How to handle an AdWords failure: request one report, receive a different report

[axtens]

(I've already posted this on StackOverflow)

Context: Adwords, XML, REST

We had the weirdest thing happen recently: We sent a report request (in a large batch of related requests) for an Account Performance Report and received an Ad Performance Report. Also the report request specified a single day, but the result specified a range of days.

This is the Account Performance Report XML:

<reportDefinition xmlns="https://adwords.google.com/api/adwords/cm/v201607">
<selector>
<fields>AccountCurrencyCode</fields>
<fields>AccountDescriptiveName</fields>
<fields>AccountTimeZoneId</fields>
<fields>AdNetworkType1</fields>
<fields>AdNetworkType2</fields>
<fields>AverageCpc</fields>
<fields>AveragePosition</fields>
<fields>Clicks</fields>
<fields>Conversions</fields>
<fields>ConversionValue</fields>
<fields>Cost</fields>
<fields>CostPerConversion</fields>
<fields>Ctr</fields>
<fields>CustomerDescriptiveName</fields>
<fields>Device</fields>
<fields>ExternalCustomerId</fields>
<fields>Impressions</fields>
<fields>PrimaryCompanyName</fields>
<fields>Slot</fields>
<dateRange>
<min>20150706</min>
<max>20150706</max>
</dateRange>
</selector>
<reportName>101_1_133_196</reportName>
<reportType>ACCOUNT_PERFORMANCE_REPORT</reportType>
<dateRangeType>CUSTOM_DATE</dateRangeType>
<downloadFormat>TSV</downloadFormat>

</reportDefinition>

This is what came back. 

"AD_PERFORMANCE_REPORT (Jul 25, 2016-Jul 31, 2016)"
Campaign ID,Ad group ID,Ad ID,View-through conv.,Total conv. value,Day,Avg. position,Clicks,Impressions,Cost,Converted clicks,Conversions
Total, --, --,0,0.0, --,0.0,0,0,0,0,0.0
ame Top vs. Other
Total -- -- -- -- 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.00% -- -- -- 0 -- --

Yes, there are appears to be some mangling of the data. However, the status code of the REST call was 200 so the report data was assumed to be correct. Subsequent processing revealed the fault. 

This is the first time this has happened to us in all the years that we've been sending in this kind of report request. Is there anything I should be looking for with respect to incoming headers and the like that could be used to alert us to subsequent failures of this nature?

[AdWordsApiUser]

We're seeing something similar, where we're getting totally wrong data for reports - something different from what we requested. Seems to happen for a very few cases, less than 1 request in 200 or so.

Thanks!

[Carl-Johan Kjellander]

Maybe same bug as we've been seeing?
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/adwords-api/HiFhouYMcAg

[Alex]

same here. Sometimes we get wrong reports. It started 2 days ago.

[Nadine Sundquist (AdWords API Team)]

Greetings Everyone,

Thanks for reporting this. I've seen multiple other reports coming in over the weekend, starting late Thursday, of either incorrect reports or corrupt reports. I'm pulling in a number of engineers on this to find the root cause, and I'll update you as soon as I have more information. 

Best,

Nadine, AdWords API Team

[Nadine Sundquist (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Everyone,

You should no longer be seeing this issue as of a few minutes ago. Please contact us immediately if you see any further issues with your reports.

Thanks,

Nadine, AdWords API Team

[Nadine Sundquist (AdWords API Team)]

Greetings AdWordsians,

Here's an update that you may have seen periodic occurrences of this again between 2:45 Pacific time and 5:15 Pacific time. The issue has been cleared up, and we're currently monitoring our servers. If you see this again, please get in contact with me right away on this thread.

Thanks,

Nadine, AdWords API Team

[Zweitze]

Can you tell more why this happened, under which circumstances, which API versions, which regions, etc.?
Last weekend we downloaded and processed thousands of reports (I think over 20,000 reports) and now I wonder about the state of our databases...
Although we didn't get errors processing them, so the requested fields were always present. But we didn't check much more, eg. whether the report was actually of the account we intended to get the report on. In your opinion, should we implement extra checks?

Thanks for any insights!

[Nadine Sundquist (AdWords API Team)]

Hello,

We're currently still investigating the impact of this. I'll get back to you when I have more details. In the meantime, to be more on the cautious side I would recommend pulling your reports again from Thursday through Monday.

Take care,

Nadine, AdWords API Team

[Nadine Sundquist (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Everyone,

If you have any other questions about this issue, please click Reply privately to author in the forum to get back to me.

Best,

Nadine, AdWords API Team