Analyze Yahoo! Ads Data in SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based business intelligence platform. CData Connect Cloud creates a pure, cloud-to-cloud connection to Yahoo! Ads and can be used to generate an OData API (natively supported in Analytics Cloud) for Yahoo! Ads. By pairing SAP Analytics Cloud with CData Connect Cloud, you get true cloud-to-cloud connectivity to all of your SaaS and cloud-based Big Data and NoSQL sources — no need to migrate your data or write your integrations. Simply connect to Connect Cloud as you would any other OData service and get instant, consolidated access to all of your data.

In this article, we walk through connecting to Yahoo! Ads from SAP Analytics Cloud (through CData Connect Cloud) to create a model and build a simple dashboard.

Connect to Yahoo! Ads from SAP Analytics Cloud

To work with live Yahoo! Ads data in SAP Analytics Cloud, we need to connect to Yahoo! Ads from Connect Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Yahoo! Ads data.

Connect to Yahoo! Ads from Connect Cloud

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Yahoo! Ads" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Yahoo! Ads.

   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).

   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Yahoo! Ads Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect Cloud through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect Cloud. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect Cloud app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Yahoo! Ads Endpoints for SAP Analytics Cloud

After connecting to Yahoo! Ads, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Yahoo! Ads connection (e.g. YahooAds1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Yahoo! Ads data from SAP Analytics Cloud.

Create a Model of Yahoo! Ads Data in SAP Analytics Cloud

With the connection to Yahoo! Ads configured and the OData endpoint(s) created, we can create a Model for Yahoo! Ads data in SAP Analytics Cloud.

1. Log into your Analytics Cloud instance and click Create -> Model from the menu.
2. Choose "Get data from a datasource" and select "OData Services"
3. Choose an existing connection to your Connect Cloud OData or Create a new one:
   • Set Connection Name
   • Set Data Service URL to the Base URL for your OData API: https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}
   • Set Authentication Type to Basic Authentication
   • Set User Name to the Connect Cloud user (e.g. [email protected])
   • Set Password to the PAT for the above user
   
4. Choose "Create a new query" and click Next
5. Name the Execute, select an OData endpoint (like CampaignPerformance) and click Next
6. Drag the columns you wish to work with into the Selected Data workspace and click Create
7. At this point, a Draft Data source is created; click the draft to finalize the model
8. Perform any transformations, including creating calculated dimensions, location dimensions, and combining data sources, then click Create Model
9. Name your model and click OK

Build a Dashboard in SAP Analytics Cloud

With the model created, you are ready to create a dashboard in SAP Analytics Cloud based on Yahoo! Ads data.

1. From the menu, click Create -> Story
2. Click on SAP Analytics Template (this article uses the "Dashboard" template)
3. Choose a layout and click Apply
4. From the More menu, select a visualization to insert (Chart)
5. Select a model to visualize
6. Select a structure and the required Measures and Dimensions
7. Save the store

More Information & Free Trial

Now, you have created a simple but powerful dashboard from live Yahoo! Ads data. For more information on creating OData feeds from Yahoo! Ads (and more than 100 other data sources), visit the Connect Cloud page. Sign up for a free trial and start working with live Yahoo! Ads data in SAP Analytics Cloud.