A manager account is a Google Ads account that runs no ads itself but connects to, and controls, other Google Ads accounts from one login. It used to be called My Client Center, which is why many people still say MCC. Agencies, freelancers and businesses with several ad accounts use one.
How a manager account works
Anyone can create a manager account at no cost, then link existing Google Ads accounts to it. Linking needs the client account’s consent: the manager sends an invitation using the account’s customer ID, and an admin on the client side accepts. From then on, people with access to the manager can work in the linked account at the access level the link allows.
What a manager account adds beyond one login:
- A dashboard showing spend and performance across every linked account.
- Shared lists, such as negative keyword lists and placement exclusions, applied to several accounts at once.
- Cross-account conversion tracking, so one set of conversion actions can serve several accounts.
- Consolidated billing, where one organisation pays for several accounts on a single monthly invoice.
- Nesting, so a group can have a top-level manager with a manager for each brand or region beneath it.
A client account can be linked to more than one manager at the same time, for example the business’s own and its agency’s, and either link can be removed later.
Why it matters
For a UK business hiring an agency or freelancer, the manager account question is really about ownership. The safest arrangement is that the business creates and owns its Google Ads account, with its own payments profile, and grants access by accepting a link from the supplier’s manager account. If the relationship ends, the business removes the link and keeps the account with all its history, conversion data and settings.
The opposite arrangement, where a supplier opens the account under its own manager and pays the bills, can leave a business with no access to years of data when it changes supplier. Starting again in a new account means rebuilding campaigns and conversion tracking, and losing the history that bid strategies learn from.
Links between accounts also matter for policy. When Google suspends an account, it can look at related accounts, including ones sharing a manager or payment details, so keeping your account in good standing is partly about keeping sensible company.
Common mistakes
- Letting a supplier be the only admin on the business’s own account.
- Sharing one login among several people instead of giving each person a named user, which hides who changed what in the change history.
- Creating a fresh account under each new agency’s manager and abandoning the old one, with its history.
- Forgetting to remove a former supplier’s manager link after a contract ends.
- Assuming a manager account can run ads. It only manages accounts that do.
How to act on it
If you run your own ads in a single account, you do not need a manager account. If you hire help, check three things: the account is in the business’s name, at least one person in the business is an admin, and the supplier’s access comes through a manager link or named users you can remove. Review who has access every quarter, in the account access settings.
When I take on Google Ads management, the client stays the owner of the account throughout and can remove my access at any time. The same principle applies to linked accounts such as Merchant Center and GA4, which should also belong to the business.