To retrieve Google Ads API entities and reporting data, you can use one of these methods:
Here are the high-level distinctions for the two methods:
| GoogleAdsService.SearchStream | GoogleAdsService.Search | |
|---|---|---|
| Suitable for production code | Yes | Yes |
| Service | GoogleAdsService |
GoogleAdsService |
| Scenario | Fetching objects and reports | Fetching objects and reports |
| Response | Stream of GoogleAdsRow objects |
Pages of GoogleAdsRow objects |
| Response's fields | Only those specified in the query | Only those specified in the query |
| Daily limits | Daily limits based on access levels | Daily limits based on access levels |
SearchStream versus Search
While Search can send multiple
paginated requests to download the entire report, SearchStream sends a single request and
initiates a persistent connection with the Google Ads API regardless of report size.
For SearchStream, data packets start to download immediately with the entire
result cached in a data buffer. Your code can start reading the buffered data
without having to wait for the entire stream to finish.
By eliminating the round-trip network time required to request each individual
page of a Search response, depending on your app, SearchStream can offer
improved performance over paging, especially for bigger reports.
Example
Take a report that consists of 100,000 rows for example. The following
table breaks down the accounting differences between the two methods.
| SearchStream | Search | |
|---|---|---|
| Page size | Not Applicable | 10,000 rows per page |
| Number of API requests | 1 request | 10 requests |
| Number of API responses | 1 continuous stream | 10 responses |
Performance factors
For most use cases, we recommend SearchStream over Search for the following
reasons:
For single page reports (under 10,000 rows): No significant performance differences between the two methods.
For multiple page reports:
SearchStreamis typically faster since multiple roundtrips are avoided and reading or writing from disk cache is less of a factor.
Rate limits
Daily limits for both methods adhere to the standard limits and access levels of your developer token. A single query or report is counted as one operation regardless of the result being paged or streamed.