How to link Google Analytics 4 to Google Ads, and the access each side needs

In Google Analytics 4, open Admin, then under Product links click Google Ads links, click Link, choose the Google Ads accounts and submit. The person who does it needs the Editor role or above on the property and administrative access to the Google Ads account. If nobody has both, an Analytics editor can send a request instead, and Google notifies the admins of that Google Ads account.

This step comes right after access: the agency has been added to Analytics and linked to Google Ads, and now the two products need to talk to each other. The page covers both sides, the agency and the client.

The access you need on each side

Google's linking article asks for one Google Account with:

• In Google Analytics: the Administrator or Editor role on the property you link.
• In Google Ads: administrative access. In Google's access table, only Admin can link an account to Google Analytics or add and remove product links; Standard is not enough.

Linking is done by one person, so both have to be true for the same sign-in. In an agency set-up, that is where it can stall:

• The client has both. The client's own admin links it with the steps below.
• The agency has Editor in Analytics and a manager link in Google Ads. The agency person can choose Send request in the linking steps, enter the client's Google Ads customer ID, and Google notifies the admins of the client's Google Ads account. Google's access table adds that if the agency's manager account has ownership of the client's account, the manager account's admins can also edit product links in it.
• The agency was invited to Google Ads as an Admin user. The agency person can link it directly, if they also have Editor on the property.

To give the agency the Analytics side first, see how to give an agency access to GA4. For the Google Ads side, see how to give an agency access to Google Ads.

Link from Google Analytics

Google's steps:

1. In Admin, under Product links, click Google Ads links.
2. Click Link.
3. Click Choose Google Ads accounts and select the accounts to link. This is for accounts where you have the Admin role; Google says that if one is missing, you may not have the required permissions.
4. For an account where you don't have the Admin role, go to the row "Request access to other Google Ads accounts", click Send request, enter the Google Ads account IDs and click Confirm. Google notifies that account's admins.
5. Click Confirm, then Next.
6. Enable Personalized Advertising is on by default.
7. Expand Enable Auto-Tagging to turn auto-tagging on, or leave your settings as they are.
8. Click Next, review the settings and click Submit.

One effect to tell the client about: when ads personalization is on, Google marks some events as key events in the property, such as add_to_cart, begin_checkout, view_item and session_start.

Link from Google Ads instead

The same link can be made from the Google Ads side. Google's product linking article:

1. In Google Ads, click the Tools icon, then Data manager.
2. Click + Connect Product.
3. Under "Data source", click Google Analytics (GA4) & Firebase.
4. Under "Link Setup", select the Google Analytics property, then click Next. You see the properties where you have Edit access.
5. Turn on the toggles to import app and web metrics and Google Analytics audiences. Google recommends both.
6. Review and click Link.

Google says the import usually takes less than an hour, longer for larger accounts. The access rule is the same as from Analytics: administrative access in Google Ads and Edit on the property.

Through a manager account: think twice

Google lets you link a property to a Google Ads manager account too. A link to a manager account counts as one of the property's 400 links. For an agency, Google's own descriptions add three effects:

• Everyone under the manager gets the data. Google says that if you link to a manager account, any data you import from Analytics is available to all of its client accounts.
• New accounts join automatically. Google says a Google Ads account added to the manager account later is automatically linked with the same Analytics properties.
• Auto-tagging spreads. Turning on auto-tagging in a link to a manager account turns it on in every Google Ads account linked directly to it.

So for one client's property, link it to that client's own Google Ads account, not to the agency's top manager account. A client can see which manager accounts are linked to a property in Google Ads, in the "Accounts" column of the Data manager page for Google Analytics.

What the link shares

From Analytics to Google Ads:

• Google Ads conversions based on your Analytics key events, for reporting and bidding.
• Analytics audiences for remarketing. Google says this needs Google signals or user-provided data collection turned on in the property.
• App and web metrics in Google Ads reports, if you import them.

From Google Ads to Analytics: Google Ads campaign data in Analytics reports, within 48 hours.

Google says that to act on the data, someone has to sign in to Google Ads and create conversions from key events, or add audiences to a campaign.

The link also creates five "Google Ads linked users" in Analytics, one per Google Ads access level, with Google's recommended roles: Admin users get Editor, Standard users get Marketer, and Read only, Billing and Email only users get Viewer. An Analytics Administrator applies them under Admin > Product links > Google Ads links: open the link with the arrow at the end of its row, click See default roles under User access, then Apply. Google says these roles only work for Analytics features inside Google Ads, such as building audiences; they do not give access to the property.

Unlink later

Google says either a Google Ads Admin or an Analytics user with the Editor role can unlink.

• In Analytics: in Admin, under Product links, click Google Ads links, click the arrow at the end of the row and delete the link.
• In Google Ads: Tools > Data manager, find "Google Analytics (GA4) and Firebase" under "Connected products", click Manage & link, then Manage next to the property, and Unlink.

After unlinking, Google says Google Ads dimensions collected before stay in Analytics, new clicks from that account show as (not set), Analytics audiences stop collecting new users for it, and key events stop being imported. When a manager account unlinks, its client accounts keep the data already shared.

When you change agency, check this list too. If the property is linked to the previous agency's manager account and that agency should no longer get the data, delete the link. The guide to removing an old agency covers the rest.

Troubleshooting

The Google Ads account is not in the list

The list is for Google Ads accounts where you have the Admin role. Use Send request with the account's customer ID, or ask a Google Ads admin who also has Editor on the property to make the link.

You cannot find Google Ads links, or there is no Link button

Creating a link needs the Editor role or above on the property. A Viewer can still open Google Ads links to check whether a link exists.

The link exists, but no Google Ads data shows in Analytics

Google's troubleshooting article names four causes: the accounts are not linked, it has been less than 48 hours (check "Date linked" in the link's details), auto-tagging is off, or the click ID is lost in redirects on the website. The first two are access questions; the last two are for whoever runs the campaigns and the site.

You have reached the limit

A property can have up to 400 Google Ads links. Link a manager account instead of many single accounts only if every account under it should get the property's data.

Before you start, the access checklist lists what the agency needs from the client in both products, and finding GA4 IDs explains the IDs people ask for along the way.