Upload offline conversions using test account

[Vasile Archeri]

Hello,

I'm using the PHP client library to communicate with the Adwords API and I'm wondering if it's possible to send clicks using a test account. I'm hoping there is something like a default GCLID or perhaps a way to create a test ad which I could click to generate some IDs that I could use to test the OfflineConversionFeed service.

As far as I could see in the documentation there isn't anything that would allow the above.

To my understanding if I wanted to test this in production then I would need to have an approved developer token right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Vasile,

That is right, there isn't a test ad/environment that you can use to test the click and the offline conversion feed. The test accounts will not serve ads and hence you cannot test this feature using the test accounts.
If you need to test it out, you can set up a test campaign with low budget in your production AdWords account and use the gclid from that campaign for testing the offline conversion feed. To perform any API operations on a production account, you will need to have an approved developer token. If you haven't already applied for one, please follow the instructions listed here to apply for API access.

Thanks,
Sreelakshmi, AdWords API Team

[Vasile Archeri]

Hi Sreelakshmi,

Thanks for your reply. I was suspecting that would be the case. 

Would it be sensible to request such a feature though? Something along the lines of a default GCLID that could be used for testing the OfflineConversionFeed service with a test account?

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Vasile,

Thanks for your feedback. I will let the team know about your request. If you haven't already, you could follow our blog for updates and announcements.

[patrickd...@gmail.com]

I'm needing the same thing at the moment too and it makes complete sense to have a testing environment, a simple default/test GCLID that can be used on test accounts would suffice, or even better would be the ability on ads to just request a GCLID so there can be testing between ads etc. I can't believe that something so integral to the adwords experience is limited to production testing which is a pretty bad design if you ask me and begs the question as to why you even bother having 'test accounts' if you can't actually 'test' in them????

[Sreelakshmi Sasidharan (AdWords API Team)]

Hi, 

The team is already aware of this request. Unfortunately, we don't have a timeline for it to be available in the test accounts. I will pass on your feedback too as it will be helpful for them to prioritize this feature. 

[Roberto Andrade]

Going through an implementation for a client and trying to test exactly the same functionality as everyone here, OfflineConversionFeed service, using a real GCLID from our production accounts throws UNAUTHORIZED_USER (https://developers.google.com/adwords/api/docs/reference/v201809/OfflineConversionFeedService.OfflineConversionError)

[Dannison Yao (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Roberto,

I am a colleague of Sreelakshmi, allow me to provide support for your concern. The error UNAUTHORIZED_USER is encountered when you are managing a click that does not belong to your account. 

You could download the Click Performance Report to get all GCLIDs associated to your account. If the result does return the GCLID you are referencing to, this means that it does not belong to your account. You may refer to the validation rules to prevent errors during your upload.

Regards,

Dannison

AdWords API Team

[Priya Chetwani]

Hi guys,

I'm also unable to test upload offline conversions php API through a test ads account as i don't have real GCLID,

API : https://adwords.google.com/api/adwords/cm/v201809/OfflineConversionFeedService?wsdl

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Priya,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Unfortunately it is currently not possible to test the conversions using test accounts as they do not serve ads. You need to have a production account for this functionality. Please refer to this guide for uploading conversions via API. Let me know if you have further questions.

Thank you,
Bryan, Google Ads API Team

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[Priya Chetwani]

Ok thank you for the help. I have signup for a production account and added one ad. Now APIs working fine.

[leeegi...@gmail.com]

Hello, just wondering if there is a way now to use a test gclid?

Thank you,
Lee

[Google Ads API Forum Advisor]

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the follow up on the feature.

As of now, it's not available in the Google Ads API, however, my team already had raised a request to support a testable 'dummy' GCLID in Google Ads API. You may monitor our blog for an update if it is supported in the future.

However, I recommend you use a production account for this functionality since the test account does not serve real ads to get test GCLID. Let us know if you have any additional questions.

Regards,

Yasar Google Ads API Team

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