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Google AdWords

Using the dedicated Qlik Google AdWords Connector you can get your advertising performance data into QlikView and Qlik Sense.

Warning noteAs of June 2022, the Google AdWords API is no longer supported. This connector has been replaced with the Google Ads Connector. If you have an existing AdWords Query Language (AWQL), you can migrate it to the Google Ads Query Language (GAQL). For more information, see Query Migration Tool.
Tip note

The Qlik Web Connectors help you connect to different data sources and fetch data in the same way. Learn how to authenticate a data source connection and how to use tables to fetch data.

Connecting to data sources

Supported offerings

  • Qlik Sense Desktop
  • Qlik Sense Enterprise on Windows
  • QlikView

This connector must be installed separately.

Ways to access your data

To use this connector you need to authenticate with a Google account that has sufficient permissions to access the Google AdWords account that you want to report on.

In the report tables , you will also need to specify a client ID. You can find this by logging into the Google AdWords site and under Accounts for the selected client, you will see a client ID with a format similar to XXX-XXX-XXXX.

There are two ways you can retrieve AdWords data into QlikView or Qlik Sense.

Using The AdWords Query Language

You can use the AdWords Query Lanaguage (AQL) to define a report query, and use this in conjunction with the AdHocReportFromAWQL table in QlikWeb Connectors.

For example, using the AWQL documents which give an overview of AWQL, in conjunction with the detailed list of available report types you can build the following query:

SELECT Date, Clicks FROM CAMPAIGN_PERFORMANCE_REPORT DURING 20100101,20130101

You can then run the table and generate the QlikView or Qlik Sense load script.

Using an XML Report Definition

You can also generate a report definition in XML.

You can see an example of an AdHoc report here:

The key components of an XML report are:

  • Fields: the columns that are returned.
  • Predicates: inclusive AND conditions. They are equivalent to filters in the AdWords interface.
  • Report Type: indicates the report type that you are requesting.
  • Download Format: indicates the download format of the report, which must be XML.

The Report types documentation gives a list of reports that are available and are defined in the report as the Report Type. Using the example and the documentation pages along with the XSD for report definitions, you should be able to build up the report definition that you need.

Once you have, copy the definition and paste it into QlikWeb Connector using the AdHocReportFromXML table.

You can then run the table and generate the QlikView or Qlik Sense load script.

Information note

Money

Returned in micro currency units (micros), e.g.: $1.23 will come back as 1230000 (1.23 x 1,000,000). Micro amounts always refer to the account's local currency. When filtering on money fields, you will have to provide the value in micros. For example, WHEREAverageCpc > 1000000 will return rows where the AverageCpc is greater than $1 (one unit of the account currency).

Country

When using the CountryCriteriaId field in a Geo Performance Report, use the XML report definition to generate a csv file. This lets you to map between the numeric IDs of the location and their string names.

Troubleshooting

Timeouts

The report download request may time out on extremely large data sets. There is no explicit data size limit, however, due to a variety of factors, the server may return an error if the report is too large.

If you encounter time outs or errors, try a shorter date range or use predicates to break up the report request into multiple, smaller requests. For example, instead of running a single report for all campaigns, you could submit multiple requests that each filter for a subset of Campaign IDs.

Error Retrieving Values

The Customer ID dropdown may fail to populate or show an 'Error retrieving values' message. If this occurs, check your AdWords account type. If the account type is 'manager', changing to 'advertiser' should fix the issue.

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