Google Ads, Analytics or Tag Manager invitation not working: causes and fixes

First find out which invitation it is: a Google Ads link request from an agency's manager account, or an invitation to one person's email address in Google Ads, Google Analytics or Tag Manager. Then check the blocks Google documents: the person accepting is not an admin, Google asks for a passkey that is not ready, the address is not a Google Account or not on an allowed domain, or the change waits for a second admin and expires if nobody approves it within 20 days. This page sorts the causes by product and links to the task guides for the steps.

Which invitation is it?

• A Google Ads manager link request. The agency sends it from its manager account to the client's customer ID. Google emails the people with admin access on the client's account, and the request waits under Admin > Access and security > Managers, in the "Link request" list.
• A Google Ads user invitation. A client admin invites one person by email under Admin > Access and security. The person accepts with the link in Google's email.
• A Google Analytics user. An Analytics admin adds the person's Google Account under Admin > Access Management. There is nothing to accept.
• A Tag Manager invitation. A Tag Manager admin adds the person. They get an email and an Invitations card on Tag Manager's Accounts screen, with Accept and Decline.

If you are not sure which one the agency sent, ask. The fixes are different.

Google Ads: the client cannot accept

Check these in order:

1. Is the person an admin? In Google's access table, only Admin can accept or reject manager link requests and give account access. Standard and Read only users cannot. The person checks their level in the "Access level" column on Access and security; an admin can accept instead, or raise their level.
2. Is Google asking for a passkey? Google Ads can require a passkey for account linking updates and user access changes, and a new passkey takes about 1-2 days to pair and may be subject to a 7-day security delay. See Google Ads passkeys and 2-Step Verification.
3. Is the address on a free email domain? Google is piloting a rule that blocks users on free domains, such as gmail.com, from sensitive actions, and names account linking updates and user access changes. Accounts in the pilot get an email from Google, and the user sees a prompt in Google Ads to switch to a company address.
4. Does it need a second admin? On accounts with more than three administrators, Google asks another administrator to approve sensitive changes, and names a manager linking an existing account as one of them. The request then waits under Pending invitations until another admin selects Review request and Approve. See our multi-party approval guide.

When the client sends an invitation instead, Google may also ask them to "Confirm it's you" when they invite a Standard or Admin user. Google says it may prompt once in 24 hours.

Google Ads: the invitation never arrived

For a link request:

• The agency checks Sub-account settings > Sent Link Requests in its manager account: is the request there, and is the customer ID right?
• Google's linking article says the emails go to people with administrative access on the client's account, and to people with access to a manager account that owns it. A client person without admin access may not get one, so ask an admin on the client's account to look under Managers.
• If the manager account already has 20 pending requests, it cannot send more. Google shows "You have reached the maximum number of pending invitations."

For a user invitation:

• Allowed domains. If the client's account allows only some email domains, an address outside them cannot be invited. Google's example: with example.com allowed, user@example.com can be invited, user@gmail.com cannot. An admin adds a domain under Admin > Access and security > Security tab > Allowed domains.
• A rule from a manager account. A manager account that owns the client's account can set allowed domains for every account it owns, and Google says an owned account can be stricter but never weaker. If the client cannot add the agency's domain, ask the owner manager's admin.
• A second admin. On accounts with more than three administrators, Google says the change takes effect only after another administrator approves it.
• The address. The person invited must have a Google Account or create one. Check the spelling on Access and security, and if it is wrong, select Revoke in the "Actions" column and invite the right address.

Google Ads: the access expired or disappeared

• A second admin did not act in time. Google gives administrators 20 days. After that the request expires and has to be started again. Google Ads support cannot approve it for you.
• The access had an end date. An admin can give access with an expiration date. It ends at 11:59 PM on that date, in the account's time zone, and Google emails the admins and the user 7 days and one day before. The user is then removed and has to be invited again as a new user.
• The request was withdrawn or declined. The agency can withdraw a link request under Sent Link Requests, and any admin on the client's account can decline it under Managers.

When it is gone, the quickest fix is a new request or invitation.

Google Analytics 4

Analytics works differently from Google Ads. Google's user steps have no acceptance step:

• Nothing to accept. The admin adds the person and picks a role. Google's steps send the person a message when Notify new users by email is selected, so "I never got the invite" can be normal when it was not. The person signs in to Analytics with the Google Account that was added and opens the property.
• The address must be a Google Account. Google says you can only add users whose email addresses are registered in Google accounts. A company address works once a Google Account has been created with it.
• The person adding must be an Administrator at the account or property level.
• Property or account level. A user added on one property sees only that property. A user added at the account level sees every property in the account.

The rest is in how to give an agency access to GA4, including the address that is not accepted.

Tag Manager

• Look for the card, not only the email. Google says the invited user is notified by email, and an Invitations card appears on Tag Manager's Accounts screen. Open the card, expand the invitation and select Accept.
• Google accounts only. Google says access can only go to Google accounts: Gmail accounts, Google Workspace accounts or other accounts created at accounts.google.com.
• The right admin. People are added under Admin > User Management, at account or container level, by a Tag Manager Administrator.

More in how to give an agency access to Tag Manager.

Error texts Google shows when linking

Google's linking errors article lists these texts for manager links, and notes that error messages may change. Four are covered with fixes in our manager link guide: "You need administrative access to perform this action.", "You have reached the maximum number of managers.", "Invitee is already managed by another manager in your hierarchy." and "You have reached the maximum number of pending invitations." The others:

"The client would be linked more than once in a hierarchy."

Two manager accounts that both manage the same client account are being linked to each other. Unlink one of them from the client account first.

"Linking invitee would exceed the maximum number of allowable sub-manager levels."

Manager structures can only be five levels deep. Link the new manager account higher up, or unlink a manager in the structure. Google notes there may be manager accounts above yours that you cannot see.

"You have the maximum number of accounts."

The agency's manager account has reached its account limit, which depends on its clients' spend over the last 12 months. Cancel or unlink accounts to get under it.

"Each account must have either a user with administrative access or a manager account with administrative ownership."

The change would leave the client account with nobody in charge. Add a user with administrative access on the account, or move ownership to another manager account, before trying again.

"You don't have permission to perform this action. Only Administrative owners or users who have administrative access to this account can do this change."

The agency tried an action in the client's account, such as accepting another manager's request or unlinking a manager, that needs ownership. Either an admin on the client's account does it, or the agency's manager account gets ownership first: from the client's account if no manager owns it, or by transfer from the manager account that owns it now.

Still stuck

Before contacting Google, collect the customer ID, the manager account's name, the exact message on the screen and who tried what. For a second-admin request, Google says support cannot approve it for you: ask the other admins on the account. The access checklist lists what else a new agency needs from the client, so the next invitation goes to the right person the first time.