Is a Developer_token required when using a service account?

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Bryan Yen

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May 8, 2023, 1:39:36 PM5/8/23

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Hi,

I am wondering if I set up a service account to access the Google AdWords API, would a developer_token still be required? Thanks!

Regards,

Bryan

Google Ads API Forum Advisor

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May 8, 2023, 5:15:24 PM5/8/23

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Hi Bryan,

Thanks for reaching out to the Google Ads API Team. I hope you are doing well today.

I set up a service account to access the Google AdWords API, would a developer_token still be required?

>> For clarification, developer token is needed to access Google Ads API in production. It is assigned an access level which controls the number of API calls you can make per day with the token, and the environment to which you can make calls.

For additional information, please see Google Ads API: Obtain Your Developer Token documentation and guidelines (https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/first-call/dev-token).

On the other hand, if you are setting up with the Service Account, you may follow the steps in setting up a service account in the Setting up service account access guide as the Google Workspace is needed on this.

Please note the following requirements for reference:

A Google Workspace domain (https://workspace.google.com/) that you own such as mydomain.com or mybusiness.com
A Google Ads API developer token and optionally a test account.
The client library (https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs) for the language you're using.
A Google API Console project that has been configured for the Google Ads API (https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/cloud-project#enable_the_in_your_project).
A Google Ads user with permissions on the Google Ads account you want to access. Google Ads does not support using service accounts without impersonation.

But in addition, we strongly recommend using OAuth2 desktop app or web app flow (https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/cloud-project#choose_an_application_type) instead of service accounts unless you need a domain-specific feature (for example, impersonation).

OAuth2 desktop app and web app flows do require an initial user interaction for granting access to the account, but are much simpler to set up.

For the OAuth2 desktop app flow (https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/cloud-project#desktop), you can persist a refresh token (which never expires) to obtain a new access token whenever necessary. When using one of our client libraries (https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/client-library), you can authorize your app by filling out a configuration file.

Reference links:

Service Account - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/service-accounts
Setting up service account access - https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/service-accounts#setting_up_service_account_access

Have a great day.

Regards,

Google Ads API Team