Getting Started Guide

Welcome to the Google™ AdSense™ for Audio API! This guide helps you complete the registration and setup tasks that are required before you start using the AdSense for Audio API.

Important: This API is not intended for radio stations that are interested in enrolling in the AdSense for Audio program. Radio stations that want to join the AdSense for Audio program can click here for more information.

Contents

1. Register as a Development Partner
2. Contact the API Development Team
3. Learn about Certification
4. Join the AdSense for Audio API Group
5. Learn about SOAP Toolkits

Register as a Development Partner

Before you can start using the AdSense for Audio API you must register your organization as an AdSense for Audio API development partner. To complete the registration process you must:

• Read and agree to the AdSense for Audio API Terms of Service.
• Fill out and submit the AdSense for Audio API registration form.

After you agree to the Terms of Service and submit the registration form, you will receive an email from a member of our Affiliate Operations team. The email will provide you with the security credentials, access token, and other information you will need to implement and test the AdSense for Audio API in a sandbox environment.

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Contact the API Development Team

In addition to registering as a development partner with the Affiliate Operations team, we strongly encourage you to communicate with the AdSense for Audio API development team throughout your development process. Our team has helped several companies integrate AdSense for Audio into broadcast systems, and we'd be happy to help make your integration as easy as possible. You can contact us by sending mail to afaapi-support@google.com or by submitting questions to the AdSense for Audio API group.

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Learn about Certification

AdSense for Audio certification is the formal process of testing and verifying your implementation of the AdSense for Audio API. After you complete the certification process, Google will endorse your broadcast system as being AdSense for Audio compatible. When your broadcast system is AdSense for Audio compatible your customers can participate in the AdSense for Audio program and they can use your broadcast system to acquire and broadcast Google audio ads. In addition, you can use the Google AdSense for Audio compatibility badge (see image on right) on all of your marketing literature, press releases, websites, and product packaging. Google will provide you with artwork for the badge, and instructions for submitting communication material for trademark review, when you pass the certification requirements.

To be AdSense for Audio compatible you must:

• Fully implement the AdSense for Audio API in your broadcast system. That is, you must implement the AdSense for Audio API according to the guidelines and practices that are provided in the Developer's Guide and the Reference Guide.
• Meet the implementation requirements that are outlined in the Developer's Guide.
• Provide online or print documentation, such as a User Guide or a Quick Start Guide, that describes the setup tasks and operating procedures that your customers must perform in order to use AdSense for Audio in your broadcast system.
• Implement and pass the AdSense for Audio test criteria. The AdSense for Audio API development team will help you implement the test criteria.
• Get final sign-off from the AdSense for Audio API development team.

Obtaining AdSense for Audio certification is not difficult and can be made much easier if you keep in close contact with our AdSense for Audio API development team during the planning and development phases of your project.

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Join the AdSense for Audio API Group

The AdSense for Audio API group is a useful resource for anyone who is implementing the AdSense for Audio API. Whether you browse past discussion threads or actively post new questions and comments, the discussion group can help you identify potential design issues and troubleshoot implementation problems. It's also a great resource for learning about best coding practices for the AdSense for Audio API.

Group discussions are moderated by the AdSense for Audio development team, which helps ensure that the information is accurate and useful. In addition, group membership is limited only to AdSense for Audio development partners who are actively implementing the AdSense for Audio API.

Membership is free, although you must have a Google account to join the group and post messages to the discussion board.

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Learn about SOAP Toolkits

The AdSense for Audio API provides functionality through a web service known as the BroadcasterService. To communicate with this web service, your broadcast system must use a standard XML messaging system known as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). SOAP is a widely-used, industry-standard system for encoding and exchanging XML messages between remote applications. Using SOAP, your broadcast system sends an XML request message to the BroadcasterService web service, and the BroadcasterService web service sends an XML response message back. The request and response messages must consist of:

• A body element, which contains the data that is being exchanged.
• An envelope element, which defines the SOAP version that is being used.
• A header element, which contains security parameters (in this case, an authorization token).

Each of these elements must adhere to the XML formatting rules and standards established for SOAP version 1.1.

Although you can add code to your broadcast system that creates and formats the SOAP request messages and interprets the SOAP response messages, it is more common to use a SOAP toolkit to do this. In general, SOAP toolkits make coding much easier by providing four essential functions:

• Establishing communication with the web service.
• Formatting and sending SOAP request messages to the web service.
• Interpreting and processing SOAP response messages from the web service.
• Determining what actions and data objects a web service supports.

SOAP toolkits do all of this by parsing and interpreting the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file that is associated with a web service. WSDL is an XML formatting schema that provides a standard method for defining the operations and data types that a web service exposes. A WSDL file is an XML text file that defines a web service's public interface. SOAP toolkits parse WSDL files and generate proxy classes that represent the web service's operations and data objects. By adding these proxy classes to your code, you can use your own preferred programming language to communicate with the BroadcasterService web service.

SOAP toolkits exist for a wide range of programming languages, such as C++, C#, Java, and Python. Examples of commonly used toolkits include:

• C#

  You can use Microsoft® Visual Studio® in conjunction with the Web Services Enhancements for Microsoft .NET™ to create proxy classes in C#. You can then communicate with the BroadcasterService web service through the methods and objects in the proxy classes without importing any other libraries.

• C++

  You can use the gSOAP web services development toolkit to create proxy classes in C++. You can then use the proxy classes in conjunction with the gSOAP libraries to communicate with the BroadcasterService web service through the methods and objects in the proxy classes. To learn how to do this, see the C++ Tutorial.

• Java

  You can use Apache Axis 2.0 to create proxy classes in Java. You can then use the proxy classes in conjunction with the Axis libraries to communicate with the BroadcasterService web service.

• Python

  There are several SOAP toolkits for the Python programming language. One of the easiest to use toolkits is SOAPpy, although it is unmaintained and unsupported. Another toolkit is the Zolera SOAP Infrastructure (ZSI).

Note: The AdSense for Audio API uses document/literal style SOAP messages, not rpc/encoded style SOAP messages. Be sure that the toolkit you use supports document/literal style SOAP messaging.

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