Actually, Big G’s been preparing us for awhile now; the first reports surfaced in April that they were going to overhaul the API program, and they originally wanted to start charging July 1. Turns out we got a three month reprieve – Google announced Tuesday that their new quota system will now go into effect October 1.
That leaves AdWords API users a month to familiarize themselves with the complex new quota system, which is causing lots of grumbling on the forums – given the Byzantine look of the new rate card, we can’t say that we’re too surprised. Oh, by the way, Google’s asking that users take the time to re-register by as soon as possible to avoid having their accounts shut down:
“Given the size of our third-party developer ecosystem, we need several days to review and process all of your data. Therefore, we strongly urge you to complete this registration process by September 15. If you miss this registration deadline, we may need to temporarily disable your Developer Token (starting 10/1) until we’ve had an opportunity to fully review and process your registration data.”
While many users aren’t thrilled about the new fees, there are evidently a couple of ways to get out of paying them. First, developers can use the Google API sandbox to do unlimited application testing for free. Second (and somewhat more cryptically), certain advertisers are excepted. Quoth Google:
“Advertisers who develop API applications solely to advertise their own businesses may be eligible for a limited allocation of free quota. API developers will be notified if they qualify for the free quota allocation after their registration information has been reviewed.”
Cross your fingers…for more info about the AdWords API, check this link
