An Introduction to Google Ads My Client Center (MCC)

September 16, 2019

What is an MCC?

MCC stands for “My Client Center”, which is a Google Ads account type for advertisers and agencies who need to access multiple individual Google Ads accounts using a single email address.

MCCs are also sometimes called “Manager accounts” (or colloquially a “Parent Account”) if there is a relationship with 1 or more individual accounts (sometimes called “Child Accounts”).

Within this, there exist the ability to have multiple nested MCCs and accounts. A single account can also have multiple (up to 2) manager accounts. The below image from Google illustrates an example of this.

Google has done a great job allowing temporary management between one account and another. This schema makes management convenient, while protecting the integrity and separation possibility of individual accounts. 

Signing up for an MCC can be quickly done here 

New accounts can be added to the MCC in one of two ways, either by making a new account within the MCC or, more commonly, by linking an existing account. 

Within an existing MCC, from the “Accounts” view, a user can select to create or link an existing account:

If you choose ‘link existing account’, the next screen will look like this:

From there, invites are sent out the account ID(s) you’ve requested to manage. You can confirm your invite was sent out by navigating to “accounts” –> “management”. Users in those sub or child accounts will then receive a notification within Google Ads that a request for linking has been made:

Within the MCC account, there aren’t many differences between a single account. You will notice an additional option appears on the left hand navigation called ‘partners program’. Here you can manage coupons, certifications, and get your Google partner badge:

What visibility do clients have to MCC access?

When clients give access to an MCC, they don’t know directly what individuals have access to their account. Rather, they simply know that the MCC now ‘manages’ their account, meaning anyone who has access to the MCC can now access the individual client account. Individual account edits, however, will still show the user’s email address of whomever made the edit.

Is an MCC necessary for getting an agency rep?

In short, “YES”. Your MCC container is a method of indicating to Google how much your spend under management is. If you’re trying to get a Google rep, and have more than one account, you should definitely create an MCC to get Google’s attention beyond individual account growth. 

Conversion Tracking, Billing, and other MCC level features and settings

MCCs also offer conversion tracking, audience management, and billing management. To view and manage some of these options navigate to “accounts” → “management”. The options here are “client” (i.e. individual account) or “this manager” ( i.e. MCC)  or “none”.

Additional Useful Resources: