If your are running Google Ads campaigns, you might be wondering how to get Google Ads data to Google Sheets on a regular basis to make your reporting faster and hassle-free. This article covers 3 options to solve this problem. The options are:

1. Manual exports from Google Ads – not necessarily hassle-free so I will not spend much time on this.
2. A native connector for Google Sheets from Google – free option but a bit cumbersome.
3. Supermetrics for Google Sheets – paid option but very smooth and flexible.

So let’s tackle to options one by one.

Manual Exports from Google Ads

Not entirely hassle-free solution so I will not spend much time on this since it’s a manual process. When you log into your Google Ads account, you can download the data via DOWNLOAD button. Before you press the button, you need to add all the needed columns into your report:

Then you are offered multiple options as destination for your data, one of them is Google Sheets:

When you select it, you are asked to which folder you want to dump the data:

Then you just click Download and in a few moments, a little bar will pop out at the bottom of the screen, click OPEN SHEET:

And you’ll see the result:

This method is okay for one time export BUT it will not allow you to refresh the data regularly on schedule. So let’s move at something more seamless.

Native Google Sheets Connector from Google

In 2020, Google released a free add-on for Google Sheets which allows you to export the Google Ads data to Google Sheets. It’s very similar to their older Google Analytics add-on for Google Sheets.

First of all, you need to install the add-on from here. Then launch the add-on and create new report:

Select from which account you want to pull the data (you cannot tell which is one is an MCC and which one is not):

Once you select an account, the whole file is tied to that account. You cannot pull data from multiple MCCs into one Google Sheet. This kind of sucks.

Then Report Configuration sheet will open along with a sidebar:

Let’s focus on the sidebar now – that’s where you configure your report. You need to define:

1. Account  – you can select multiple if your are pulling from an MCC
2. Date period – custom, today, yesterday, last 30 days… basically the defaults you know from Google Ads. You cannot do advanced stuff such as year to date or last X days though.
3. Report type – campaign vs ad groups vs keywords vs ad extensions etc…
4. Report name
5. Columns – both metrics (impressions, clicks, conversions…) and dimensions (time unit, campaign name, ad group name, keyword, various statuses and so on)
6. Filters
7. Then you can schedule your report (daily, weekly, first day of the month) – you cannot really choose when exactly to refresh the report. I assume it’s the same hour as when you press the CREATE REPORT button. Also, you cannot have the results sent via email as you can with Supermetrics (read further).

When you are done with your configuration, you can press CREATE REPORT button at the bottom of the sidebar and the data will get downloaded shortly. The output looks like this:

My output had over 100.000 rows and it was downloaded with no issues. The result sheet always has 12 leading rows at the top which can use issues when importing this to BigQuery or to Google Data studio.

Overall, this approach looks OK to me given it’s a free solution. 99% users will be just fine. However, more advanced users who require more advanced time filters, automatic emailing, accounts across different MCCs need to look at Supermetrics.

Supermetrics for Google Sheets

Supermetrics from Google Sheets add-on has been here for a while now. The product was launched long before Google made their own native add-on described in the previous section. There are a few advantages when using Supermetrics for Google Sheets to pull Google Ads data:

1. You can pull data from different MCCs into one Google Sheet file.
2. More options for time filtering
3. Scheduling is more flexible – you can choose when exactly to refresh the data
4. You can have the results emailed

The major disadvantage is the fact is it’s a paid product so you have to weight your pros and cons. Keep in mind that Supermetrics for Google Sheets lets you connect to and download data from all important marketing platforms so you if spread the cost per individual marketing platforms, it’s not that bad. 

Okay, so let’s look at the config process. First of all, you need to install the Supermetrics add-on. Get it here:

GO TO SUPERMETRICS

Then launch the add-on in your target Google Sheet:

In Data source, find Google Ads:

Log in to your Google Ads account if needed. After you are logged in, you can finally start configuring your report. You can define:

1. Accounts – as I said, you can select multiple accounts from multiple MCCs
2. Date period –  you can do advanced stuff such as last X days, last X weeks, last X month, last X years, year to date, this month to date, last month, or a custom date range. If all these options are still not enough for you, then I don’t know what you are looking for 🙂
3. Metrics – all metrics you see in the Google Ads interface
4. Dimensions – accounts, campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads… you name it.
5. Filters – optional
6. Options – extra goodies for advanced users.

My sample configuration looks like this:

When you are done configuring, press the big blue Get Data to Table button and your data will download in a few moments. These are the results for me:

GO TO SUPERMETRICS

The final step is to setup schedule. Click the Schedule button:

Add a trigger:

And setup the schedule:

You can define the time of the refresh, frequency, emails recipients, attachment format (CSV, PDF, HTML..). Then you just Save changes and you are all set.

Conclusion

Alright, so now you know your options. You obviously don’t want to go with the manual approach and you need to decide whether the native Google Ads connector is good enough for you or whether you should go for Supermetrics. Personally, I am using the paid Supermetrics because it gives me more flexibility (especially the ability to download multiple accounts from multiple MCCs into one file) and the emailing feature which is very important for me.

GO TO SUPERMETRICS

However, if you are short on budget, you can just go with the free native Google Ads connector and maintain multiple files if you need to pull data from multiple MCCs. You may also need to compile a Google Apps Script if you want to get daily emails with the performance data. I could help with the script.