Did you know we have an extensive set of themed guides on the AdWords API Developers site? We do our best to have every topic covered and to keep all of them up-to-date. If you find that particular functionality needs better coverage, or we have a gap on a certain topic, let us know!

Meanwhile, my colleagues have published five new guides for the AdWords API:

• Optimization: Ray took a deep dive into the optimization part of the API and prepared two guides: Generating Targeting Ideas and Estimating Traffic.
• Ad Reviews: Josh investigated and put on paper all the technical details about policy violations and making Exemption Requests.
• Google Analytics: Mike went over all the features available when using the AdWords API with Google Analytics.
• Dynamic Search Ads: Marc fulfilled the promise he made during our Workshop series and wrote a guide on Using DSA.

We are looking forward to hearing your feedback via our G+ page or on the forum.

 - Danial Klimkin, AdWords API Team.

Consumers are increasingly using smartphones and switching between devices along their path to purchase. So it's become harder for marketers to see the full conversion path and measure ROI using traditional online conversion tracking.

That's why we recently introduced Estimated Total Conversions. Estimated Total Conversions provides a more complete and accurate view of all of the conversions driven by AdWords -- including conversions that start on one device and end on another.

Many new metrics related to Estimated Total Conversions are now available in the AdWords API. When you use the Account Performance Report, Campaign Performance Report, or Ad Group Performance Report, you can now access the following fields:

• CostPerEstimatedTotalConversion
• EstimatedCrossDeviceConversions
• EstimatedTotalConversionRate
• EstimatedTotalConversions
• EstimatedTotalConversionValue
• EstimatedTotalConversionValuePerClick
• EstimatedTotalConversionValuePerCost
• ValuePerEstimatedTotalConversion

To see the new Estimated Total Conversions statistics, you need AdWords conversion tracking set up through either the AdWords UI or ConversionTrackerService in the AdWords API. You'll also need a sufficient volume of conversions within an account, campaign, or ad group so that reliable estimates can be made.

Keep in mind, estimated conversion values are available only for search ads on Google traffic at this time.

As always, please feel free to ask any questions regarding the AdWords API on the G+ page or the forum.

-Takeshi Hagikura, AdWords API Team

Auto-tagging is an AdWords feature that can help you track your ad performance using custom software or website tracking programs like Google Analytics. When enabled, it automatically creates custom destination URLs with a parameter called gclid added to your landing page URL.

This value is now available to you in the Click Performance Report as the “GclId” field. This means you can now use auto-tagging and easily combine this data with information from other sources, like web analytics or webserver logs, when analyzing conversion performance and optimizing your campaigns.

Auto-tagging is available to all AdWords users, and can be enabled via the User Interface only. It’s a per-account setting available on the My Account -> Preferences page.

Feel free to reach out to us via the G+ page or the forum if you have any questions regarding this feature.

 - Danial Klimkin, Ads Developer Relations Team.

Some API users have noticed a difference between the search volume numbers returned by the TargetingIdeaService in versions v201206 and later compared to earlier versions and the user interface.

When running a query of 'STATS' request type with the latest API version, you will typically get a higher number for search volume compared to the user interface. The reason for the difference is that the volume returned by the latest API includes Search Partners data in its calculation, while the UI and the older API versions don’t have this metric available.

We understand this change may have caused confusion for some customers and we plan to include an option to choose which networks to account for in future API versions.

 - Danial Klimkin, Ads Developer Relations Team.