# Apple Ads Platform API vs Google Ads API

> Google Ads scores 76.4 (BB) to Apple Ads Platform's 53.8 (D) for ad reporting. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-google-ads-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-google-ads-api.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-google-ads-api.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-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: 2026-10-09

Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Apple Ads Platform API's 53.8 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do ad reporting.

- Apple Ads Platform API: grade D, 53.8/100, rank #699 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/apple-ads.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/apple-ads.json
- Google Ads API: grade BB, 76.4/100, rank #33 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-ads-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-ads-api.json
- Best advertising platform APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/advertising/index.md
- All 28 advertising comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/advertising/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Apple Ads Platform API (D)

Good for: An agent that manages or reports on App Store search campaigns, or Apple Maps campaigns, for an advertiser whose administrator can grant an API role.

Watch for: The Platform API was first released in August 2026 and its changelog has one entry. The Campaign Management API 5 it replaces is sunset on 26 January 2027

### 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 35
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 69
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 69
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 48
- Transparency & trust, 82 against 66

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 | Apple Ads Platform API | Google Ads API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 35 | 82 | Google Ads API +47 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 84 | Google Ads API +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 87 | Google Ads API +18 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 71 | Google Ads API +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | Google Ads API +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 87 | Google Ads API +39 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 82 | Google Ads API +16 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53.8 · D** | **76.4 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Apple Ads Platform API | Google Ads API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Apple | Google |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.ads.apple.com/v1` | `https://googleads.googleapis.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Apple Advertising Services Terms of Service. The client libraries are MIT | 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 | 2026-08-14 | 2026-09-23 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2019-02-21 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | none | 753 stars, 3.1M PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**Apple Ads Platform API.** Every response carries `RateLimit-*` headers and a 429 carries `Retry-After`, Apple maintains MIT client libraries in four languages, and read-only API roles exist. The API was first released in August 2026. No status page, SLA, published OpenAPI file, idempotency key or test account was found, and a person must create the credentials in the Apple Ads interface.

**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

### Apple Ads Platform API

1. Send `Authorization: Bearer {access_token}` and `X-AP-Context: adAccountId={adAccountId}` on every ad account call. Get the account id from `GET /v1/acls`
2. Request a new access token every 3,600 seconds from `https://appleid.apple.com/auth/oauth2/token` with scope `searchadsorg`. The signed client secret lasts at most 180 days
3. Read `RateLimit-Remaining` on each response. On a 429 wait the `Retry-After` seconds, then double the wait up to 16 seconds
4. List and filter with POST to a `/query` endpoint, not GET with query parameters. Deleted entities return only when a filter asks for them
5. On PUT send only the fields to change, and send the complete desired array for any array field. Create campaigns with `"status": "PAUSED"` before review

### 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, Apple Ads Platform API or Google Ads API?

Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Apple Ads Platform API's 53.8 (D), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Apple Ads Platform API and Google Ads API need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

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

Yes. Apple Ads Platform API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.ads.apple.com/v1 and Google Ads API at https://googleads.googleapis.com.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Apple Ads Platform API or Google Ads API

- [Amazon Ads API vs Apple Ads Platform API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-apple-ads.md)
- [Amazon Ads API vs Google Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-ads-api-vs-google-ads-api.md)
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- [Apple Ads Platform API vs Microsoft Advertising API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-microsoft-advertising-api.md)
- [Apple Ads Platform API vs Snapchat Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-snapchat-ads.md)
- [Apple Ads Platform API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apple-ads-vs-x-ads.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)
- [Google Ads API vs Snapchat Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-snapchat-ads.md)
- [Google Ads API vs X Ads API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-x-ads.md)