3

Is there any way to use Python to access the Google Adsense API from a server without any user interaction?

This is typically done by setting up a "service account", but Google's docs say that "AdSense doesn't support Service Accounts".

They say to use the web or installed application flows, but these require the user to manually confirm access for every access. My application needs to run on a headless server, without user interaction, so it can pull data every hour, so this won't work. This similar question suggests going through the user consent screen once and then caching the token on the server, but this isn't feasible in my case since my process needs to be 100% automated, and the token will eventually expire and require user interaction.

Unfortunately, Google's docs are quiet unhelpful, and even worse their Python coding examples haven't been updated in 7 years, and don't even seem to have worked back then, as many of them don't even run Python 2.7, much less 3.

Cerin
  • 60,957
  • 96
  • 316
  • 522

1 Answers1

1

It's true that the AdSense Management API doesn't support service accounts. While there is setup required at first with the Web Flow, the same is true for service accounts which also have to be granted permissions on the account being accessed.

Regarding the tokens expiring, the Web Flow will yield a refresh token, which you can use to generate new access tokens (known as offline access, which doesn't require user involvement after the initial setup).

Donovan McMurray
  • 199
  • 9