WebProNews

This week Google released the latest version of the AdWords API (v2009) to all advertisers after releasing it to a limited group back in June. The new version offers users some new features, and Google says it comes with greater speed at a lower cost.

"Because it offers nearly all of the campaign management functionality you're used to from the AdWords API, along with a new rate sheet representing lower costs, now is a great time to start developing for v2009," says John Fitzpatrick of Google's AdWords API Team.

Documentation for the new version of the API can be found here. There is also a sandbox available where developers can experiment and test. The sandbox does not charge for API units. Users just need access to a Google Account username and password. Best practices for the sandbox can be found here.

Google has extended the length of time that they'll support both this version and the previous version, v13. The company has done so because the changes between the two versions are so significant. Google intends to retire v13 early next year, but will announce exact dates in the coming months.

"In anticipation of retiring v13, we strongly encourage you to begin development for v2009 as soon as possible," Fitzpatrick tells developers. "We're still working on making v2009 better, so this is also a great opportunity to provide us your early feedback."

Over the next several months, Google will be releasing more functionality for v2009, such as asynchronous calls, partial failure acceptance, keyword optimization tools, and reporting.