How to give an agency access to your Google Ads account

If your agency has a Google Ads manager account, accept its link request: in Google Ads, open Admin > Access and security > Managers and select Accept next to the request. If it has no manager account, invite the agency person by email under Admin > Access and security with the plus button, and choose the Standard access level. Both need you to be an admin on the account.

This page is for the business that owns the Google Ads account. If you are the agency, read how to link a client's account to your manager account.

Which of the two the agency asked for

There are two ways in, and the agency's message tells you which one it uses:

• A manager link. The agency asks for your customer ID, or you get an email from Google about a link request. The agency's manager account (also called MCC; see the glossary) is linked to your account. This is the usual route for agencies.
• An email invitation. The agency gives you an email address. You invite that person into your account with an access level.

Your customer ID is shown in the top right corner of your Google Ads account. Google advises sharing it only with people you trust, so send it to your agency and nobody else.

Before you start

• You must be an admin. Google's access levels article lists giving account access and accepting manager link requests as Admin rights. Standard and Read-only users cannot do either.
• For an invitation, the agency person needs a Google Account. Google says the person you invite must have one or create one.
• Know how many admins your account has. If it has more than three, a second admin will have to approve the change (see below).

Accept a manager link

Google's linking article gives these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Open the Admin menu and go to Access and security.
3. Select the Managers tab. Requests wait under Link request.
4. Check that the manager account name is your agency's. In the Actions column, select Accept, then follow the instructions on the page.

You can also select Accept request in Google's email.

A manager link leaves your account as it is. Google says the account keeps its history, its sign-in, its users and its payment methods, and the manager gets no ownership of your account unless you turn it on. You can remove the link at any time.

Invite a person by email

Google's access article gives these steps:

1. Open the Admin menu and go to Access and security.
2. Select the plus button.
3. Enter the agency person's email address and choose the access level.
4. Select Send invitation.

The person accepts from Google's email. When they do, you get a notification in your account. Until then, you can cancel the invitation with Revoke in the Actions column.

Which access level to give

Google has five access levels. In Google's words, from its access levels table:

• Email-only: receives notification emails and reports. Cannot see campaigns or billing.
• Billing: works with billing information and payments. Cannot see or edit campaigns.
• Read-only: can view campaigns, billing information and users, and run reports. Cannot edit campaigns.
• Standard: everything Read-only can do, plus editing campaigns and billing information. Cannot give account access, add or remove product links, or accept or unlink manager accounts.
• Admin: everything, including giving and changing access, accepting manager link requests, unlinking managers and adding forms of payment.

For an agency that runs your campaigns, Standard is the right level. It covers the campaign work and keeps the control of who has access with you. Give Admin only when the agency has to do something that needs it: Google names setting up monthly invoicing or applying for a credit line. Each extra Admin also counts toward the more-than-three threshold for multi-party approval.

When a second admin has to approve

Google's multi-party approval article says it applies only to accounts with more than three administrators. On those accounts, adding a user, removing a user, changing a role and linking a manager account all wait for a second admin.

The second admin approves under Admin > Access and security: under Pending invitations, select Review request, then Approve or Deny. They have 20 days. Google Ads support cannot approve it for you. Google says read-only roles are exempt. More in our multi-party approval guide.

Settings that can block an invitation

Three security features can stop an invitation before it reaches the agency:

• Allowed domains. If your account only allows certain email domains, you cannot invite an address outside them. An admin changes the list under Admin > Access and security > Security tab > Allowed domains.
• Confirm it's you. Google may ask you to confirm your identity when you invite a Standard or Admin user, with a prompt on your phone, a code or a security key. Google says it may ask once in 24 hours.
• Free email domains. Google is piloting a rule that blocks users on free email domains, such as gmail.com, from user access changes and account linking. Accounts in the pilot get an email from Google.

The free email rule and Google's passkey prompt for access changes each have a guide: using a work email for Google Ads and Analytics access and Google Ads passkeys and 2-Step Verification.

Troubleshooting

The agency never received the invitation

Open Admin > Access and security and check that the invitation is listed. If your account has more than three admins, it may be waiting for a second admin's approval. If the address was wrong, select Revoke and send a new invitation to the right one.

You cannot invite anyone or accept the link

Only Admin can give account access or accept a manager link request. Check your own level in the Access level column on Access and security, then ask an admin on the account to do it, or to raise your access level.

The address is not allowed

Your account uses Allowed domains. Add the agency's domain to the list, or ask the agency for an address on a domain you already allow.

The agency accepted with a different address

Google lets a person accept with an alternate email address on their Google Account. They then appear on Access and security under both their alternate and their primary address. This is expected.

The link request has gone

The agency withdrew it, it was declined, or it expired while waiting for a second admin. Ask the agency to send a new one.

Remove access later

To remove a person, open Admin > Access and security, find the user and select Remove access in the Actions column. To remove a manager link, open the Managers tab, select Remove access next to the manager and confirm with Unlink. To lower a level instead, hover over the user's access level and pick another. When you change agency, our guide on removing an old agency's access covers the order to do it in.

Doing it with an access link

If your agency sends you one of our access links, it asks for a manager link. You open the link, sign in with Google, pick your Google Ads account and confirm. The agency's manager account is then linked to your account, the same as when you accept on the Managers tab, and you can remove it there. Google may ask you for a passkey when you sign in for Google Ads.