Use the CData ODBC Driver for Google Campaign Manager in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Google Campaign Manager, you gain database-like access to live Google Campaign Manager data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding Google Campaign Manager as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of Google Campaign Manager data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Google Campaign Manager data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to Google Campaign Manager, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Google Campaign Manager and utilizes the embedded SQL Engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze Google Campaign Manager data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Connect to Google Campaign Manager as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Google Campaign Manager follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

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.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Google Campaign Manager in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize Google Campaign Manager Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting Google Campaign Manager in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to Google Campaign Manager in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add Google Campaign Manager data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of Google Campaign Manager data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData GoogleCM Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the Google Campaign Manager data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query. SELECT * FROM CampaignPerformance NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of Google Campaign Manager data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to Google Campaign Manager, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver.
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for Google Campaign Manager in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Google Campaign Manager data. Read our other articles on connecting to Google Campaign Manager in MicroStrategy and connecting to Google Campaign Manager in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.