>> KOLEDA: Hi, I'm Eric Koleda from the AdWords API Developer Relations team. This presentation
will provide an introduction to the AdWords API Sandbox, and information on how you can
start using it. We get a lot of questions about the Sandbox. And this screencast will
address the most common issues that developers encounter. To get started, what is the Sandbox?
The Sandbox is a testing environment for API calls. This means that the calls made here
will have no effect on your existing campaigns; add groups, ads, and keywords. The Sandbox
is open to everyone, and it doesnÃ­t require any tokens to use. Best of all, it's free.
All you need to get started is a Google account. And you may already have one. If you've already
sign up for AdWords, Gmail, YouTube or similar Google services, you have everything you need
to start using the Sandbox today. If you donÃ­t have a Google account, you can create one
from any e-mail address. So how do you use the Sandbox? For authentication, use the login
and password of the Google account you selected. The authentication method is the same as in
production. For v13, this means an e-mail and Password Header. And for v2009, this means
generation an authToken. The key differences between requests made to production in Sandbox
are the Header Values. The Sandbox automatically generates five client accounts based on the
Google account you choose to login with. The format of this account e-mails is client_n,
where n is a number of one through five, + login id, where login id is the login of the
Google account you used during authentication. So for example, if you login using joe@gmail.com,
one of your client accounts would be client_1+joe@gmail.com. Another Header Value that's changed is developerToken.
The value used here is not the same as your productionToken. The format is login id++currency
code. You can look up the full listing of currency codes on the AdWords API documentation.
Finally, the Header applicationToken is ignored by the Sandbox. You can leave without other
requests completely. Request made to the Sandbox must be submitted against the different URL
in production. The basic URL structure is the same and only the domain is changed. In
the v13 version of the API, the domain is Sandbox.google.com. And then the v2009 version
of the API, the domain is adwords-Sandbox.google.com. Before you can start making a request against
the automatically generated client accounts we've mentioned earlier, you must first initialize
them. This is done by making a call to the account service method, getClientAccounts.
This request must be made as an MCC user, so ensure you do not include the client e-mail
header. There are important tips and tricks about the Sandbox that you should be aware
of. The XML format of the request sent to the Sandbox are exactly the same as those
sent to production. The AdWords API namespace, unlike the URL, should not be changed. Here's
an example request sent to the Sandbox, "Please note the AdWords API namespace remains adwords.google.com."
If you use one of the official AdWords API Client Libraries, making a request against
the Sandbox is easy. The only change required is setting a flag in the configuration file.
This makes it simple for your application, to switch routine to production and Sandbox
Environments. Each library use a slightly different flag, so consult the README file
that was included with the library. The Sandbox does come with some important limitations.
Accounts in the Sandbox start empty. If you already have an existing AdWords account,
your Sandbox account will not contain a copy of your production data. It is possible to
write a script that populates your Sandbox account with relevant data for testing. Also,
Sandbox accounts reset approximately every month, clearing out all the data within. Watch
for Sandbox reset announcements on the AdWords API form. Another limitation is that some
method in the Sandbox returned dummy data, specifically the ReportService, TrafficEstimatorService,
and KeywordToolService. Finally, the Sandbox has no web interface. There are a number of
great resources where you can get more information about the Sandbox. Using the Sandbox provide
some of the basics covered here as well as the limitations discussed. You've also written
the best practice article, detailing how to initialize your account and how to simulate
error messages. If you have any follow-up questions or encounter any problems when using
the Sandbox, push your question to the AdWords API form, and we'll be glad to help. Thank
you for listening and enjoy using the Sandbox.