API Rate limits

[Justin Coon]

So it seems that the reset is inconsistent (not always 24 hours)? Or maybe I should say its non deterministic. This can be frustrating as we don't know when to retry (turn everything back on), once you've hit the rate limit. Currently it's a guessing game, and can be a costly one since the timer resets every time you hit the API while still locked out - correct?

We are currently locked out due to exceeded rate limits on a basic access token - and I have no way of knowing when I can turn our reporting engine back on. 

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Justin, 

It looks like you are taking about the report rate limit error specifically. The recommended approach since you are having basic access would be to ensure that within any given 24-hour period, your application is not issuing more that 1000 report requests. Having this kind of a logic will ensure that your application does not encounter rate limit errors at the first place. If you encounter a report rate limit error, you can catch that and retry only after the specified waiting time. This will make sure that you are not making any additional calls during the wait time. If your application needs to make more than 1000 report calls a day, you could consider upgrading your access to Standard Access. 

Hope this answers your question. 

Thanks,
Sreelakshmi, AdWords API Team

[Justin Coon]

We have waited over 24 hours and still getting the error - whats the issue?