Adding Users to a Google Ads Account (Without Losing Control)
Giving someone access to your Google Ads account is the right move for collaboration, but it’s also one of the easiest places to create accidental risk (wrong permissions, billing changes, or an agency “locking in” access the wrong way). The good news: Google Ads has a clean, invitation-based user system so you can grant access, change it later, or remove it entirely.
The process below applies to an individual Google Ads account (a single advertiser account). If you’re working with an agency that uses a manager account, you’ll typically link accounts instead of adding a bunch of individual agency emails—more on that later.
Before you start (2 quick checks)
First, make sure you’re signed into the correct account (especially if you manage multiple). Second, confirm the person you’re inviting has a Google Account tied to the email you plan to invite (or they’ll need to create one).
Step-by-Step: How to Add Someone to Your Google Ads Account
1) Send the invitation
Inside your Google Ads account, open the Admin area and go to Access and security. From there, click the plus button to add a new user.
Enter the person’s email address, choose the appropriate access level, then send the invitation. After they accept, you’ll receive an in-account notification confirming they’re active.
- Pro tip: If the user will be involved in monthly invoicing setup or anything related to applying for a credit line, assign Admin access. This is one of the most common “why can’t I do this?” permission problems I see.
2) What the invitee does to accept access
The person you invited will receive an email invitation. They accept by clicking the link in that email and completing the prompts to gain access.
If you invited an email address that’s listed as an alternate email on their Google Account, they may be able to accept and access the account using either their primary email or that alternate email. Practically, this can be helpful when someone has a work email as an alternate login, but their actual Google Account is based on another address.
3) Revoke a pending invitation (or remove access later)
If someone hasn’t accepted yet, go back to Access and security and look for the pending invitation. You can revoke it from the actions available on that row.
If they already have access and you need to remove them, find the user in the same screen and select Remove access. This is the cleanest way to offboard former employees, freelancers, or agencies.
4) Change someone’s access level (without re-inviting)
You don’t need to remove and re-add users just to adjust permissions. In Access and security, hover over the user’s access level, click the dropdown/arrow, and assign the new access level. This is ideal when someone moves from “needs to view” to “needs to edit,” or when you’re tightening controls after an audit.
Choosing the Right Access Level (Practical, Real-World Guidance)
User access in Google Ads is not just “can they edit campaigns?”—it also affects who can touch billing, link products, handle verification, and manage who else gets invited. Choose the lowest level that still lets them do their job.
What each access level is best for
Email-only is for stakeholders who should receive reports/notifications but should not log in and change anything. This is great for executives or clients who want visibility without platform risk.
Read-only is for people who need to log in, look around, and verify what’s happening (auditors, leadership, internal reviewers) but should not be able to modify campaigns or settings.
Standard is the “day-to-day operator” level. It’s usually the right fit for most marketers who actively manage campaigns but shouldn’t control user access or the most sensitive account administration functions.
Billing is for finance teammates who need to view billing, run billing reporting, and manage billing-related actions. It’s often safer than giving Admin when the person doesn’t need to manage campaigns or account structure.
Admin is for true account owners. Admin can manage access, accept/decline manager link requests, link certain products, and handle high-trust actions like starting and completing advertiser verification. Keep Admin tight—ideally a small number of trusted users.
Billing and payments: an important nuance
Google Ads permissions can allow Admin and Billing users to update payments profile information and manage payment methods in ways that used to be more restricted. However, user permissions for the payments profile itself are managed separately, and you typically can’t directly add/remove payments-profile users from inside Google Ads user access. If you need to change who has payments-profile permissions, expect an additional step that may require the payments profile’s primary contact or an authorized request through support channels.
Agency or Contractor Access: Add a User vs. Link a Manager Account
If you’re hiring an agency or a freelancer who manages multiple advertisers, the cleanest setup is often to link your Google Ads account to their manager account rather than adding individual emails as Standard/Admin users. Linking is easier to govern, easier to remove later, and reduces the mess of “which agency emails still have access?” over time.
How manager-account linking works (high level)
The agency sends a link request using your account’s customer ID. You (or another Admin on your account) then accept or decline that request inside your account’s Access and security area under the Managers tab, where link requests appear.
If you’re ever unsure which path to use, here’s the rule I use: employees and long-term internal teammates are usually added as users; external agencies are usually linked via manager accounts.
Troubleshooting: When User Invites Don’t Work
Use this quick diagnostic checklist
- Confirm you invited the right email. Typos are the #1 issue, and the platform treats each email as a unique identity.
- Check “Pending invitations” in Access and security. If it’s pending, the invite was sent, but not accepted.
- Ask the invitee to search their inbox (and spam/junk) for the invitation and to try accepting from a desktop browser if mobile email clients don’t open the flow properly.
- Verify the invitee has a Google Account for that email (or has access via an alternate email setup).
- If it’s taking too long, revoke and resend. This is often faster than debugging email delivery.
A simple best practice that prevents 90% of future headaches
Never share one login across multiple people. Always add each person as their own user with the right access level. It improves security, makes accountability clear, and makes offboarding painless when roles change.
Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
Once you’ve added a teammate or partner to your Google Ads account, the next step is making sure their role stays right-sized over time—inviting the right email from the right account, choosing the minimum access level they need (Standard for day-to-day work, Billing for finance tasks, and Admin only for trusted owners), and cleaning up pending or outdated access when people change roles. If you want a calmer way to keep accounts organized and performance moving while you manage permissions, Blobr connects securely to Google Ads and runs specialized AI agents that continuously analyze your campaigns and surface clear, prioritized actions—so you stay in control of who can do what, while the day-to-day optimization work doesn’t slip through the cracks.
Adding Users to a Google Ads Account (Without Losing Control)
Giving someone access to your Google Ads account is the right move for collaboration, but it’s also one of the easiest places to create accidental risk (wrong permissions, billing changes, or an agency “locking in” access the wrong way). The good news: Google Ads has a clean, invitation-based user system so you can grant access, change it later, or remove it entirely.
The process below applies to an individual Google Ads account (a single advertiser account). If you’re working with an agency that uses a manager account, you’ll typically link accounts instead of adding a bunch of individual agency emails—more on that later.
Before you start (2 quick checks)
First, make sure you’re signed into the correct account (especially if you manage multiple). Second, confirm the person you’re inviting has a Google Account tied to the email you plan to invite (or they’ll need to create one).
Step-by-Step: How to Add Someone to Your Google Ads Account
1) Send the invitation
Inside your Google Ads account, open the Admin area and go to Access and security. From there, click the plus button to add a new user.
Enter the person’s email address, choose the appropriate access level, then send the invitation. After they accept, you’ll receive an in-account notification confirming they’re active.
- Pro tip: If the user will be involved in monthly invoicing setup or anything related to applying for a credit line, assign Admin access. This is one of the most common “why can’t I do this?” permission problems I see.
2) What the invitee does to accept access
The person you invited will receive an email invitation. They accept by clicking the link in that email and completing the prompts to gain access.
If you invited an email address that’s listed as an alternate email on their Google Account, they may be able to accept and access the account using either their primary email or that alternate email. Practically, this can be helpful when someone has a work email as an alternate login, but their actual Google Account is based on another address.
3) Revoke a pending invitation (or remove access later)
If someone hasn’t accepted yet, go back to Access and security and look for the pending invitation. You can revoke it from the actions available on that row.
If they already have access and you need to remove them, find the user in the same screen and select Remove access. This is the cleanest way to offboard former employees, freelancers, or agencies.
4) Change someone’s access level (without re-inviting)
You don’t need to remove and re-add users just to adjust permissions. In Access and security, hover over the user’s access level, click the dropdown/arrow, and assign the new access level. This is ideal when someone moves from “needs to view” to “needs to edit,” or when you’re tightening controls after an audit.
Choosing the Right Access Level (Practical, Real-World Guidance)
User access in Google Ads is not just “can they edit campaigns?”—it also affects who can touch billing, link products, handle verification, and manage who else gets invited. Choose the lowest level that still lets them do their job.
What each access level is best for
Email-only is for stakeholders who should receive reports/notifications but should not log in and change anything. This is great for executives or clients who want visibility without platform risk.
Read-only is for people who need to log in, look around, and verify what’s happening (auditors, leadership, internal reviewers) but should not be able to modify campaigns or settings.
Standard is the “day-to-day operator” level. It’s usually the right fit for most marketers who actively manage campaigns but shouldn’t control user access or the most sensitive account administration functions.
Billing is for finance teammates who need to view billing, run billing reporting, and manage billing-related actions. It’s often safer than giving Admin when the person doesn’t need to manage campaigns or account structure.
Admin is for true account owners. Admin can manage access, accept/decline manager link requests, link certain products, and handle high-trust actions like starting and completing advertiser verification. Keep Admin tight—ideally a small number of trusted users.
Billing and payments: an important nuance
Google Ads permissions can allow Admin and Billing users to update payments profile information and manage payment methods in ways that used to be more restricted. However, user permissions for the payments profile itself are managed separately, and you typically can’t directly add/remove payments-profile users from inside Google Ads user access. If you need to change who has payments-profile permissions, expect an additional step that may require the payments profile’s primary contact or an authorized request through support channels.
Agency or Contractor Access: Add a User vs. Link a Manager Account
If you’re hiring an agency or a freelancer who manages multiple advertisers, the cleanest setup is often to link your Google Ads account to their manager account rather than adding individual emails as Standard/Admin users. Linking is easier to govern, easier to remove later, and reduces the mess of “which agency emails still have access?” over time.
How manager-account linking works (high level)
The agency sends a link request using your account’s customer ID. You (or another Admin on your account) then accept or decline that request inside your account’s Access and security area under the Managers tab, where link requests appear.
If you’re ever unsure which path to use, here’s the rule I use: employees and long-term internal teammates are usually added as users; external agencies are usually linked via manager accounts.
Troubleshooting: When User Invites Don’t Work
Use this quick diagnostic checklist
- Confirm you invited the right email. Typos are the #1 issue, and the platform treats each email as a unique identity.
- Check “Pending invitations” in Access and security. If it’s pending, the invite was sent, but not accepted.
- Ask the invitee to search their inbox (and spam/junk) for the invitation and to try accepting from a desktop browser if mobile email clients don’t open the flow properly.
- Verify the invitee has a Google Account for that email (or has access via an alternate email setup).
- If it’s taking too long, revoke and resend. This is often faster than debugging email delivery.
A simple best practice that prevents 90% of future headaches
Never share one login across multiple people. Always add each person as their own user with the right access level. It improves security, makes accountability clear, and makes offboarding painless when roles change.
