# Google Ads API vs Microsoft Advertising API

> Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Microsoft Advertising API's 60.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do ads reporting. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- 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 Microsoft Advertising API's 60.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do ads reporting.

- 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
- Microsoft Advertising API: grade C, 60.3/100, rank #360 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-advertising-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-advertising-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 60
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 79
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 63
- Security & auth, 71 against 60
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 61
- Transparency & trust, 82 against 64

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

### Microsoft Advertising API (C)

Good for: Agents that manage or report on Microsoft Advertising accounts, including Google Ads imports.

Watch for: Call-rate limits carry no numbers. The docs describe a 60-second sliding window, and call the Bulk and Reporting limits internal and subject to change


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Google Ads API | Microsoft Advertising API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 82 | 60 | Google Ads API +22 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 79 | Google Ads API +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 63 | Google Ads API +24 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 71 | 60 | Google Ads API +11 |
| 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 | 61 | Google Ads API +26 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 64 | Google Ads API +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **76.4 · BB** | **60.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Google Ads API | Microsoft Advertising API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Google | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://googleads.googleapis.com` | `https://campaign.api.bingads.microsoft.com/CampaignManagement/v13` |
| 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. The .NET, Java, Python and PHP SDKs are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 3 | 7 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-29 |
| Terms last updated | 2019-02-21 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-01 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | yes |
| 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 | 128 stars, 19k 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.

**Microsoft Advertising API.** Version 13 covers campaigns, budgets, audiences, ads and reports over REST with JSON, with a sandbox that needs no payment method and four official SDKs. Call-rate limits are unpublished, no public OpenAPI file or idempotency key was found, and one OAuth scope covers every operation. The SOAP interface retires on 31 January 2027.

## 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

### Microsoft Advertising API

1. Build and test against the sandbox hosts (`*.api.sandbox.bingads.microsoft.com`) with developer token BBD37VB98. Sandbox and production credentials are separate
2. Send `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, `DeveloperToken`, `CustomerId` and `CustomerAccountId` on REST calls. Use the account ID, never the eight-character account number
3. Create campaigns with `Status` set to `Paused`, then read them back before activating. No validate-only mode was found
4. On error 117 (CallRateExceeded) wait 60 seconds. On Bulk error 4204 wait up to 15 minutes
5. Read `PartialErrors` on every add, update and delete. A call can succeed for some items and fail for others

## Questions

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

Google Ads API scores 76.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Microsoft Advertising API's 60.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Google Ads API and Microsoft Advertising API need an API key?

Both use an OAuth sign-in.

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

Yes. Google Ads API has a hosted endpoint at https://googleads.googleapis.com and Microsoft Advertising API at https://campaign.api.bingads.microsoft.com/CampaignManagement/v13.


## For agents

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

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