Using the adCenter API Sandbox environment for development and testing

  • Article

The adCenter API Sandbox environment is made available for API developers to test their code in an environment to assure they can access the API.  Developers want to see if the API is available, for example, to manage campaigns, manage customers, and get reporting.

We make those APIs available via the Sandbox environment, but we also have the Web UI available for the sandbox. None of our competitors provide a Web UI for the sandbox environments when testing their APIs.

We’ve heard some feedback and requests for enhancements to our sandbox environment. What we don’t provide now is the end-to-end experience. For example, if you create a campaign in the sandbox environment, we don’t provide a mock search, by which you can see an ad, click on an ad and test if your report is updated.

For developers to test reporting, our sandbox system will be updated to allow you to test your reporting via the API. Currently, reporting is tested only via the production system.

Two other important points that you should know when testing your code in our sandbox environment:

  • We don’t have editorial approval in the sandbox environment, so if your keywords are determined to require editorial approval, that won’t occur. For an accurate test, use keywords that are certain not to trigger any editorial review.
  • We currently do not delete data from the sandbox environment. We strive to maintain production-like stability with the sandbox for your code tests. However, we recommend that you use it for functional testing and not for full stress testing.