New Advertising API – Everything you want to know
New sponsored products environment
Bol is switching to a new sponsored products environment. With this, we can respond faster to advertiser wishes and needs. Aka, innovate faster. Moreover, the interface is more user-friendly so campaigns can be managed and optimised more efficiently. With features such as simplified campaign set-up and detailed reporting, it is easier to optimise results and increase profitability.
With a new sponsored products environment comes a new API. Below are some key differences.
Key differences
General
| New Environment & API (V11) | Old Environment & API (V10 and earlier) |
| Simplified campaign set up; either a fully automatic- or manual campaigns | Complex campaign setup due to auto- or manual bidding in combination with auto- or manual keywords for placement targeting |
| Bulk support on several endpoints | No bulk support |
| Feature parity with bol advertising portal | Several features from portal not part of the API |
| Several synchronous endpoints where fast response times are required | All endpoints are asynchronous |
For more information, read the documentation about the new API v11.
Campaign creation
| New Environment & API (V11) | Old Environment & API (V10 and earlier) |
| Device targeting at campaign level (Mobile, Desktop, App) | No device targeting supported |
| Page type targeting at adgroup level | No page type targeting supported |
| Bidding at keyword, target category or product page level | Bidding at adgroup or target product level |
| Supports negative keyword and negative category targeting | No support for negative keyword or categories |
| Ads | Target Products |
| All characters are allowed | Special characters like ./ are not allowed |
For more information, read the documentation about Campaigns.
Reporting
| New Environment & API (V11) | Old Environment & API (V10 and earlier) |
| All reporting API’s available as either a REST endpoint or csv file based bulk call when historical data is required | File based report only available for campaign performance and Share of Voice |
| Performance reports accepts multiple entity ids across your account as parameter | Performance reports accepts only one parent id as parameter |
| Bulk reporting endpoints allows for much fewer calls to get large volumes of data aggregated by day in a csv file | Reporting endpoints require 1 call for every day of data you require |
| Performance report available on category level | No category level performance report |
| Impression share on category & search term level available | No impression share available |
| Performance reports for Product Detail Pages (PDP) available | No PDP performance reports available |
For more information, read the documentation about Reporting.
Budgets
| New Environment & API (V11) | Old Environment & API (V10 and earlier) |
| Separate endpoints where you can view and manage your account budgets | No account level budget support |
For more information, read the documentation about Account Budgets & Budget Settings.
Assortment
Get a list of products available for advertising will not be available at the time of launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why a new sponsored product-environment?
Because in our new environment, we can innovate faster, allowing us to better respond to your wishes and needs. This way we work towards a better sponsored products environment.
What is the plan for the transition to the new sponsored products environment?
- Early Adopter-phase - Preparation phase: April 2024
- Early Adopter-phase - Go-live phase: May 2024
- Transition batch 1 - Preparation phase: June 2024
- Transition batch 1 - Go-live phase: July 2024
- Transition batch 2 - Preparation phase: August 2024
- Transition batch 2 - Go-live phase: End of August 2024
How do I know when I will be switched over to the new environment?
You are able to call the Migration API for exact dates per advertiser.
What are the biggest changes of the new environment compared to the old environment?
Although the environment has changed, the concept of sponsored products remains the same. You can still easily draw attention to your products and increase your sales.
- We now use our own algorithm. This enables us to better match ads to the search behavior of our customers, making your offering even more relevant. This might affect your budget.
- Setting up campaigns in the new environment is simplified, as we now work with only two campaign types: automatic and manual campaigns.
- There is a new API connection with more possibilities and flexibility.
- Metrics such as conversion and ACoS have been improved, leading to different calculations for the results attributed to your campaign.
What will change during the transition for API-users specifically?
There will be a brand-new Advertising API (V11) that will work with the new sponsored products solution.
Will this transition affect my APIs?
Yes, this transition to a new environment also means that a new API link will be required. Please note that V9/10 of the API will be the last version integrated with the current advertising solution. As of V11, a new API will be used and updated going forward. Thus, no new Advertising endpoints will be present in V10 (except for the existing beta endpoints).
What are the key benefits of the new API?
In addition to all the benefits of the new sponsored products, we also have some key improvements to the API as well:
- Bulk Endpoints: The new API will allow for bulk calls (up to 100 per call) to allow faster and seamlessly integrates into your existing development stack, making it incredibly easy to incorporate advanced functionalities into your applications.
- Versatility at its Core: All the GET endpoints are replaced with PUT filter endpoints making a much more flexible to retrieve data and thus provides the flexibility and adaptability you need.
- Scalability Redefined: The new API will run fully on the cloud enabling us to scale much better than the current API.
- Rich Documentation: Comprehensive functional documentation, coupled with redoc (swagger docs), will help developers of all skill levels get up and running quickly.
Will all campaigns and data of previous campaigns in the current sponsored products account be automatically transferred to the new environment?
All campaigns are automatically transferred to the new environment, there is no manual work involved. However, during the “Preparation phase” you can review campaigns in the new environment and check whether everything is still set up properly according to the advertiser's wishes before they will start generating ads.
Will my current API authentication method continue to work?
Yes, authentication and authorization that you currently use to access the API will continue to work.
Should we continue to invest in the current solution?
We advise not to make any investments around the existing Advertising API, as it will be phased out with the V9 release.
Does this impact Retailer API endpoints?
No, this only affects Advertising API endpoints.
Is it possible to test the new API early?
If you are interested in early access, please let us know by emailing advertiserapi-beta@bol.com and we will contact you for opportunities to sign up for early access.
Until when can I use the current API?
Current API (V9/10) will be supported as per the Retailer API release schedule however, once you have switched over to the new Sponsored Products only the Reporting API’s will be of value.
Is there technical documentation available of the new API and how to migrate?
Yes, there are functional and technical documentation available.
Contact
Are you excited about these new features? Any questions?
Get in touch -> advertiserapi-beta@bol.com