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Wondering how to add a manager in Google Ads? Use these step-by-step instructions to share access with your team and partners.
Here, you’ll find:
- An explanation of the different permissions in Google Ads
- How to add a manager in Google Ads
- Why you would want to add a manager in Google Ads
- How to remove access to Google Ads
It may seem like a good idea to allow multiple people to share the login for your Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) account. But don’t be a hacker’s dream by sharing one Google Ads login the way people share their Netflix account.
We know that as a business, you’ll need to add several people across your organization to the account for different purposes. You may even need to add a digital marketing partner to help run your ads. Just make sure you provide the right access level.
Our guide will teach you how to add a manager in Google Ads and what different permissions levels mean. Plus, we’ll show you how to add a user to your Google Ads account.
The two types of Google Ads accounts
There are two types of Google Ads accounts: An individual client account and a Google Ads manager account called a My Client Center. (Image: Adobe)
Before we jump into how to add a manager in Google Ads, let’s explain the difference between the two types of accounts Google Ads offers.
The first type is a Google Ads individual client account. This is where you create your campaigns and manage your ads.
The second is a Google Ads manager account called a My Client Center, or MCC for short. This type of account houses individual Google Ads accounts. It creates a hierarchy and lets users manage multiple Google Ads accounts from one login. Data can be viewed at a glance via a single dashboard and organize all of your accounts. As you can imagine, this is very handy for managing Google Ads if you have multiple clients.
How to add a manager (user) in Google Ads
Once you know what role you want to assign a new user in Google Ads manager, you can use this simple process to grant access.
How to invite users to access your Google Ads account
- Navigate to www.ads.google.com and sign in to your Google Ads account.
- At the top of the page, in the right corner, you will see the tools icon (it looks like a wrench). Click on it.
- A drop-down menu will appear. Under the second to last column, you’ll see the heading “Setup.” Under this column, find “Access and security.”
- On your “Account access and security,” you will see a blue plus button. Click it.
- Choose a role for the new manager in your Google Ads account.
- Enter their email address.
- Click “Send invitation.”
Nice and simple, right? Now all that’s left is for your invitee to accept your invitation.
Your invitee will receive a confirmation email that they have been invited to access your Google Ads account. In the email, there will be a link for them to click to accept the invitation. They will need to click “accept request.” This link will take them to a page with a few simple steps to complete, and then they will have access.
Once your new user has been given access, you’ll receive a notification in your account.
How to link your Google Ads account to an agency manager (MCC) account
Giving access to an external partner is easy with a link request. (Image: Adobe)
If you are working with an external partner, the process for giving them access will be a little different from the method explained above. They will likely ask you to link your account with their manager account.
There is a fast and simple way for you to do this using a link request. With this method, the agency you are partnered with will do most of the work.
Your partner will need to:
- Sign in to their Google Ads manager account.
- From the left-hand menu, go to Settings, then click sub-account settings which will be shown at the top of the new page.
- Click the blue plus button.
- Click “Link existing account.”
- They will then need to enter the Google Ads account’s Customer ID number. You will have to provide the ID number for your account.
- Click “Send Request.”
You will then receive a link request via email with the invite to link to your account. You simply accept the invite, and then they will receive an email confirmation. Then you will be linked to their manager account.
If you missed the email, you could also accept pending link requests from within your account.
Admin users on your account can accept the link request. You can view, accept, and decline link requests by doing the following.
- Sign in to your Google Ads manager account.
- Click the Tools icon Google Ads (the one that looks like a wrench). Under “Setup,” click “Access and security.”
- Go to the manager tab. You will see an option called “Link request.” Click on it, and you will see all of the manager accounts that sent a request link with your account.
- Go to “Actions” and click “Accept.”
Why would you share access to your Google Ads account?
As an advertiser, there are many reasons you may want to grant access to your account.
Perhaps you work with multiple members of the marketing team who need to access your account to create and edit campaigns, evaluate performance, use keyword data for SEO campaigns. Your finance and legal teams may even require access to and include monthly invoices in P&L reports.
If you don’t have enough internal resources or aren’t seeing the results you want from your PPC, you may outsource your PPC marketing and reach out to an agency to help you manage your PPC ads like a pro. In order for that agency to help you with your campaigns, they need access. To get eyes on your Google Ads account, you will want to add them as a manager on your Google Ads, either temporarily or permanently.
If you’re looking for an agency to help you with your PPC ads, check out our B2B PPC Agencies: The Ultimate List for 2023.
Different ways to add users
Internally, you should add new users with their business email addresses. When adding external users, you can add a user or link your account to another organization’s Google Ads manager account.
When it comes to adding an agency or consultant, they will probably ask you to link your Google Ads account to their manager account.
This makes it simple for the agency to manage the multiple accounts of many clients and also makes granting permissions much safer for your business. This is because unlinking an account is very simple, and you can do it at any time.
We will explain both how to add a user and how to link your Ads Manager to another account below.
What are the permissions options in Google Ads?
By choosing a role for your new user, you control what that user can see and do in your ads network. (Image: Adobe)
Nervous about handing over the keys to the car? You don’t have to be. Google Ads offers a variety of built-in roles that give users different accesses and permissions.
By choosing a role for your new user, you control what that user can see and do in your ads network. For example, you control whether or not they can change the bidding and budgets on your campaigns.
Here are the built-in roles that Google Ads Manager offers:
1. Administrator
The highest level of access that can be given. The user has access to all functionality. This is what would usually be considered administrative access (or superuser) in most software programs.
2. Administrator (ad manager only)
Similar to an administrator, administrator (ad manager only) has access to all functionality, minus Ad Exchange.
3. Advertiser
Use this role to invite advertisers to let them work on the ad account. They can do keyword research, create campaigns, and manage performance.
4. Salesperson
A user with this role can make and manage orders and run reports on the orders they create.
5. Sales manager
A sales manager can make orders, approve, and cancel orders, as well as edit ad targeting, and run reports on sales, orders, and inventory.
6. Trafficker
These users can make and edit orders. In addition, they can edit line items, add creatives, and run reports on orders and creatives.
7. Executive
Executives can run reports and view campaigns. They have read-only access to all functionality and cannot make edits.
8. Ad exchange manager
Ad exchange managers only have access to the ad exchange functionality but not the ad manager functionality.
9. Legal manager
These users can view and edit users, roles, and teams. In addition, they can accept and access the payment contract when completing the self-serve billing setup.
You can assign these out-of-the-box user permissions to anyone you invite to your Google Ads manager. But you can also give users specific access to meet your needs with custom roles. You cannot edit the built-in roles, but when creating a custom role, you can copy over the permissions from an existing role and then edit them to fit the role you want to create.
How to remove a manager in Google Ads
At some point, you may find that you want to remove a manager from your Google Ads. This might be because an employee or team member leaves or because your contract with a partner ends.
You can remove a user from Google Ads by taking the steps below.
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- In the top right corner of your screen, you will see the tools icon (a wrench). Click on it
- Go to “Setup” and click “Access and security.” By default, you’ll end up on the users tab.
- Find the user you want to remove, and in the “Actions” column, click “remove access.”
To unlink from a partner’s MCC account, you’ll follow the same steps as above, but rather than removing them via the “Users” tab, you’ll need to navigate to the “Managers” tab. From there, you’ll find the correct account and click “remove access.”
This step of removing access is often overlooked or forgotten about when contracts with marketing agencies end. However, accesses must be removed for your business security so that users not associated with your business cannot access your private data or even make edits to your campaigns.
The takeaway
That’s a wrap! Adding a new manager to your Google Ads account requires only a few simple steps. While the process is not complicated, you do need to pay attention to details such as:
- Entering the correct email
- Giving the correct customer ID number (CID)
- Setting the correct permissions
Whether you’re working with another department in your business, an outsourced agency, or a consultant, adding a manager to your Google Ads account can make the process of sharing information and implementing top-tier Google Ads campaigns much smoother.
Need help managing your Google Ads account? HawkSEM is a Google Ads Premier Partner. We can help you achieve your goals!
