Now Available: AdWords API Local Database Sync

[AdWords API Advisor]

Today, we're pleased to announce the AdWords API Local Database Sync
project at

http://code.google.com/p/awapi-local-db-sync/

The scripts that make up the project can be used to schedule reports
using the AdWords API, store the results in a local database (using
SQLite), and then run queries against the database.

If you recall, one of the recommendations listed on our recent list of
"AdWords API: Top Ten Practices" (http://adwordsapi.blogspot.com/
2008/07/adwords-api-ten-best-practices.html) extolled the virtues of
maintaining your AdWords account information in a local database, and
using the AdWords API to keep that information up to date. Querying a
local database offers speed and cost advantages compared to making
repeated AdWords API calls when answering questions like "How many
active AdWords campaigns do I have across all my accounts?"
Maintaining a local database with historical information can also help
you answer questions that the AdWords API alone can't, like "Which
keywords were updated in my accounts during the past week?" Now, with
the AdWords API Local Database Sync you can answer these questions.

Here are some of the technical details: The scripts are written in
Python, and make use of the SOAPpy libraries for accessing the AdWords
API SOAP service. The Python code is written against the dbapi2
database API, and by default it will use the SQLite implementation and
store the report data in a SQLite database file on the local file
system. It's possible to swap out the SQLite libraries for another
database library that supports the dbapi2 interface.

While some developers may have already written their own in-house
AdWords database synchronization code, we wanted to provide a
standalone, open source solution for those developers who don't yet
have such a system in place. We're also hopeful that the code serves
as a helpful example of scheduling and parsing AdWords API reports,
and that even folks who are already maintaining their own databases
will get something out of the project.

Visit the project's home on Google Code (http://code.google.com/p/
awapi-local-db-sync/) and give it a try!

Cheers,
-Jeffrey Posnick, AdWords API Team