Review MCM account setup options

This article is for parent and child networks setting up their Multiple Customer Management (MCM) relationships. It explains the three primary account setup options and provides separate checklists to configure Ad Exchange.

Note: Linked accounts aren't supported in MCM.

On this page:

• Overview of account setup options for MCM
• Choose an account setup option for MCM

Overview of account setup options for MCM

Review the following table to understand the different setup options and their specific details, such as delegation type and payment. 

Options	Delegation type	Tagging	Ad Exchange account used	Child direct deal	Payment
Option 1: The child uses their own Ad Exchange account	Manage Account	Child network	Child's	In child's account	Depends on the auto-payment % set. Earnings are split between parent and child.
Option 2: The child books direct deals in their parent's account	Manage Inventory	Parent network	Parent's	In parent's account	To parent
Option 3: The child books direct deals in their own account and accesses their parent's Ad Exchange via passback tags or video redirect tags.	Manage Inventory	Child network	Parent's	In child's account	Parent's Ad Exchange earnings go to parent's account. Child's own earnings go to child's account.

Choose an account setup option for MCM

To learn about the setup steps required for each option, review the following details.

Option 1: The child publisher uses their own Ad Exchange account

With this option, parents use Manage Account to manage these child publishers individually. Child publishers without an Ad Exchange account can get their own account. Ad Exchange will be enabled to monetize display and app inventory. Please reach out to your account manager to enable video.

Steps for parent networks

1. If the child publisher isn't connected through Manage Account, invite your child publisher.
   In the invitation, be sure to select the Manage Account delegation type.
2. Ask your child publisher to enable Ad Exchange in their Ad Manager account.
   They can follow steps in the Steps for child networks section.
3. After Ad Exchange is enabled for the child publisher, set up pricing rules in your child's Ad Manager account.
4. Perform the necessary optimizations, including:
   1. Activate First Look. 
   2. Activate Programmatic Direct.

If you end the Agreement, Ad Exchange will be disabled (and associated sites removed) on the child networks that completed self-signup.

Steps for child networks

Follow these steps to enable Ad Exchange in your Ad Manager account.

Note: If you use the AdSense backfill option, you must disable it before you can access the Ad Exchange feature. Jump to the instructions to disable AdSense backfill.

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
   No Ad Manager account? You'll have to create an account before continuing.

2. Navigate to Multiple Customer Management.

   Is your menu different? This navigation is being updated in phases. Learn more about what's changing and where to find pages during the transition.
3. At the top, click Ad Exchange.
4. Complete the following steps:
   1. Review and accept the Ad Exchange terms.
   2. To add your sites in Ad Manager, click Add your site(s) and then Go to sites.
      Learn how to add sites in Ad Manager.
   3. Wait for your sites to be approved. 
   4. After your sites are approved, check the box next to "I have entered my sites and was approved to serve ads" to confirm.
      Don't enable Ad Exchange until approval is complete for all the sites you're monetizing. If you enable Ad Exchange before site approval, ad serving will stop on sites unapproved in AdSense.
5. After approval, click Enable Ad Exchange.

   Note: After you enable Ad Exchange, your parent publisher will set up pricing rules and complete other optimizations.

   As the child publisher, be sure to update your ads.txt to include the new Ad Exchange code. You can find the code under Admin, then Global Settings, and then Ad Exchange.

Tip: If you end the Agreement, Ad Exchange will be disabled (and associated sites removed) on your child network.

Disable AdSense backfill to enable Ad Exchange

This option is for child publishers. 

If you use the AdSense backfill feature, you must disable it before you can access the Ad Exchange feature.

Choose an option:

• Disable AdSense backfill at the network level
  1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
  2. Click Inventory and then Network settings.
  3. Next to "AdSense," uncheck the box for "Maximize revenue of unsold inventory with AdSense."
• Disable AdSense backfill at the ad unit level
  1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
  2. Click Inventory, then Ad units and then an ad unit.
  3. Scroll down to "AdSense," then uncheck the box next to "Maximize revenue of unsold inventory with AdSense." Repeat the steps for each ad unit.
     To find which ad units have this feature enabled, you can use a filter by following the steps in the section below.

Once AdSense backfill has been disabled at either the network level or the ad unit level, you can successfully click Enable Ad Exchange in your dashboard to proceed with MCM setup.

Find ad units with AdSense backfill enabled

This option is for child publishers.

You can use a filter to find which ad units apply AdSense backfill.

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Inventory and then Ad units.
3. Click  and then Status.
   1. Click the dropdown and select is any of.
   2. Select Active, Inactive, and Archived and then click Apply.
4. Click to add another filter.
   1. Select AdSense enabled and then True.
   2. Click Apply.

Option 2: The child publisher books direct deals in the parent network's account

This option is the standard relationship for Manage Inventory. Learn how to get started with MCM Manage Inventory.

Option 3: The child books direct deals in their own account

For this option, the child books direct deals in their own account and accesses their parent's Ad Exchange account with passback tags or video redirect tags. Learn how to get started with MCM Manage Inventory.