## 4.1.4 Linking Merchant Center Account to Google Ads Account

### Introduction

*** ** * ** ***

Linking the Merchant Center account to a Google Ads account makes the product
data in the former available to the Performance Max campaigns created in the
latter. It also streamlines the review process, and reduces the number of times
you need to go through the authentication process to manage your accounts using
the API. For details, see
[Link your Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6159060).

Link each Merchant Center client account with the merchant's Google Ads
advertiser account. You can also link multiple Google Ads accounts to a single
Merchant Center account, and a single Google Ads account can be linked to
multiple Merchant Center accounts, but this is not recommended as part of the
Foundational Pillar.

### UX guidance

*** ** * ** ***

You may provide more information about the purpose of connecting a Google Ads
account. You can find below an example of how this might look.

![create_new](https://developers.google.com/static/merchant/storebuilder/images/blueprint/4_11_create_new.png)

A user may have different levels of access to a Google Ads account. Because the
user can only connect Google Ads accounts for which they have edit access,
inform them about cases when access is an issue. An example of how this might
look is below.

![preexisting](https://developers.google.com/static/merchant/storebuilder/images/blueprint/4_12_preexisting.png)

Multiple issues may be associated with existing Google Ads accounts. If a Google
Ads account is suspended, don't include it in the list a user may choose from.
The following issues should be displayed for existing Google Ads accounts:
2-Step Verification required, billing information needs to be updated and
conversion tracking already in place. Below is an overview of all the messages
which should be surfaced if applicable after selecting a Google Ads account.
For more details, see section [*4.5 Error handling*](https://developers.google.com/merchant/storebuilder/online/sections/4_5_error_handling).

![callouts](https://developers.google.com/static/merchant/storebuilder/images/blueprint/4_13_callouts.png)

### Tech Guidance

*** ** * ** ***

To link a merchant's Google Ads advertiser account to the merchant's Merchant
Center client account, request a link from the Merchant Center. You can ask your
merchant to do this manually in Merchant Center, or do it automatically using
the Content API for Shopping. Note that:

- You need to be a Merchant Center user with the role set"Admin" to initiate
  the linking request.

- You need to have [*admin access*](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9978556) to your Google Ads account to link
  Google Ads and Merchant Center accounts.

Follow these two steps to link a Google Ads account to a Merchant Center
account:

1. [Send a link request from Merchant Center](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/shopping/full-automation/articles/t15#automatic_steps) to Google Ads, using the
   Content API.

2. [Accept the link through Google Ads](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/shopping/full-automation/articles/t16#automatic_steps), using the Ads API.

We recommend implementing retry logic for both the sending and accepting of the
link request in the event that either one of them fails during this process.
That is because a link between Merchant Center and Google Ads is required in the
future API call to create a Performance Max for Retail campaign, and an error of
resource not found may occur if the link was not established.

> [!NOTE]
> **Notes:**
>
> - The merchant receives a confirmation email from Google once you link the account on its behalf.
> - When displaying the list of existing Google Ads accounts, you should filter out Google Ads manager accounts, as they cannot be linked to Merchant Center accounts.