Report query result via API doesn't match with AdWords UI

[kh...@treasure-data.com]

Hi AdWords API support team,

It seems the result of report query by API and AdWords UI is different:
- With the following report query:

SELECT Id, CampaignName, AdGroupName, Clicks, Impressions, Ctr, AverageCpc, Cost, Conversions, ViewThroughConversions, CostPerConversion, ConversionRate
FROM AD_PERFORMANCE_REPORT DURING LAST_WEEK

In the AdWords UI (I used predefined "Basic / Ad" report), it shows 21240 rows whereas the API returns 21972 rows. I found that there are some Ids in the API result not found in the AdWords UI.
- With this report query (add Year segment):

SELECT Id, CampaignName, AdGroupName, Year, Clicks, Impressions, Ctr, AverageCpc, Cost, Conversions, ViewThroughConversions, CostPerConversion, ConversionRate
FROM AD_PERFORMANCE_REPORT DURING LAST_WEEK

In the AdWords UI, once I add "Year" to the row key, it shows 222 rows whereas the API still returns 21972 rows and the "Year" column all contains "2018" value

Do you have any idea why it's like that?

Thank you.

[Bharani Cherukuri (AdWords API Team)]

Hello, 

Could you share us the client Customer ID for the account where you're noticing the difference, so I can take a look? You can reply back via Reply privately to author option. 

Thanks,

Bharani, AdWords API Team

[Bharani Cherukuri (AdWords API Team)]

Hello, 

I was able to take a look at the discrepancy you're noticing. The AdWords API have similar naming conventions as UI reports. However, the stats pulled through the API map to the corresponding Ads tab metrics in the UI. Please refer to this guide on how API reports are mapped in the UI. 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Bharani, AdWords API Team

[Khoa Nguyen]

Thanks Bharani for the useful information. I thought the AdWords API maps to the report using Report Editor but now I know that it matches the one in the AdWords dashboard (https://adwords.google.com/aw/<ads/adgroups/campaigns>?ocid). However, about in-matching results of API call & UI, I would like to ask 2 questions:

1. With the same report query: "SELECT Id, CampaignName, AdGroupName, Clicks, Impressions, Ctr, AverageCpc, Cost, Conversions, ViewThroughConversions, CostPerConversion, ConversionRate FROM AD_PERFORMANCE_REPORT DURING LAST_WEEK" now returns 21978 rows (API), but when I use the AdWords UI (https://adwords.google.com/aw/ads?ocid=...), it shows only 21246 rows. Note that I selected ALL Campaign status, ALL Group status and ALL Ad status already. Similar thing happens for AdGroup Performance or Campaign Performance reports. For example, I found that the API result contains some campaign names which I couldn't find them on the UI:

< AWN_001:00000000013edd3b_00000000013edef8
< AWN_001:00000000013edd3b_00000000013ef211
< AWX_001:00000000013edd3b_00000000013edef8
< AWX_001:00000000013edd3b_00000000013edef8_content
< AWX_001:00000000013edd3b_00000000013ef211
< AWX_001:00000000013edd3b_00000000013ef211_content

Am I missing something? Is there any hidden filter on AdWords UI that causes this? I would like to know them all as we rely on the AdWords UI to compare it with the result of our API call.

2. I found that the AdWords Report Editor works differently from API call on the same Attributes, Segments & Metrics. For example, if I use AdWords Report Editor to select row keys (Ad Id, Year), and metrics (Clicks, Impressions), the result seems to be aggregated by Year and the number of rows gets reduced significantly. Whereas, in the API call's result using Ad Performance Report, there are about the same number of Ad items (~21978 rows). Is there any way to build query using API so that the result can match with the one in Report Editor UI?

Thanks in advance!

[Bharani Cherukuri (AdWords API Team)]

Hello, 

We were able to take a look at the discrepancy you mentioned. Please find my response below:

1. I was able to download a report for Apr 2,2018 - Apr 8, 2018. I see that the number of rows in API is 21978, and segmenting the exact same fields in the UI are 22032. The stats for all the segmented fields match in both the report types. However, I see that the number of rows in UI is greater than the ones in API. This is because of the AdWords Express Campaigns which are included in the UI Reports. These Campaigns can only appear in the Campaign Performance Report. Please refer to this blog post for more information. If you're still experiencing the discrepancy, please share the complete reports along with the date range, so I can take a look. 

2. Please note the reports generated by AdWords API use the same naming convention as UI Reports. The number of rows and data collection techniques might be different for both UI and API. The stats pulled through API reports, however, should match the stats in the UI. The reports pulled through the API can be compared to the downloaded report from that view. 

Let me know if you have any other questions

Regards,

Bharani, AdWords API Team

On Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 6:09:11 AM UTC-4, Khoa Nguyen wrote: