The Google Ads API supports linking Google Ads accounts to other product accounts. This guide explains how to use the API to link your accounts.
Ways to link accounts
When linking a Google Ads account to another product account, there are two different ways in which the linking can happen.
Invitation flow
Invitation flow is used when you have administrator access to the Google Ads account, but not the product account. This flow works in two scenarios:
- You want to link the two accounts and create an invitation for an administrator of the product account. The product account administrator accepts the invitation to complete the account linking process.
- The product account administrator wants to link the two accounts, but doesn't have access to the Google Ads account. The product account administrator creates an invitation, and you accept the invitation and complete the linking process.
The following methods are used in this scenario:
ProductLinkInvitationService.CreateProductLinkInvitation
method
to create an invitation. The status
of the ProductLinkInvitation
shouldn't be set; the Google Ads API server
will set this to REQUESTED
upon the successful completion of
the API call.GoogleAdsService.Search
or GoogleAdsService.SearchStream
to query the product_link_invitation
resource and inspect its status.GoogleAdsService.Search
or GoogleAdsService.SearchStream
to query the product_link_invitation
resource. Filter for status
= PENDING_APPROVAL
to accept or reject
a pending invitation.ProductLinkInvitationService.UpdateProductLinkInvitation
method to
update the status of the ProductLinkInvitation
to ACCEPTED
or REJECTED
.ProductLinkInvitationService.RemoveProductLinkInvitation
method to
revoke an existing ProductLinkInvitation
.The following common errors can be thrown in this workflow:
| Error code | Explanation |
|---|---|
ProductLinkInvitationError.PERMISSION_DENIED
|
The customer doesn't have the permission to perform this action. |
ProductLinkError.NO_INVITATION_REQUIRED
|
An invitation couldn't be created, since the user already has administrator access to the invited account. The user should use the ProductLinkService to directly create an active link. |
Direct linking flow
Direct linking flow is used when you have administrator access to both the Google Ads account and the product account. In this case, you directly link the Google Ads account to the product account instead of sending an invitation.
The following methods are used in this scenario:
| Action | Remarks |
|---|---|
| Create an active link | Use ProductLinkService.createProductLink
to create a ProductLink
. |
| Disable an active link | Use ProductLinkService.removeProductLink
to remove an
active ProductLink
. |
| Retrieve active links | Use GoogleAdsService.Search
or GoogleAdsService.SearchStream
to query the product_link
resource. |
The following common errors may be thrown in this workflow:
| Error code | Explanation |
|---|---|
ProductLinkError.CREATION_NOT_PERMITTED
|
An account linking was attempted using the direct link flow, but this
isn't supported due to lack of permissions. The user should use ProductLinkInvitationService
to do the invitation flow instead. |
ProductLinkError.INVITATION_EXISTS
|
A link cannot be created because a pending invitation already exists. |
Changes to AccountLinkService
If you use AccountLinkService
to link a Google Ads account to another product
account, you must migrate your existing application to one of the workflows
listed earlier. For the following link types, migrate off AccountLinkService
and use ProductLinkService
:
-
GoogleAdsIdentifier -
MerchantCenterIdentifier -
AdvertisingPartnerIdentifier
For ThirdPartyAppAnalyticsLinkIdentifier
, continue to use AccountLinkService
.
