Product Linking: Link YouTube channels or videos 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.

Linking a YouTube video hosted on someone else’s YouTube channel to a Google Ads account allows the linked Google Ads view video performance insights, such as organic view count. Use this feature when you’re collaborating with a YouTube creator and linking a video from their channel.

Note: The feature to link a Google Ads account to a YouTube video is being rolled out and may not be available to all Google Ads accounts.

This article shows you how to link and unlink your Google Ads account to a YouTube channel or a YouTube video.

Note: YouTube recently released a feature that allows a YouTube channel to control if a Google Ads account can use the videos hosted on that channel as ads. Linked Google Ads accounts can run ads using videos from a channel if the channel has this control enabled.

Before you begin

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

Additionally, if you are linking to a YouTube channel or a YouTube video that is managed by someone else, it is recommended to engage with the channel owner before sending the link request to ensure it’s accepted.

Benefits

When you link your Google Ads account to a YouTube channel or a YouTube video, you can take advantage of the following features.

Link a YouTube channel to a Google Ads account

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 can 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.

Link a YouTube video to a Google Ads account

Link a video made by a YouTube creator to explore how people interact with content you have either sponsored or that mentions your brand organically. When you link a YouTube video to a Google Ads account, the YouTube channel owner will make the following features available to your linked Google Ads account:

  • View counts: View organic (non-paid) metrics for the video

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 delete, or modify the linked videos on the 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.

  • Linking YouTube videos doesn’t mean that these videos are exclusive to the linked Google Ads accounts. A YouTube video may be linked to multiple Google Ads accounts, including accounts owned by another advertiser.

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 prevent unlinked Google Ads accounts from using channel videos as ads.

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

To run ads using your channel content, ensure your channel or a specific video is linked to the Google Ads account.

  • Warning: When video ad control is enabled, ads running from the unlinked Google Ads account will stop running.

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 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: Linking a YouTube video to a Google Ads account can’t be initiated from YouTube Studio yet.
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 Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  3. Click Connect Product.
  4. Find "YouTube".
  5. To add a channel
    • First Channel: Click Add channel.
    • Additional Channels: Click the plus button
    • Select “Link channel”
  6. 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.
  7. 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 Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  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 Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  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 Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  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.

Link or unlink YouTube videos in Google Ads

To link a YouTube video to a Google Ads account it is recommended to reach out to the YouTube channel owner before sending out the link request. This feature should be used if the YouTube channel hosting the video belongs to someone else. Read more about the differences between linking to a YouTube channel and to a YouTube video under the Benefits section.

Link a YouTube video to a Google Ads account

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  3. Find "YouTube".
  4. To add a video
    1. Click the plus button .
    2. Select “Link video”.
  5. In the "Link a YouTube video" dialog, search for a video or enter its URL.
  6. Provide channel owner’s email. The link request is then sent to the email address specified in this field.
  7. Click Submit to send the link request. When submitted, a summary screen is displayed. Click Done to come back to the “Linked accounts” page.
  8. Until accepted, the link request is displayed under “Sent”.
Note: YouTube channel owner will receive an email notification with the request to link with a request to link the video to a Google Ads account. The email is sent from ‘Google Ads’ as the sender. To accept the link request, the YouTube channel owner will:
  1. Click ‘Review request’ in the email notification
  2. Be redirected to the YouTube studio
  3. Click on ‘Link’ to accept the request to link

Unlink a YouTube video from a Google Ads account

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  3. Find YouTube, then click Manage and link.
  4. Find the video and click Unlink in the “Action” column.

Cancel a link request that you've sent

  1. In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon Tools Icon.
  2. Click Data manager.
  3. Find YouTube, then click Manage and link.
  4. Under "Sent", find the video, then click Withdraw request.

Note: Linking a YouTube video to a Google Ads account can’t be yet initiated from YouTube studio.

Related links

YouTube and Video Ads Related links

About Product Linking

Google Products

Google Partners

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