Product Linking: Link YouTube channels and Google Ads accounts

Linking a YouTube channel to a Google Ads account allows the linked Google Ads account to run ads based on interactions with your channel’s videos. The linked Google Ads account can be granted permissions to access video ads' organic view metrics, show ads to people who visit and interact with your channel, and get insights about how people interact with your channel after viewing your ads.

This article shows you how to link YouTube channels and Google Ads accounts.

Note: YouTube recently released a feature that allows a channel to control if a Google Ads account can use the videos on the channel as ads. For channels with this control enabled, only linked Google Ads accounts will be able to run ads using videos from the linked channel.

How it works

When you link a YouTube channel to a Google Ads account, the YouTube channel owner can choose to make the following features available to your linked Google Ads account:

  • View counts: View organic (non-paid) metrics for your videos.
  • Data segments: Create data segments (previously known as "remarketing lists") based on viewers’ past interactions on linked channels.
  • Engagement: From linked channels, view earned actions metrics from video ads and use engagements (for example, subscriptions) on the channel as conversion actions in Google Ads.

You can link up to 10,000 YouTube channels to a single Google Ads account, and link up to 300 Google Ads accounts to a single YouTube channel.

Keep in mind that:

  • Linking accounts doesn't give the YouTube channel owner control over the Google Ads account. In addition, linking accounts doesn't let the advertiser add, delete, or modify videos from the linked YouTube channel. You can now limit the content on your YouTube channel to only be used in linked Google Ads accounts. To find out more about this feature, check the section below.
  • If your Google Ads account is overseen by a manager account, linking your YouTube channel will allow the Google Ads manager account to access your YouTube channel metrics. If you've enabled data segment sharing in your Google Ads account, a manager account can share data segments with other managed accounts.
  • If personalized ads are turned off on a YouTube channel, earned action reports and data segments won't be available for videos hosted on the YouTube channel.

Only allow linked Google Ads accounts to use videos as ads

This setting is available for channels within the YouTube Partner Program. With this feature, you can stop unlinked Google Ads accounts from using channel videos as ads and limit their usage to linked Google Ads accounts. In order to run ads using your channel content, ensure your channel is linked to the Google Ads account that will run ads using videos from your channel.

You can access this feature in Studio under Settings > Channel > Advanced settings.

  • Warning: Any ads with channel videos being run by ads accounts not linked to the channel will stop showing.

Instructions

Link or unlink Google Ads accounts in YouTube (Recommended approach)

Link a Google Ads account to a YouTube channel

  1. Sign in to your YouTube Studio.
  2. Click Settings, then click Channel.
  3. Click the Advanced settings tab.
  4. Click Link Account.
  5. Enter a name for the link, a Google Ads customer ID, and choose which permissions you will grant.
  6. Click Done.
  7. Click Save.
  8. After the owner of the Google Ads account approves your request, your YouTube channel will be linked to that Google Ads account.

Unlink a Google Ads account from a YouTube channel

  1. Sign in to your YouTube Studio.
  2. Click Settings, then click Channel.
  3. Click the Advanced settings tab.
  4. Click Unlink next to the account that you’d like to unlink.
  5. Click Unlink in the window.
  6. Click Save.
Note: The instructions below are part of the new design for the Google Ads user experience. To use the previous design, click the "Appearance" icon, and select Use previous design. If you're using the previous version of Google Ads, review the Quick reference map or use the Search bar in the top navigation panel of Google Ads to find the page you’re searching for.

Link or unlink YouTube channels in Google Ads

To link a YouTube channel to your Google Ads account, your Google Ads account needs to have administrative access. If your Google Ads account doesn't have administrative access, you won't be able to link the YouTube channel. In Google Ads, you can check your access level or see who has administrative access to your account from the "Account access" page. Learn more About access levels in your Google Ads account.

Link a YouTube channel to a Google Ads account

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Admin icon Admin Icon.
  2. Click Linked accounts.
  3. Under "From Google", find "YouTube", then click Details.
  4. To add a channel
    • First Channel: Click Add channel.
    • Additional Channels: Click the plus button
  5. In the "Link a YouTube channel" dialog, search for a channel or enter its URL and click Next.
    If the YouTube channel belongs to you and uses the same e-mail credentials as the Google Ads account, log-in to the YouTube channel in a separate tab to be identified as an owner.
  6. Do one of the following:
    1. If you’re identified as the channel owner based on the email used, you will be asked to add a link name and decide which data of the YouTube channel can be shared to the Google Ads account.
      1. Click Next to proceed to the summary screen.
      2. Click Link to link the YouTube channel with the Google Ads account. The link will be established automatically.
      3. You’ll view a confirmation screen. Click Done to close the dialog and return to the overview page.
    2. If the YouTube channel doesn't belong to you, you’ll be asked to provide the email address of the channel owner:
      1. Enter the email address of the channel owner.
      2. Click Next to review the summary of the link request.
      3. Click Link to send the link request. After the owner of the YouTube channel approves your request, that channel will be linked to your Google Ads account.

Unlink a YouTube channel from a Google Ads account

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Admin icon Admin Icon.
  2. Click Linked accounts.
  3. Find "YouTube", then click Manage and link.
  4. Under “Linked”, find the channel and click Unlink in the “Actions” column.

Cancel a link request that you've sent

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Admin icon Admin Icon.
  2. Click Linked accounts.
  3. Find "YouTube", then click Manage and link.
  4. Under “Sent”, find the channel under the "Actions" column, then click Cancel request.

Accept a link request that you've received

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Admin icon Admin Icon.
  2. Click Linked accounts.
  3. Find "YouTube", then click Manage and link.
  4. Under “Received”, find the channel under the "Actions" column, then click View request.
  5. To approve the link, click Approve.
    1. To reject the link, click Reject.

Related links

Youtube and Video Ads Related links

About Product Linking

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