to update the documentation. So if you don't find what you need right now, please check again a few days later and/or post to the Developer Forum.

Enjoy the new features!

Nelson Minar, Software Engineer