How to give an agency access to your YouTube channel

The channel owner, or a manager of the channel, signs in to YouTube Studio, clicks Settings > Permissions > Invite, enters the agency person's email address, picks a role under Access and clicks Done. The invitation expires after 30 days if it is not accepted. If the agency only runs YouTube ads for you, it may not need a channel role at all: a link between your channel and the Google Ads account it works in can be enough.

Does the agency need a role or a link?

There are two different kinds of access, and they do different things:

• A channel role lets a person work on the channel itself: upload and edit videos, manage the channel's details, reply to comments, see analytics. You give it in YouTube Studio.
• A link to a Google Ads account lets that Google Ads account use your channel for advertising. Google's linking article says the channel owner can make view counts and data segments (formerly remarketing lists) available to it. The link does not let the advertiser add, delete or change your videos.

An agency that makes and publishes videos needs a role. An agency that runs YouTube ads in your Google Ads account may need only the link. An agency that does both needs both.

Brand Account first

If your channel is on a Brand Account, YouTube asks you to switch to channel permissions before you add people. Only the primary owner of the Brand Account can do it. YouTube's migration article gives these steps:

1. Go to studio.youtube.com, signed in as the primary owner of the Brand Account.
2. Click Settings on the left.
3. Click Permissions, then Move Permissions.
4. Click Invite and fill in the Email and Access fields for each person.
5. Click Save. YouTube may ask you to verify your account.

The people who already had Brand Account access are copied over, but you still set each person's level and send their invitation. YouTube says to opt out of channel permissions again only if you need to complete a channel transfer; that is in how to transfer ownership of a YouTube channel.

Invite the agency

YouTube's channel permissions article gives these steps:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. Click Settings on the left.
3. Click Permissions, then Invite.
4. In the Email field, enter the agency person's email address.
5. In the Access drop-down, select the role.
6. Click Done.

The invitation expires after 30 days. Invited people manage the channel from their own Google Account, so nobody needs your password.

Which role to give

YouTube's roles, in plain words:

• Owner: can do everything, including deleting the channel and managing permissions. YouTube's table notes that the owner can't transfer ownership to other users.
• Manager: sees all channel data, manages permissions, edits channel details, uploads, publishes and deletes content, manages live streams and can link Google Ads accounts. A manager cannot delete the channel.
• Editor: sees all channel data, edits everything, uploads and publishes content and can link Google Ads accounts. An editor cannot delete the channel or published content, manage permissions or enter into contracts.
• Editor (Limited): the same as Editor, without access to revenue data.
• Subtitle Editor: adds, edits, publishes and deletes subtitles on eligible videos, and cannot edit anything else.
• Viewer: sees all channel details, including revenue data, but cannot edit anything.
• Viewer (Limited): the same as Viewer, without access to revenue data.

Our advice, based on that table:

• An agency that makes and publishes your videos: Editor (Limited), or Editor if it should see revenue.
• An agency that only reports: Viewer (Limited), or Viewer if revenue is part of the report.
• Manager: only if the agency must add and remove other people. A manager can also delete content.
• Owner: keep it in the business.

YouTube also says that people with channel permissions cannot use YouTube APIs, YouTube Music or the YouTube Kids app. If an agency's tool works through the YouTube API, a channel role does not give it that access.

Link the channel to Google Ads

For ads, link the channel to your own Google Ads account, the one the agency works in. See how to give an agency access to Google Ads and the manager account link. Google says that if your Google Ads account is overseen by a manager account, linking your channel can let that manager account see your channel's metrics.

Google calls linking from YouTube the recommended approach:

1. In YouTube Studio, go to Settings.
2. Select Channel, then the Advanced settings tab.
3. Select Link Account.
4. Enter a name for the link, the Google Ads customer ID, and the permissions you grant.
5. Select Done, then Save.

The channel is linked once the owner of the Google Ads account approves. In Google Ads, an admin approves under Tools > Data manager > YouTube > Manage and link: under "Received", View request, then Approve. Google says the Google Ads side needs administrative access to link. Owner, Manager and Editor on the channel can all link Google Ads accounts, according to YouTube's roles table.

The agency can also start from Google Ads, under Data manager > + Connect Product > YouTube. Then you approve the request from Google's email or from the notification in YouTube Studio.

One more setting matters for channels in the YouTube Partner Program. Under Settings > Channel > Advanced settings, you can allow only linked Google Ads accounts to use your videos as ads. Google warns that when this is on, ads from unlinked Google Ads accounts stop running.

Remove access later

To change or remove a role:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and click Settings.
2. Click Permissions.
3. Find the person, click the down arrow under "Role", and choose a new role or Remove access.

To remove a Google Ads link, go to Settings > Channel > Advanced settings, select Unlink next to the account, confirm with Unlink and select Save. Our guide to removing an old agency's access covers the agency's access to Google Ads and Meta.

Troubleshooting

The agency did not get in

Invitations expire after 30 days. Send a new one from Settings > Permissions > Invite, and check the email address.

You cannot invite anyone

Only the owner and managers can manage permissions. If your channel is on a Brand Account, the primary owner has to move it to channel permissions first.

The Google Ads link fails

Google's list of checks:

• The Google Ads side needs administrative access.
• A request sent from Google Ads waits until the channel owner accepts it.
• For "channel already linked" or "something went wrong", clear the browser's cache and cookies, try a private window or another browser.
• For "Remove existing video links or link requests for this YouTube channel, then try again", look for earlier video links on videos now set to Private. Make them Unlisted for a moment, remove the old link in Google Ads under Data manager, link the channel, then set the videos back to Private.

Doing it with an access link

Our access link covers the invitation on this page as a guided step. It shows the steps beside YouTube Studio's own screen, with the agency's Google account to copy. Nobody signs in through the link for this: you send the invitation and say when it is done, and the agency confirms once it has accepted. What an agency can ask for is on the YouTube integration page.