Managing PPC campaigns on behalf of multiple clients? Or maybe you have several businesses needing their own Google Ads accounts. You’ll know that it can quickly get complicated with multiple logins and campaign settings.
This is where the Google Ads Manager Account, previously known as MCC, comes into play.
MCC stands for My Client Centre, although it has been renamed Google Ads Manager. It’s Google’s ads management suite for people who run multiple PPC accounts, and it might just save your sanity.
So how does Google Ads Manager work, and how can you use it?
What is Google MCC or Ads Manager?
Google Ads Manager Account, previously called My Client Center (MCC), is a simplified Google Ads dashboard which links multiple accounts. If you run a business with multiple ad accounts, or you manage Google Ads for others, it gives an overview of the different campaigns in your portfolio, without the need to log in and out to move between them.
With a Manager Account, you can do all the things you would normally do, but from one dashboard; such as setup new campaigns for each client; or view performance metrics and edit settings.
It’s important to realise that this isn’t an upgrade or add-on to your current Google Ads setup. It’s a specialist account that you will need to sign up for. You can then import your existing client accounts and even other Google Ads manager accounts.
You can sign up for your Manager Account through Google.
What can you do with Google Ads Manager Accounts?
Once you’re all set up with your Ads Manager or MCC account, you can then:
- Import multiple Google Ads accounts and access them via one single sign-on
- Create new Google ad campaigns on any of these client accounts from your Ad Manager dashboard
- Edit existing Google Ads campaigns on behalf of your client accounts from the dashboard
- Easily create new Ads accounts for clients
- Manage daily budgets for each account from your dashboard
- Give account access (and edit their access level) to employees or whoever you need to work on the accounts
- Manage and view data from all of your client accounts within Google Ads Manager
- Generate reports for individual clients, or for all campaigns as required
- Set-up alerts and generate specific rules to individual accounts, or all accounts as required
- Consolidate your billing so you can manage payment for all accounts in one
If you’re managing multiple accounts, you can probably already see how much the MCC or Google Ads Manager account can help.
So how do you get started?
How to create a Google Ads Manager account
It’s incredibly simple to open a Google Ads Manager account. You can easily be set up with just a few minutes.
Simply follow the steps below:
- Go to the Ads Manager page and click ‘Create a Google Ads Manager Account’
- Enter your details as prompted
Et voila! You’re ready to go.
Yup, it’s that simple.
When you’re creating a Google Ads manager account, bear in mind that you can only manage accounts using one currency. So at this stage, it’s best to choose the main currency you deal with – so if most of your clients are in Europe, choose Euros. If you have multinational clients but most of them pay in USD, choose dollars.
We’ll look in more depth at the currency issue later in this article.
Once your Ads Manager account is set up, you can very easily add client accounts to your dashboard.
- Login to Google Ads Manager
- On the left hand menu bar, click ‘Settings’
- Go to the ‘Sub-Account Settings’ at the top of the page
- Click the blue + icon
- Enter the customer account ID number to import
- You can also add multiple client accounts by adding each ID number to a different line
- Click ‘Send Invitation’
You will need to wait for the account owner, your client for example, to validate your invite. Once this is done, you’ll be able to manage your clients Google Ads from within your Ads manager dashboard.
Who, what and how many?
Now that you’re up and running with your Google Ads MCC account, you might be wondering how many client accounts you can manage? Or if you can manage ads in different currencies? Or what permissions you’ll have?
How many accounts can I manage?
The Google Ads Manager Account allows you to manage up to 85,000 Google Ads accounts. This also includes other Manager accounts, which is invaluable if you’re running an agency or overseeing ads portfolios that already have manager accounts.
For example, if a business owner asks you to run their Google Ads for them, they can link their account to yours. You just need to invite them, they verify the connection and you’re good to go.
Administrators of linked accounts can un-link their account at any time if they wish to.
Setting access levels and delegation
You can also invite other users, such as your employees, to manage campaigns within your Ads Manager accounts. There are different levels of access you can set – allowing you to give certain people permission within the entire portfolio.
The highest level is ‘Administrator’.
This allows full control over the accounts and allows linking and removal of users, setting of access levels and more.
‘Standard access’ gives ad campaign management capabilities, but doesn’t allow for the administration duties.
Below this level of access, we have ‘Read only’ access and ‘Billing access’. The second of which is obviously useful if you have a dedicated finance department who need to generate invoices.
Finally, there is ‘Email only’ access which allows the account to receive notifications and reports related to the accounts.
Analyse and update data across accounts
One of the fabulous benefits of the Google Ads Manager is that you can view, at-a-glance, performance across campaigns and ad groups.
This makes it very useful to compare successful or underperforming campaigns. But you can also use this insight to help optimise other campaigns in your portfolio. For example, you might have one campaign performing particularly well, which might have data which can be applied to your other accounts.
You’ll also be able to track conversions, generate automated reports, manage retargeting and consolidate billing.
Updating existing campaigns is simple, and of course you can add new campaigns easily too.
Manage IVT blocking across multiple accounts
With Google Ads, blocking invalid traffic is crucial to maximising ad performance and minimising budget wastage. Most agencies these days need to use click fraud prevention software and ClickCease is the industry leader, blocking bots and bad traffic in real time.
If you’re using Google Ads Manager, it’s easy to block click fraud across all your managed accounts.
With ClickCease, you can also use one subscription to monitor invalid traffic across each PPC campaign that you manage. As an agency, for example, you might have 100 clients with different campaign settings.
Simply link your ClickCease account to your Google Ads Manager and our software will use the insight from across your campaigns to block bots, competitors, malicious clicks and click farms.
If you do run an agency, and you don’t already have click fraud prevention, get in touch for a quote.
Find out more about click fraud in our complete guide
How to manage currencies in MCC
As mentioned, Google Ads Manager Account only allows you to manage your account portfolio in one currency.
So what if you have your account set to US Dollars, but you have clients running ads in Canadian Dollars, and another in Euros?
Within Google Ads Manager, you have options to set secondary currencies, which then allows you to manage ads in those currencies. Yes, you can have more than one secondary currency.
You can set up new lines in these secondary currencies but… It’s not possible to edit existing line items in the secondary currency.
Also, the bids your setting in the secondary currency will be converted to your primary account currency. Google tries to keep the exchange rates fresh, with updates multiple times a day. So you should be paying an accurate rate for your clicks – in theory.
You can also generate reports and charts in the secondary currency, or your primary currency.
Who should use the Google Ads Manager?
Anyone who needs to link Google Ads accounts or manage multiple accounts will find the Google Ads manager a welcome relief.
In general, it’s made for large advertisers, or any PPC account manager such as an agency. It’s a powerful tool that will be invaluable for keeping track of diverse accounts or campaigns – not to mention helping you save time.
MCC or Google Ads Manager is simple to set up and use, and is designed to make your life easier.
Don’t forget to add click fraud protection from ClickCease to your arsenal too. By monitoring and blocking invalid traffic, you’ll offer your business an extra layer of protection and deliver more effective Google Ads campaigns.
Join the thousands of digital marketers who already trust ClickCease to block the bad guys.
