Improved support for service accounts in the Google Ads API

Google Ads has rolled out a new feature that allows Google Ads account administrators to grant access to a service account. Once the access has been granted, you can use the service account credentials to make API calls to that Google Ads account and other accounts in that hierarchy, if applicable. Refer to the service account guide to learn more about this option.

This new approach simplifies the Google Ads API authentication process in two important ways:

1. If your application works entirely offline without any user interaction, then you no longer need to generate a refresh token. This means you can also avoid other steps such as configuring an OAuth consent screen and performing OAuth App verification.
2. The new service account flow doesn’t require you to be a Google Workspace user or configure the service account for domain-wide impersonation.

We hope this simplifies your experience when working with the Google Ads API.

If you have any questions or need help, check out the Google Ads API support page for options.

 - Anash P. Oommen, Google Ads API Team