Linking a YouTube channel to Google Ads

This guide is built from Google Ads Help: Product Linking: Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts and Use your data segments to advertise on YouTube. Setting up the channel itself is in our YouTube channel for business guide, the ad formats in YouTube video ads, and targeting in YouTube ads targeting.

What the link gives you

Google says the link "allows the linked Google Ads account to run ads based on interactions with your channel's videos". The channel owner decides which features the ad account gets:

• View counts: organic view metrics for your videos alongside ad results.
• Data segments: audiences built from people who interacted with your channel, for remarketing.

Google's overview adds that a linked account can "get insights about how people interact with your channel after viewing your ads". For linked creator videos, it also lists earned actions metrics and engagements usable as conversion actions.

Limits are generous: up to 10,000 channels per Google Ads account and up to 300 Google Ads accounts per channel. The link doesn't give the channel owner any control over the ad account, and it doesn't let the advertiser add, delete or change videos on the channel.

Before you start

• You need administrative access to the Google Ads account; otherwise you can't link. Check it on the Account access page; our access levels guide explains the roles.
• If someone else owns the channel, Google recommends talking to them before sending a request, so they accept it.
• If personalised ads are turned off on the channel, earned action reports and data segments won't be available for its videos.
• If a manager account oversees your Google Ads account, linking can let the manager account see your channel metrics.

Linking from YouTube Studio

1. In YouTube Studio, go to Settings, then Channel.
2. Open the Advanced settings tab and select Link Account.
3. Enter a name for the link, the Google Ads customer ID and the permissions you grant.
4. Select Done, then Save.

The link is made once the owner of the Google Ads account approves the request.

Linking from Google Ads

1. Open the Tools menu and go to Data manager.
2. On the Connected products tab, select Connect Product, then YouTube.
3. Select Add channel (or the plus button for another channel), then Link channel.
4. Search for the channel or paste its URL and select Next.

What happens next depends on ownership. If you are signed in to the channel with the same email as the Google Ads account, Google identifies you as the owner: you name the link, choose which data is shared, and the link is made straight away. If the channel isn't yours, you enter the channel owner's email address and send a request, which they must approve.

Link requests and approval

All requests are managed in Google Ads under Data manager, YouTube, Manage and link:

• Received: requests sent to you from a channel. Select View request, then Approve or Reject.
• Sent: your pending requests. Select Cancel request to withdraw one.
• Linked: active links.

A channel owner can accept a request from Google Ads through the email notification or the notification icon in YouTube Studio. After linking, Google says to allow up to 24 hours for the systems to synchronise before creating a campaign that depends on the link.

Audiences from YouTube viewers

With data collection turned on in the link, you can build YouTube user segments: Tools, Shared library, Audience manager, then the plus button and YouTube users. Choose the linked channel, the action and how long people stay in the segment, up to 540 days. You can pre-fill the list with people who took the action in the past 30 days.

A segment can be used once at least 100 viewers have interacted. Google's checklist adds that personalised ads must be on for the channel, the videos must follow the personalised advertising policy, and content marked as made for kids isn't eligible. How these segments fit with other targeting is in our YouTube ads targeting guide.

Creator videos and shared codes

Brands working with creators can link a single video instead of a channel. Request it in Data manager, YouTube, Request access, and add your brand's channel so the creator sees who is asking. Linked creator videos give view counts, data segments, engagement data and Creator partnerships boost, which lets you use the video in your campaigns. Creators in the YouTube Partner Program can also send a shared code, a link that adds the video to your account when you open it.

Three points from Google: you are "responsible for securing sufficient rights to use the video as an ad"; a linked video isn't exclusive to you; and linking a creator's whole channel doesn't enable Creator partnerships boost, which needs access to the specific video.

Only allowing linked accounts to use your videos

Channels in the YouTube Partner Program can stop unlinked Google Ads accounts from using their videos as ads, under Settings, Channel, Advanced settings in YouTube Studio. Google's warning: "When video ad control is enabled, ads running from the unlinked Google Ads account will stop running." If you turn it on, link every ad account that uses your videos first, including your agency's.

Unlinking

• From YouTube Studio: Settings, Channel, Advanced settings, select Unlink next to the account, confirm and Save.
• From Google Ads: Data manager, YouTube, Manage and link, find the channel under Linked and select Unlink.

When linking fails

• No admin access: check your role on the Account access page.
• Request pending: the channel owner has to accept it.
• Errors like "channel already linked" or "something went wrong": clear the cache and cookies, try a private window, another browser or another network.
• Different emails: check that the Google Ads account and channel use the same email, or that permissions are set up across them.
• "Remove existing video links or link requests for this YouTube channel": usually a previously linked video that is now private. Set it to unlisted in YouTube Studio, unlink it in Data manager, link the channel, then set the video back to private.

How we set it up

This is our own practice, not Google's guidance:

• We link the client's own channel to the client's own Google Ads account, with the client as owner of both, and share access with us separately.
• We grant all the permissions on offer, so view counts and audiences are there from the first campaign.
• We create YouTube viewer segments on day one, even before a video campaign, so the lists are filled when we need them.

If you want help with YouTube advertising, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

How do I link my YouTube channel to Google Ads?

In Google Ads, go to Tools, Data manager, Connect Product, YouTube, and add the channel. Or in YouTube Studio, go to Settings, Channel, Advanced settings, Link Account and enter your Google Ads customer ID.

Why can't I link my YouTube channel to Google Ads?

Most often because your Google Ads user lacks administrative access, a request is still waiting for the channel owner, or the accounts use different emails. Google also suggests browser troubleshooting for generic errors.

Does linking give the advertiser control of my channel?

No. Linking doesn't let the advertiser add, delete or change your videos, and it doesn't give the channel owner control of the Google Ads account.

How many Google Ads accounts can one YouTube channel link to?

Up to 300. One Google Ads account can link up to 10,000 channels.

How soon can I use YouTube viewer audiences after linking?

Once the segment has at least 100 viewers. Google also suggests allowing up to 24 hours after linking before creating campaigns.

For more on YouTube advertising, see our guides to YouTube Shorts ads and Demand Gen campaigns.