Bid By Weather

Bidding icon

Demand for certain products and services varies greatly depending on the weather. For example, users are much more likely to search for information on amusement parks on a hot, sunny day than if it's cold and raining. An amusement park company might want to increase their bids when the weather is nice, but doing so every day would require a lot of manual work. With Google Ads scripts, however, it's possible to programmatically fetch weather information and adjust bids in a matter of minutes.

This script uses Google Spreadsheets to store the list of campaigns and their associated locations. A call to the OpenWeatherMap API is made for each location and weather conditions are calculated using some basic rules. If a rule evaluates to true, then a corresponding location bid multiplier is applied to the location targeting for the campaign.

How it works

The script works by reading data off a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet consists of three individual sheets:

1. Campaign data

A set of rules determines the bid modifiers to be applied to campaigns when a weather condition is met. Here are the required columns:

  • Campaign Name: The name of the campaign to be modified.
  • Weather Location: The location for which weather conditions are to be checked.
  • Weather Condition: The weather condition for which this rule are to be applied.
  • Bid Modifier: The location bid modifier to be applied if the weather condition is met.
  • Apply Modifier To: Whether the bid modifier is to be applied only to campaign geo targets that match the Weather Location or to all campaign geo targets.
  • Enabled: Specify Yes to enable a rule and No to disable it.

Example

The following example has three campaigns.

Spreadsheet screenshot, sheet one

Test Campaign 1 illustrates a typical usage scenario. The campaign is targeting Boston, MA and has two rules:

  1. Apply a bid modifier of 1.3 if the weather in Boston, MA is Sunny.
  2. Apply a bid modifier of 0.8 if the weather in Boston, MA is Rainy.

Test Campaign 2 has the same bidding rules as Test Campaign 1, but targets Connecticut.

Test Campaign 3 also uses the same bidding rules but targets Florida. Since the weather rules for Florida are mapped to the entire state, which is not a location that the campaign explicitly targets, the 'Apply Modifier To' is set to All Geo Targets so that the cities that the campaign targets are affected.

2. Weather data

This sheet defines the weather conditions used in the Campaign data sheet. The following columns are required:

  • Condition Name: The weather condition name (for example, Sunny).
  • Temperature: The temperature in Fahrenheit.
  • Precipitation: The rain, in millimeters, during the last 3 hours.
  • Wind: The wind speed, in miles per hour.

Spreadsheet screenshot, sheet two

The sheet shown above defines two weather conditions:

  1. Sunny: Temperature is between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, precipitation below 1 mm of rain in the last three hours, and wind speed less than 5 mph.
  2. Rainy: Precipitation is above 0 mm of rain in the last three hours and wind speed less than 10 mph.

Weather conditions

When defining weather conditions, specify values as follows:

  • below x: The specified value is below x (for example, below 10)
  • above x: The specified value is above x (for example, above 70)
  • x to y: The specified value is between x and y, inclusive (for example, 65 to 80)

If you leave a cell empty, then that parameter is not considered in the calculations. So in our example, since the Rainy weather condition has an empty temperature column, the temperature won't be considered when calculating this weather condition.

Weather conditions are AND-ed together when calculating the weather condition. For this example, the Sunny weather condition is evaluated as follows:

const isSunny = (temperature >= 65 && temperature <= 80) && (precipitation < 1) && (wind < 5);

3. Weather location data

This sheet defines the weather locations used in the Campaign data sheet, and consists of two columns:

  • Weather Location: This is a weather location name, as understood by the OpenWeatherMap API.
  • Geo Target Code: This is a geo target code, as understood by Google Ads.

The script lets you specify multiple geo target codes for a single weather location since weather locations are not always as granular as the targeting options available in Google Ads. Mapping a single weather location to multiple geo locations can be done by having multiple rows with the same weather location but different geo codes for each row.

Spreadsheet screenshot, sheet three

For this example, there are three weather locations defined:

  1. Boston, MA: Geo code 10108127
  2. Connecticut: Geo codes 1014778, 1014743, and 1014843, corresponding to three cities in Connecticut
  3. Florida: Geo code 21142

Proximity Targeting

Campaign rules using Matching Geo Targets can be applied to targeted locations, targeted proximities, or both by using the TARGETING flag.

Location targeting matches a geo code with a location ID.

Proximity targeting verifies that the specified latitude and longitude coordinates are within the proximity radius using the Haversine formula.

Script logic

The script starts by reading rules from all three sheets. It then attempts to execute each rule from the Campaign sheet in sequence.

For each executed rule, the script checks if the campaign targets the specified location. If it does, then the script retrieves the current bid modifier.

Next, the weather conditions for that location is retrieved by making a call to the OpenWeatherMap API. The weather condition rules are then evaluated to see if the weather condition for the location matches what is specified in the rule. If it does, and the new bid modifier is different from the current bid modifier, the script modifies the bid modifier for that location.

No changes are made if the weather condition doesn't match, if the bid modifier values are the same, or if the rule's Apply Modifier To is Matching Geo Targets but the campaign doesn't target the locations mapped to the rule.

Setup

  • Register for an API key at openweathermap.org.
  • Make a copy of the template spreadsheet and edit your campaign and weather rules.
  • Create a new script with the source code below.
  • Update the OPEN_WEATHER_MAP_API_KEY, SPREADSHEET_URL, and TARGETING variables in the script.
  • Schedule to run as required.

Source code

// Copyright 2015, Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

/**
 * @name Bid By Weather
 *
 * @overview The Bid By Weather script adjusts campaign bids by weather
 *     conditions of their associated locations. See
 *     https://developers.google.com/google-ads/scripts/docs/solutions/weather-based-campaign-management#bid-by-weather
 *     for more details.
 *
 * @author Google Ads Scripts Team [adwords-scripts@googlegroups.com]
 *
 * @version 2.0
 *
 * @changelog
 * - version 2.0
 *   - Updated to use new Google Ads Scripts features.
 * - version 1.2.2
 *   - Add support for video and shopping campaigns.
 * - version 1.2.1
 *   - Added validation for external spreadsheet setup.
 * - version 1.2
 *   - Added proximity based targeting.  Targeting flag allows location
 *     targeting, proximity targeting or both.
 * - version 1.1
 *   - Added flag allowing bid adjustments on all locations targeted by
 *     a campaign rather than only those that match the campaign rule
 * - version 1.0
 *   - Released initial version.
 */

// Register for an API key at http://openweathermap.org/appid
// and enter the key below.
const OPEN_WEATHER_MAP_API_KEY = 'INSERT_OPEN_WEATHER_MAP_API_KEY_HERE';

// Create a copy of https://goo.gl/A59Uuc and enter the URL below.
const SPREADSHEET_URL = 'INSERT_SPREADSHEET_URL_HERE';

// A cache to store the weather for locations already lookedup earlier.
const WEATHER_LOOKUP_CACHE = {};

// Flag to pick which kind of targeting "LOCATION", "PROXIMITY", or "ALL".
const TARGETING = 'ALL';

/**
 * According to the list of campaigns and their associated locations, the script
 * makes a call to the OpenWeatherMap API for each location.
 * Based on the weather conditions, the bids are adjusted.
 */
function main() {
  validateApiKey();
  // Load data from spreadsheet.
  const spreadsheet = validateAndGetSpreadsheet(SPREADSHEET_URL);
  const campaignRuleData = getSheetData(spreadsheet, 1);
  const weatherConditionData = getSheetData(spreadsheet, 2);
  const geoMappingData = getSheetData(spreadsheet, 3);

  // Convert the data into dictionaries for convenient usage.
  const campaignMapping = buildCampaignRulesMapping(campaignRuleData);
  const weatherConditionMapping =
      buildWeatherConditionMapping(weatherConditionData);
  const locationMapping = buildLocationMapping(geoMappingData);

  // Apply the rules.
  for (const campaignName in campaignMapping) {
    applyRulesForCampaign(campaignName, campaignMapping[campaignName],
        locationMapping, weatherConditionMapping);
  }
}

/**
 * Retrieves the data for a worksheet.
 *
 * @param {Object} spreadsheet The spreadsheet.
 * @param {number} sheetIndex The sheet index.
 * @return {Array} The data as a two dimensional array.
 */
function getSheetData(spreadsheet, sheetIndex) {
  const sheet = spreadsheet.getSheets()[sheetIndex];
  const range =
      sheet.getRange(2, 1, sheet.getLastRow() - 1, sheet.getLastColumn());
  return range.getValues();
}

/**
 * Builds a mapping between the list of campaigns and the rules
 * being applied to them.
 *
 * @param {Array} campaignRulesData The campaign rules data, from the
 *     spreadsheet.
 * @return {!Object.<string, Array.<Object>> } A map, with key as campaign name,
 *     and value as an array of rules that apply to this campaign.
 */
function buildCampaignRulesMapping(campaignRulesData) {
  const campaignMapping = {};
  for (const rules of campaignRulesData) {
    // Skip rule if not enabled.

    if (rules[5].toLowerCase() == 'yes') {
      const campaignName = rules[0];
      const campaignRules = campaignMapping[campaignName] || [];
      campaignRules.push({
          'name': campaignName,

          // location for which this rule applies.
          'location': rules[1],

          // the weather condition (e.g. Sunny).
          'condition': rules[2],

          // bid modifier to be applied.
          'bidModifier': rules[3],

          // whether bid adjustments should by applied only to geo codes
          // matching the location of the rule or to all geo codes that
          // the campaign targets.
          'targetedOnly': rules[4].toLowerCase() ==
                          'matching geo targets'
      });
      campaignMapping[campaignName] = campaignRules;
    }
  }
  Logger.log('Campaign Mapping: %s', campaignMapping);
  return campaignMapping;
}

/**
 * Builds a mapping between a weather condition name (e.g. Sunny) and the rules
 * that correspond to that weather condition.
 *
 * @param {Array} weatherConditionData The weather condition data from the
 *      spreadsheet.
 * @return {!Object.<string, Array.<Object>>} A map, with key as a weather
 *     condition name, and value as the set of rules corresponding to that
 *     weather condition.
 */
function buildWeatherConditionMapping(weatherConditionData) {
  const weatherConditionMapping = {};
  for (const weatherCondition of weatherConditionData) {
    const weatherConditionName = weatherCondition[0];
    weatherConditionMapping[weatherConditionName] = {
      // Condition name (e.g. Sunny)
      'condition': weatherConditionName,

      // Temperature (e.g. 50 to 70)
      'temperature': weatherCondition[1],

      // Precipitation (e.g. below 70)
      'precipitation': weatherCondition[2],

      // Wind speed (e.g. above 5)
      'wind': weatherCondition[3]
    };
  }
  Logger.log('Weather condition mapping: %s', weatherConditionMapping);
  return weatherConditionMapping;
}

/**
 * Builds a mapping between a location name (as understood by OpenWeatherMap
 * API) and a list of geo codes as identified by Google Ads scripts.
 *
 * @param {Array} geoTargetData The geo target data from the spreadsheet.
 * @return {!Object.<string, Array.<Object>>} A map, with key as a locaton name,
 *     and value as an array of geo codes that correspond to that location
 *     name.
 */
function buildLocationMapping(geoTargetData) {
  const locationMapping = {};
  for (const geoTarget of geoTargetData) {
    const locationName = geoTarget[0];
    const locationDetails = locationMapping[locationName] || {
      'geoCodes': []      // List of geo codes understood by Google Ads scripts.
    };
    locationDetails.geoCodes.push(geoTarget[1]);
    locationMapping[locationName] = locationDetails;
  }
  Logger.log('Location Mapping: %s', locationMapping);
  return locationMapping;
}

/**
 * Applies rules to a campaign.
 *
 * @param {string} campaignName The name of the campaign.
 * @param {Object} campaignRules The details of the campaign. See
 *     buildCampaignMapping for details.
 * @param {Object} locationMapping Mapping between a location name (as
 *     understood by OpenWeatherMap API) and a list of geo codes as
 *     identified by Google Ads scripts. See buildLocationMapping for details.
 * @param {Object} weatherConditionMapping Mapping between a weather condition
 *     name (e.g. Sunny) and the rules that correspond to that weather
 *     condition. See buildWeatherConditionMapping for details.
 */
function applyRulesForCampaign(campaignName, campaignRules, locationMapping,
                               weatherConditionMapping) {
  for (const rules of campaignRules) {
    let bidModifier = 1;
    const campaignRule = rules;

    // Get the weather for the required location.
    const locationDetails = locationMapping[campaignRule.location];
    const weather = getWeather(campaignRule.location);
    Logger.log('Weather for %s: %s', locationDetails, weather);

    // Get the weather rules to be checked.
    const weatherConditionName = campaignRule.condition;
    const weatherConditionRules = weatherConditionMapping[weatherConditionName];

    // Evaluate the weather rules.
    if (evaluateWeatherRules(weatherConditionRules, weather)) {
      Logger.log('Matching Rule found: Campaign Name = %s, location = %s, ' +
          'weatherName = %s,weatherRules = %s, noticed weather = %s.',
          campaignRule.name, campaignRule.location,
          weatherConditionName, weatherConditionRules, weather);
      bidModifier = campaignRule.bidModifier;

      if (TARGETING == 'LOCATION' || TARGETING == 'ALL') {
        // Get the geo codes that should have their bids adjusted.
        const geoCodes = campaignRule.targetedOnly ?
          locationDetails.geoCodes : null;
        adjustBids(campaignName, geoCodes, bidModifier);
      }

      if (TARGETING == 'PROXIMITY' || TARGETING == 'ALL') {
        const location = campaignRule.targetedOnly ? campaignRule.location : null;
        adjustProximityBids(campaignName, location, bidModifier);
      }
    }
  }
  return;
}

/**
 * Converts a temperature value from kelvin to fahrenheit.
 *
 * @param {number} kelvin The temperature in Kelvin scale.
 * @return {number} The temperature in Fahrenheit scale.
 */
function toFahrenheit(kelvin) {
  return (kelvin - 273.15) * 1.8 + 32;
}

/**
 * Evaluates the weather rules.
 *
 * @param {Object} weatherRules The weather rules to be evaluated.
 * @param {Object.<string, string>} weather The actual weather.
 * @return {boolean} True if the rule matches current weather conditions,
 *     False otherwise.
 */
function evaluateWeatherRules(weatherRules, weather) {
  // See https://openweathermap.org/weather-data
  // for values returned by OpenWeatherMap API.
  let precipitation = 0;
  if (weather.rain && weather.rain['3h']) {
    precipitation = weather.rain['3h'];
  }
  const temperature = toFahrenheit(weather.main.temp);
  const windspeed = weather.wind.speed;

  return evaluateMatchRules(weatherRules.temperature, temperature) &&
      evaluateMatchRules(weatherRules.precipitation, precipitation) &&
      evaluateMatchRules(weatherRules.wind, windspeed);
}

/**
 * Evaluates a condition for a value against a set of known evaluation rules.
 *
 * @param {string} condition The condition to be checked.
 * @param {Object} value The value to be checked.
 * @return {boolean} True if an evaluation rule matches, false otherwise.
 */
function evaluateMatchRules(condition, value) {
  // No condition to evaluate, rule passes.
  if (condition == '') {
    return true;
  }
  const rules = [matchesBelow, matchesAbove, matchesRange];

  for (const rule of rules) {
    if (rule(condition, value)) {
      return true;
    }
  }
  return false;
}

/**
 * Evaluates whether a value is below a threshold value.
 *
 * @param {string} condition The condition to be checked. (e.g. below 50).
 * @param {number} value The value to be checked.
 * @return {boolean} True if the value is less than what is specified in
 * condition, false otherwise.
 */
function matchesBelow(condition, value) {
  conditionParts = condition.split(' ');

  if (conditionParts.length != 2) {
    return false;
  }

  if (conditionParts[0] != 'below') {
    return false;
  }

  if (value < conditionParts[1]) {
    return true;
  }
  return false;
}

/**
 * Evaluates whether a value is above a threshold value.
 *
 * @param {string} condition The condition to be checked. (e.g. above 50).
 * @param {number} value The value to be checked.
 * @return {boolean} True if the value is greater than what is specified in
 *     condition, false otherwise.
 */
function matchesAbove(condition, value) {
  conditionParts = condition.split(' ');

  if (conditionParts.length != 2) {
    return false;
  }

  if (conditionParts[0] != 'above') {
    return false;
  }

  if (value > conditionParts[1]) {
    return true;
  }
  return false;
}

/**
 * Evaluates whether a value is within a range of values.
 *
 * @param {string} condition The condition to be checked (e.g. 5 to 18).
 * @param {number} value The value to be checked.
 * @return {boolean} True if the value is in the desired range, false otherwise.
 */
function matchesRange(condition, value) {
  conditionParts = condition.replace('w+', ' ').split(' ');

  if (conditionParts.length != 3) {
    return false;
  }

  if (conditionParts[1] != 'to') {
    return false;
  }

  if (conditionParts[0] <= value && value <= conditionParts[2]) {
    return true;
  }
  return false;
}

/**
 * Retrieves the weather for a given location, using the OpenWeatherMap API.
 *
 * @param {string} location The location to get the weather for.
 * @return {Object.<string, string>} The weather attributes and values, as
 *     defined in the API.
 */
function getWeather(location) {
  if (location in WEATHER_LOOKUP_CACHE) {
    Logger.log('Cache hit...');
    return WEATHER_LOOKUP_CACHE[location];
  }
  const url=`http://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?APPID=${OPEN_WEATHER_MAP_API_KEY}&q=${location}`;
  const response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url);
  if (response.getResponseCode() != 200) {
    throw Utilities.formatString(
        'Error returned by API: %s, Location searched: %s.',
        response.getContentText(), location);
  }
  const result = JSON.parse(response.getContentText());

  // OpenWeatherMap's way of returning errors.
  if (result.cod != 200) {
    throw Utilities.formatString(
        'Error returned by API: %s,  Location searched: %s.',
        response.getContentText(), location);
  }
  WEATHER_LOOKUP_CACHE[location] = result;
  return result;
}

/**
 * Adjusts the bidModifier for a list of geo codes for a campaign.
 *
 * @param {string} campaignName The name of the campaign.
 * @param {Array} geoCodes The list of geo codes for which bids should be
 *     adjusted.  If null, all geo codes on the campaign are adjusted.
 * @param {number} bidModifier The bid modifier to use.
 */
function adjustBids(campaignName, geoCodes, bidModifier) {
  // Get the campaign.
  const campaign = getCampaign(campaignName);
  if (!campaign) return null;

  // Get the targeted locations.
  const locations = campaign.targeting().targetedLocations().get();
  for (const location of locations) {
    const currentBidModifier = location.getBidModifier().toFixed(2);

    // Apply the bid modifier only if the campaign has a custom targeting
    // for this geo location or if all locations are to be modified.
    if (!geoCodes || (geoCodes.indexOf(location.getId()) != -1 &&
      currentBidModifier != bidModifier)) {
        Logger.log('Setting bidModifier = %s for campaign name = %s, ' +
            'geoCode = %s. Old bid modifier is %s.', bidModifier,
            campaignName, location.getId(), currentBidModifier);
        location.setBidModifier(bidModifier);
    }
  }
}

/**
 * Adjusts the bidModifier for campaigns targeting by proximity location
 * for a given weather location.
 *
 * @param {string} campaignName The name of the campaign.
 * @param {string} weatherLocation The weather location for which bids should be
 *     adjusted.  If null, all proximity locations on the campaign are adjusted.
 * @param {number} bidModifier The bid modifier to use.
 */
function adjustProximityBids(campaignName, weatherLocation, bidModifier) {
  // Get the campaign.
  const campaign = getCampaign(campaignName);
  if(campaign === null) return;

  // Get the proximity locations.
  const proximities = campaign.targeting().targetedProximities().get();
  for (const proximity of proximities) {
    const currentBidModifier = proximity.getBidModifier().toFixed(2);

    // Apply the bid modifier only if the campaign has a custom targeting
    // for this geo location or if all locations are to be modified.
    if (!weatherLocation ||
        (weatherNearProximity(proximity, weatherLocation) &&
           currentBidModifier != bidModifier)) {
        Logger.log('Setting bidModifier = %s for campaign name = %s, with ' +
            'weatherLocation = %s in proximity area. Old bid modifier is %s.',
            bidModifier, campaignName, weatherLocation, currentBidModifier);
        proximity.setBidModifier(bidModifier);
    }
  }
}

/**
 * Checks if weather location is within the radius of the proximity location.
 *
 * @param {Object} proximity The targeted proximity of campaign.
 * @param {string} weatherLocation Name of weather location to check within
 * radius.
 * @return {boolean} Returns true if weather location is within radius.
 */
function weatherNearProximity(proximity, weatherLocation) {
  // See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haversine_formula for details on how
  // to compute spherical distance.
  const earthRadiusInMiles = 3960.0;
  const degreesToRadians = Math.PI / 180.0;
  const radiansToDegrees = 180.0 / Math.PI;
  const kmToMiles = 0.621371;

  const radiusInMiles = proximity.getRadiusUnits() == 'MILES' ?
    proximity.getRadius() : proximity.getRadius() * kmToMiles;

  // Compute the change in latitude degrees for the radius.
  const deltaLat = (radiusInMiles / earthRadiusInMiles) * radiansToDegrees;
  // Find the radius of a circle around the earth at given latitude.
  const r = earthRadiusInMiles * Math.cos(proximity.getLatitude() *
      degreesToRadians);
  // Compute the change in longitude degrees for the radius.
  const deltaLon = (radiusInMiles / r) * radiansToDegrees;

  // Retrieve weather location for lat/lon coordinates.
  const weather = getWeather(weatherLocation);
  // Check if weather condition is within the proximity boundaries.
  return (weather.coord.lat >= proximity.getLatitude() - deltaLat &&
          weather.coord.lat <= proximity.getLatitude() + deltaLat &&
          weather.coord.lon >= proximity.getLongitude() - deltaLon &&
          weather.coord.lon <= proximity.getLongitude() + deltaLon);
}

/**
 * Finds a campaign by name, whether it is a regular, video, or shopping
 * campaign, by trying all in sequence until it finds one.
 *
 * @param {string} campaignName The campaign name to find.
 * @return {Object} The campaign found, or null if none was found.
 */
function getCampaign(campaignName) {
  const selectors = [AdsApp.campaigns(), AdsApp.videoCampaigns(),
      AdsApp.shoppingCampaigns()];
  for (const selector of selectors) {
    const campaignIter = selector.
        withCondition(`CampaignName = "${campaignName}"`).
        get();
    if (campaignIter.hasNext()) {
      return campaignIter.next();
    }
  }
  return null;
}

/**
 * DO NOT EDIT ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE.
 * Please modify your spreadsheet URL and API key at the top of the file only.
 */

/**
 * Validates the provided spreadsheet URL to make sure that it's set up
 * properly. Throws a descriptive error message if validation fails.
 *
 * @param {string} spreadsheeturl The URL of the spreadsheet to open.
 * @return {Spreadsheet} The spreadsheet object itself, fetched from the URL.
 * @throws {Error} If the spreadsheet URL hasn't been set
 */
function validateAndGetSpreadsheet(spreadsheeturl) {
  if (spreadsheeturl == 'INSERT_SPREADSHEET_URL_HERE') {
    throw new Error('Please specify a valid Spreadsheet URL. You can find' +
        ' a link to a template in the associated guide for this script.');
  }
  const spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(spreadsheeturl);
  return spreadsheet;
}

/**
 * Validates the provided API key to make sure that it's not the default. Throws
 * a descriptive error message if validation fails.
 *
 * @throws {Error} If the configured API key hasn't been set.
 */
function validateApiKey() {
  if (OPEN_WEATHER_MAP_API_KEY == 'INSERT_OPEN_WEATHER_MAP_API_KEY_HERE') {
    throw new Error('Please specify a valid API key for OpenWeatherMap. You ' +
        'can acquire one here: http://openweathermap.org/appid');
  }
}