/google-ads-api-quickstart

Google Ads API .NET Setup Reference

This guide outlines how to configure, install, and write your first Google Ads API call using .NET/C#.

Prerequisites

• .NET SDK: Dynamic lookup required from Supported Client Library Versions
• Package manager: NuGet

Step 1: Installation

Install the official package using NuGet:

dotnet add package Google.Ads.GoogleAds

Step 2: Configuration (Runtime Initialization)

The preferred way to configure the .NET client library is to initialize a GoogleAdsConfig object at runtime. Gather your required credentials to include in your code:

• Developer Token
• OAuth2 Client ID
• OAuth2 Client Secret
• OAuth2 Refresh Token
• Login Customer ID (optional, required if authenticating as a manager account)

Alternate Configuration Options

If you prefer external configuration files or environment variables, add a NuGet reference to the Google.Ads.GoogleAds.Extensions package. You must then explicitly load the settings onto your GoogleAdsConfig object:

• Environment Variables: Call config.LoadFromEnvironmentVariables().
• App.config: Call config.LoadFromDefaultAppConfigSection().
• settings.json / Custom JSON: Use ConfigurationBuilder and call config.LoadFromConfigurationRoot(configRoot).

Step 3: Write and Run the Quickstart Script

Create Program.cs. Before passing the Client Customer ID to the API, you must clean customer IDs by stripping hyphens (e.g., converting 123-456-7890 to 1234567890). This ensures standard numeric parsing:

IMPORTANT

Replace VXX and VXX in the namespace and service calls with the latest supported version (e.g., V24) discovered in the Prerequisites step.

using System;
using Google.Ads.GoogleAds.Config;
using Google.Ads.GoogleAds.Lib;
using Google.Ads.GoogleAds.VXX.Services;
using Google.Ads.GoogleAds.VXX.Errors;

class Program {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
        if (args.Length < 1) {
            Console.WriteLine("Usage: dotnet run <CUSTOMER_ID>");
            return;
        }

        // Clean customer ID by stripping hyphens
        string customerId = args[0].Replace("-", "");
        
        GoogleAdsConfig config = new GoogleAdsConfig()
        {
            DeveloperToken = "INSERT_DEVELOPER_TOKEN_HERE",
            OAuth2Mode = OAuth2Flow.APPLICATION,
            OAuth2ClientId = "INSERT_OAUTH2_CLIENT_ID_HERE",
            OAuth2ClientSecret = "INSERT_OAUTH2_CLIENT_SECRET_HERE",
            OAuth2RefreshToken = "INSERT_OAUTH2_REFRESH_TOKEN_HERE",
            // LoginCustomerId = "INSERT_LOGIN_CUSTOMER_ID_HERE"
        };

        // Optional: If using Google.Ads.GoogleAds.Extensions, you can also load overriding environment variables:
        // config.LoadFromEnvironmentVariables();

        GoogleAdsClient client = new GoogleAdsClient(config);
        GoogleAdsServiceClient service = client.GetService(Services.VXX.GoogleAdsService);
        string query = "SELECT campaign.id, campaign.name, campaign.status FROM campaign ORDER BY campaign.id";

        try {
            service.SearchStream(customerId, query, delegate(SearchGoogleAdsStreamResponse response) {
                foreach (GoogleAdsRow row in response.Results) {
                    Console.WriteLine($"Campaign found: ID = {row.Campaign.Id}, Name = '{row.Campaign.Name}', Status = {row.Campaign.Status}");
                }
            });
        } catch (GoogleAdsException ex) {
            Console.WriteLine($"Request failed: ID {ex.RequestId}. Error: {ex.Message}");
        }
    }
}

Run the project (replace XXXXXXXXXX with your 10-digit Client Customer ID):

dotnet run XXXXXXXXXX

Step 4: Verification

Verify the output of your run. A successful execution will stream the campaigns associated with the customer ID to the console, similar to the following:

Campaign found: ID = 987654321, Name = 'Interstate Search Promo', Status = Enabled
Campaign found: ID = 555444333, Name = 'Local Brand Awareness', Status = Paused