Download data with web queries

You can download the latest Search Ads 360 data directly into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet instead of manually downloading and importing a file into Excel. Like a report that you view in Search Ads 360, you can customize the scope, type, and range of data that appears in the report. But instead of requiring you to download a file, Search Ads 360 provides a URL that Excel can use to automatically download and refresh the report’s data. Search Ads 360 web queries:

Reduce the time you spend generating reports in Search Ads 360.
Enable you to create common report templates in Excel and populate them with the latest Search Ads 360 data.

For example, if you've created a customized campaign-performance report that you send to sub-managers or clients accounts weekly, you can create one Search Ads 360 web query for each of your sub-managers and clients accounts. For each web query, you set up an Excel spreadsheet that automatically refreshes every week. When you open each report after the weekly refresh, the reports are ready for delivery.

Set up a web query

In Search Ads 360, create a report and generate a web query URL.
Copy the web query URL.
In Excel, enter the web query URL, update settings, and format columns.

Note: The users can generate a URL for both Statistics table reports and Report Editor reports.

Create a report and generate a web query URL

Statistics table reports

Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
Navigate to a reporting table.
For example, from the page menu on the left, click Campaigns.
Make sure the table contains the date range, columns, filters, etc., that you want in your report.
Above the reporting table, click Download and click Web Query from the dropdown.
In the "Download" window, select the options that you want and name the report.
Click Download.
Search Ads 360 creates a report and generates a URL for the report.

Report Editor reports

Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
Click Reports from the main toolbar and select “Reports” from the dropdown.
Click the plus icon Custom and select “Table”.
Create a custom report or edit from a predefined report.
After the reporting table is ready, you can apply a preferred date range from the date range picker above the reporting table.
Click Save.
At the top of the Reports Editor, a notification will appear to let you know the report has been saved. Click Copy URL to copy the URL for your web query.

You can check the saved report in the “Report Editor.”

Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
Click Insights & reports from the left page menu and select “Report editor”.
The “Report builder” page shows the saved reports.

Note: If you’re unable to download web queries with Internet Explorer, try the following:

Enable Internet Explorer mode on Edge.
In Edge, sign in to your Google Account.
In Edge, sign in to your new Search Ads 360 and obtain the web query URLs.
Run the web query in Excel.

If you’re still experiencing difficulties, contact support.

Copy a web query URL

Web query URLs are available on the Reporting page along with all of your saved reports.

Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
In the upper right corner of Search Ads 360, click the reports icon , and then click Reports.
The reports with web queries will have a "Copy URL" link.
Optional. To see only the reports that have web queries, click Add filter, click Format, select the Web Query checkbox, and click Apply.
Find the report that you want and click Copy URL.

Enter the web query URL in Excel

After you create the report and web query URL in Search Ads 360, you can connect to the web query in Excel, format your columns as needed, and choose how you want to keep the data up to date.

You can use Search Ads 360 web queries in Microsoft Office Excel 2010 for Windows (up to one million rows).

In Excel, click the Data menu and select From Web.
The New Web Query pop-up appears.

Special instructions for Microsoft Office 365

If you use Microsoft Office 365, select From Web (legacy) instead of "From Web".
Special instructions for Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
1. In Excel, right click the ribbon and go to Customize Ribbon.
2. In the left hand menu choose All Tabs.
3. Click on Data > Get external data and drag the menu group into menu in the ribbon.
  This adds a new Get Data menu that opens a browser window.
4. Click the new menu item to open the browser window.
In the Address field, paste the web query URL from Search Ads 360 and click Go.
The first time you enter a web query URL, you may get a Security Alert notice that You are about to view pages over a secure connection.
Select the check box and click OK.
If prompted, sign in to Search Ads 360.
Select the table. Click the yellow arrow icon in the upper left corner of the code box.
Click Import.
The first time you enter a web query URL, you may get a Microsoft Office Excel notice that The specified source does not refer to a schema.
Select the check box and click OK.
In the Import Data pop-up, for Where do you want to put the data?, select Existing worksheet and click OK.
The Search Ads 360 data appears in the worksheet.
Use the data any way you want in Excel: create pivot tables, generate reports, etc.
Keep the data up to date:
- Cell: Select a cell and click the refresh button in the toolbar.
- Report: Click the Data menu and select Connections. Select the connection and click the Refresh button, or click Properties and choose from the automatic refresh options.

If you refresh an existing web query in Excel and authorization fails, an error message will appear. You'll need to go back to the Excel web query configuration settings and sign back in to Search Ads 360.

Web query troubleshooting

Suggestion	Description
Refresh Excel	Try refreshing Excel on a regular basis (select Data > Refresh > Refresh All) or set up a recurring refresh (select Data > Properties > Refresh control).
Make sure it’s a web-based query	Change the end of the URL from =webquery to =webqueryphtml. Then retry the query.
Reduce the scope	Narrow the report's time range or reduce the scope by filtering the report in Search Ads 360. Then generate a new web query.
Make sure Excel supports the number of rows	When you use Excel 2010 or later to connect to a web query, the report can have a maximum of one million rows. See which version of Excel you're using. If your version of Excel does not support the number of rows returned by a web query, do one of the following: Try narrowing the report's time range or reducing the scope or filtering the report in Search Ads 360. Then generate a new web query. For example, if the web query currently reports on all keywords in a campaign, try this: Navigate to an ad group in the campaign. Click the Search Keywords tab. Generate a new web query. In Excel, replace the web query URL with the one you just generated. Ask your tech team for a newer version of Excel.
Make sure you have the latest version of Internet Explorer	Web queries require you to install the latest version of Internet Explorer on your computer. Excel uses Internet Explorer as a connection to run web queries, so any problems with Internet Explorer may affect your ability to run a web query.
Update your Internet Explorer security settings	If you can't use Google sign-in for web queries in Office365, try updating your Internet Explorer security settings and signing in again.
Clear the cache	If you're able to view the advertiser in Search Ads 360 but you still can't get web queries to work, try clearing the cache and cookies from Internet Explorer. Excel uses Internet Explorer to connect to run web queries, so any problems with Internet Explorer may affect your ability to run a web query. Keep in mind that clearing the Internet Explorer cache and cookies erases any settings for websites that you've entered from Internet Explorer.
Sign in from a mini-browser	In Excel, select Data > From web to open the mini-browser. If you use Microsoft Office 365, select From Web (legacy) instead of "From Web". Enter the web query URL in the mini browser and click Go. Try signing in to Search Ads 360. If you're successful, you'll see the results of the web query.

Report issues

If you need to contact support and report issues with web queries, make sure to include the following information in your request:

Operating system (e.g., Windows 10)
Excel version
If applicable, the web query URL for the web query you're having problems with.

This will make it easier for support to try to reproduce and confirm issues that you may have.

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