We’re happy to announce the release of v4.1 of the AdSense Host API. Don’t let the numbering fool you, this is a major update that provides a ton of new functionality!

The new version is intended as a full replacement of AdSense Host API v3 for ContentAds hosts, with a few extra features. Changes from v4 include added support for:

• Account creation and association with a new publisher signup flow
• Managing URL and custom channels on the host
• Retrieving publisher ad clients
• Creating and managing new publisher ad units, and retrieving ad code for them
• Running publisher-side reports

With this new release, we're also announcing the sunset of version 3 of the Host API, to take place on January 1, 2013. Over the next few weeks, we will be getting in touch with existing hosts and helping them get started with the migration.

If you’re not an AdSense host yet and are interested in joining the program, take a look at our introduction page to find out more about the requirements and how it works.

Let us know if you have any questions!

 - Sérgio Gomes, on behalf of the AdSense API Team

Over the last few weeks, we’ve identified a list of common questions that some of you’ve been asking. In this post, we'd like to share the answers with all of you.

AdSense Host API v3

- How do I set the AdSense login email and the AdSense login password of the application developer for a request to the API?

All requests sent to the AdSense Host API Web Services must include the following header elements:

• developer_email - the developer’s AdSense login email.
• developer_password - the developer’s AdSense login password.

Check our code examples to see how to include the headers for different languages and different types of requests.

- How do I handle the account confirmation email when I’m developing against the API Sandbox?

The AdSense Host API Sandbox is a replica of the production API services but with some additional support that helps developers test and debug their applications.

The production web services require that when a developer creates an account for a publisher, that publisher receives an email which asks them to go to a web page to perform various actions.

The Sandbox sends the email request to you, the developer (instead of the publisher), which lets you see the messages the publisher would have seen. However, the verification link in that email will not work, because the Sandbox doesn't have a replica of the AdSense website to which to take the publisher.

When developing against the Sandbox you can use the following special request headers to include zip, phone and approval settings that are normally requested of the publisher by email:

• debug_association_type - the state of the association between the developer and publisher
• debug_zip - the publisher's zip code
• debug_phone - the publisher's phone number

AdSense Management API

- How do I check the API usage statistics for my project?

You can check the usage statistics for a project in the API console under the "Reports" tab:

If the current usage is approaching the 10k daily limit, or you estimate that future usage will exceed it, you may request additional quota via the "Quotas" tab in the API console.

If you have any additional questions on these topics, please post on our forum or join one of our upcoming AdSense APIs Office Hours Hangouts.

 - Silvano Luciani, AdSense API Team