Working with google adwords api

Question

What i need to do to use Google AdWords API? Is it real that i must register at My Client Center, pay money and pass stupid tests on google testing service?

Answer 1

in order to use AdWords API, you need to:

1. have a regular Google AdWords account (not My Client Center - MCC one) with campaigns
2. have an MCC account... which cannot have campaigns but have an access to API
3. link your regular AdWords account with the MCC account
4. ask for API access from your MCC Account (My Profile section)
5. pay for API use per Google's rate sheet

... you can apply for free API usage, however this does come with a cost. This is where you need to do those stupid tests to get recognized as Certified Partner and fulfill some other requirements. And yes, you need to pay for these tests (last time I checked, it was $50 per test, there are about 4 of them for AdWords altogether, don't know how many you need to pass to get certified though).

P.S.: those 2 accounts (AdWords and MCC) cannot be combined and for some reason only the MCC one has access to API... wierd but that goes "by design" according to API Support (can't find the link at the moment).