# Amazon Ads API vs Google Ads API

> Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Amazon Ads API's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do ads reporting. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api.md (~2,100 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Amazon Ads API's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do ads reporting.

- Amazon Ads API: grade C, 59/100, rank #388 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-ads-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-ads-api.json
- Google Ads API: grade BB, 76.4/100, rank #31 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-ads-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-ads-api.json

## Which one, for what

### Amazon Ads API (C)

Good for: Agents managing sponsored ads and Amazon DSP for an advertiser or agency that already has API approval, and teams that want a vendor-run MCP server.

Watch for: Access needs an approved application (review may take up to one business day) and an advertiser's consent in a browser

### Google Ads API (BB)

Good for: It suits an agent that reports on or manages Google Ads accounts for an advertiser or agency that can get a Cloud project approved.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 82 against 45
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 76
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 62
- Security & auth, 71 against 60
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 82 against 73

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: One OAuth scope, `adwords`, covers reading, editing, creating and deleting. Read-only access depends on the Google Ads user role


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amazon Ads API | Google Ads API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 82 | Google Ads API +37 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 84 | Google Ads API +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 87 | Google Ads API +25 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 71 | Google Ads API +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 40 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 87 | Google Ads API +22 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 82 | Google Ads API +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **59 · C** | **76.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amazon Ads API | Google Ads API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Amazon | Google |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://advertising-api.amazon.com` | `https://googleads.googleapis.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Amazon Advertising API Licence Agreement. The Postman collections and samples in amzn/ads-advanced-tools-docs are MIT-0 | Proprietary service under the Google Ads API terms. The client libraries and the google-ads-mcp server are Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 3 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-09-23 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2019-02-21 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-30 | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | none | 753 stars, 3.1M PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**Amazon Ads API.** Public OpenAPI specifications, test accounts that serve no ads and a six-month shutoff notice policy support agent use. Access needs an approved application and an advertiser's OAuth consent, rate limits are dynamic with no published numbers, and the status feed shows three reporting disruptions since July 2026. The MCP server is in open beta.

**Google Ads API.** Test accounts are free and need no approval, and `validate_only` checks a change without running it. Production access needs a Google Cloud project approved at Explorer level or above and a person to set up OAuth. One OAuth scope covers both reads and writes. The official MCP server is read-only, self-hosted and at version 0.0.4.

## Before you call either

### Amazon Ads API

1. Send Amazon-Advertising-API-ClientId and a Bearer access token on every call, and Amazon-Advertising-API-Scope with a profile ID from GET /v2/profiles on most
2. Call the host for the advertiser's region. advertising-api.amazon.com is North America, advertising-api-eu Europe and advertising-api-fe Far East
3. Refresh the access token every 60 minutes. Refresh tokens issued from 30 July 2026 expire 365 days after consent
4. On 429, wait the Retry-After seconds and back off exponentially. Request an export instead of listing every entity
5. Rehearse writes in a test account, or create campaigns in the PAUSED state, before anything can spend
6. For MCP, prefer https://advertising-ai.amazon.com/mcp/lite and disable delete tools in the client configuration

### Google Ads API

1. Send `validateOnly: true` on a mutate first. It returns errors without making the change. Batch jobs don't support it
2. Create campaigns with status PAUSED and enable them in a separate step, since an enabled campaign with a budget can spend
3. Send `login-customer-id` (digits only, no hyphens) when you reach a client account through a manager account
4. A failed request still counts against the daily operation quota. Paging with a valid `next_page_token` doesn't
5. Wait at least 12 hours between account budget changes on one account, and use the Data Manager API for new Customer Match or offline conversion work

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Amazon Ads API or Google Ads API?

Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Amazon Ads API's 59 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Amazon Ads API and Google Ads API need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Amazon Ads API and Google Ads API without installing anything?

Yes. Amazon Ads API has a hosted endpoint at https://advertising-api.amazon.com and Google Ads API at https://googleads.googleapis.com.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "amazon-ads-api", "b": "google-ads-api"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare amazon-ads-api google-ads-api`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-ads-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-ads-api.json

## Other comparisons with Amazon Ads API or Google Ads API

- [Amazon Ads API vs LinkedIn Marketing APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api.md)
- [Amazon Ads API vs Meta Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.md)
- [Amazon Ads API vs Microsoft Advertising API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-microsoft-advertising-api.md)
- [Google Ads API vs LinkedIn Marketing APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api.md)
- [Google Ads API vs Meta Marketing API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-meta-marketing-api.md)
- [Google Ads API vs Microsoft Advertising API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-microsoft-advertising-api.md)