Import Yahoo! Ads Data into Microsoft Power Query

The API Server, when paired with the ADO.NET Provider for Yahoo! Ads (or any of 200+ other ADO.NET Providers), enables you to use Web services to connect to and query Yahoo! Ads data. This article details how to import an OData feed of Yahoo! Ads data into Microsoft Power Query.

Set Up the API Server

Follow the steps below to begin producing secure Yahoo! Ads OData services:

Deploy

The API Server runs on your own server. On Windows, you can deploy using the stand-alone server or IIS. On a Java servlet container, drop in the API Server WAR file. See the help documentation for more information and how-tos.

The API Server is also easy to deploy on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2, and Heroku.

Connect to Yahoo! Ads

After you deploy the API Server and the ADO.NET Provider for Yahoo! Ads, provide authentication values and other connection properties needed to connect to Yahoo! Ads by clicking Settings -> Connections and adding a new connection in the API Server administration console.

Authenticating with Yahoo! Ads

Yahoo! Ads supports OAuth authentication. To authenticate with Yahoo! Ads, set the following connection properties:

• (Optional) Enter the Search Ads Account Id. If left blank, this defaults to the Authenticated user's primary account.
• (Optional) Enter the Display Ads Account Id. If left blank, this defaults to the Authenticated user's primary account.

Click Sign in to connect securely through OAuth. This action opens the Yahoo! Ads sign-in page in a new tab.

Log in to your Yahoo! Ads account and provide the requested permissions (if applicable).

You can then choose the Yahoo! Ads entities you want to allow the API Server access to by clicking Settings -> Resources.

Authorize API Server Users

After determining the OData services you want to produce, authorize users by clicking Settings -> Users. The API Server uses authtoken-based authentication and supports the major authentication schemes. Access can also be restricted based on IP address; by default, only connections to the local machine are allowed. You can authenticate as well as encrypt connections with SSL.

Connect to Yahoo! Ads Data from Power Query

Follow the steps below to import tables that can be refreshed on demand:

1. Configure the API Server to use a version of the OData protocol that is recognized by Power Query. In the API Server administration console, click Settings -> Server and change the value of the Default Version property to 3.0.

2. From the ribbon in Excel, click Power Query -> From Other Data Sources -> From OData Feed, and enter the OData URL:

   https://your-server:8032/api.rsc

3. In the next step of the wizard, define authentication credentials and set privacy levels. Select Basic authentication and enter the credentials for a user authorized to make requests. Specify the Username field and enter the user's authtoken in the Password field.

   To change the authentication scheme that Power Query will use, click Power Query -> Data Source Settings. Select the OData feed from the list and then click Edit Credential. Select the privacy level from the menu on the Data Source Settings page.

   

4. You can now access Yahoo! Ads data in Power Query. In the Navigator expand the node for the OData feed, right-click a table, and click Edit to open the Query Editor. This will display the table data.