Create Interactive Metabase Dashboards that Work with Google Campaign Manager Data

Metabase is an open source data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, users can easily create visualizations and dashboards linked to live Google Campaign Manager data. This article describes how to connect to Google Campaign Manager and build a simple visualization using Google Campaign Manager data.

CData Connect provides a pure cloud-to-cloud interface for Google Campaign Manager, allowing you to easily integrate with live Google Campaign Manager data in Metabase — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Metabase and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Google Campaign Manager, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Google Campaign Manager data.

Configure Google Campaign Manager Connectivity for Metabase

Connectivity to Google Campaign Manager from Metabase is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Google Campaign Manager data from Metabase, we start by creating and configuring a Google Campaign Manager connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Google Campaign Manager" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Google Campaign Manager.

   Google Campaign Manager uses the OAuth authentication standard. The data provider facilitates OAuth in various ways as described below. The following OAuth flow requires the authenticating user to interact with DoubleClick Campaign Manager, using the browser. You can also use a service account to authenticate.

   For authentication guides, see the Getting Started section of the data provider help documentation.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Google Campaign Manager Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Google Campaign Manager data from Metabase.

Connect to CData Connect from Metabase

After creating the virtual database, navigate to your Metabase instance. Use the SQL Server interface to connect to Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the administration screen (Settings -> Admin) and click "Add Database" from the "Databases" tab
2. Configure the connection to Connect Cloud and click "Save"
   • Database type: Select "SQL Server"
   • Name: Name the connection (e.g. "Google Campaign Manager (Connect Cloud)")
   • Host: tds.cdata.com
   • Port: 14333
   • Database name: The name of the connection you just created (e.g. GoogleCM1)
   • Username: A Connect Cloud username (e.g. user@mydomain.com)
   • Password: The PAT for the above Connect Cloud user
   • Click to Use a secure connection (SSL)

Execute Google Campaign Manager Data with Metabase

Once you configure the connection to Connect Cloud, you can query Google Campaign Manager and build visualizations.

1. Use the "Write SQL" tool to retrieve the Google Campaign Manager data
2. Write a SQL query based on the Google Campaign Manager connection in CData Connect Cloud, e.g.
   
   

   SELECT Clicks, Device FROM CampaignPerformance

3. Navigate to the "Visualization" screen, choose a visualization, and configure the visualization

More Information & Free Trial

At this point, you have built a simple visualization from Google Campaign Manager data in Metabase. You can continue to work with live Google Campaign Manager data in Metabase just like you would any SQL Server database. For more information on creating a live connection to Google Campaign Manager (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Google Campaign Manager data in Metabase today.