# Google Ads API vs LinkedIn Marketing APIs

> Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against LinkedIn Marketing APIs's 62.4 (B), 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/google-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api.md (~2,200 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-api.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-ads-api-vs-linkedin-marketing-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 LinkedIn Marketing APIs's 62.4 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do ads reporting.

- Google Ads API: grade BB, 76.4/100, rank #31 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-ads-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-ads-api.json
- LinkedIn Marketing APIs: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #339 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/linkedin-marketing-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/linkedin-marketing-api.json

## Which one, for what

### 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 66
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 66
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 63
- Security & auth, 71 against 66
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 64

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- 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

### LinkedIn Marketing APIs (B)

Good for: An agent that reports on and manages LinkedIn campaigns for accounts its operator administers, especially read-only reporting, which has no account limit on Development tier.

Watch for: Standard rate limits are not published. An app sees its limit in the Developer Portal only after calling the endpoint


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Google Ads API | LinkedIn Marketing APIs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 82 | 66 | Google Ads API +16 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 66 | Google Ads API +18 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 63 | Google Ads API +24 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 66 | Google Ads API +5 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 30 | Google Ads API +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 64 | Google Ads API +23 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 84 | LinkedIn Marketing APIs +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **76.4 · BB** | **62.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Google Ads API | LinkedIn Marketing APIs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Google | LinkedIn Corporation |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://googleads.googleapis.com` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Google Ads API terms. The client libraries and the google-ads-mcp server are Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service under the LinkedIn API terms of use and the Marketing API terms. The beta Python and JavaScript clients carry LinkedIn's API development software licence |
| Tools exposed | 3 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2019-02-21 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 753 stars, 3.1M PyPI/wk | 25k npm/wk, 386k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**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.

**LinkedIn Marketing APIs.** Monthly API versions are each supported for at least a year, with dated sunsets and a changelog, and a test ad account lets an agent create campaigns that are never served or billed. Access needs LinkedIn's approval and a member's OAuth consent, standard rate limits are not published, and no OpenAPI specification was found.

## Before you call either

### 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

### LinkedIn Marketing APIs

1. Send `Linkedin-Version: YYYYMM` and `X-Restli-Protocol-Version: 2.0.0` on every call. A missing or sunset version returns an error (426 for a deprecated one)
2. Create one test ad account with `"test": true` and build there first. Its creatives are auto-rejected and never billed, and it returns no reporting data
3. Create campaigns as DRAFT or PAUSED and check `servingStatuses` before activating. Some validation is postponed until activation
4. Pass `fields=` on adAnalytics. Responses stop at 15,000 elements and the endpoint throttles at 45 million metric values per 5 minutes
5. On Development tier, map each ad account to the app in the Developer Portal. Edits are limited to five accounts

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Google Ads API or LinkedIn Marketing APIs?

Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against LinkedIn Marketing APIs's 62.4 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Google Ads API and LinkedIn Marketing APIs need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Google Ads API and LinkedIn Marketing APIs without installing anything?

Google Ads API has a hosted endpoint at https://googleads.googleapis.com. No hosted endpoint is listed for LinkedIn Marketing APIs.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Google Ads API or LinkedIn Marketing APIs

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