Create a Google Ads engine account

An engine account is the object that connects Search Ads 360 with one of the supported search engines. Each engine account specifies the ID or number of the account that it's connecting to, a date on which Search Ads 360 starts managing the account, and other settings that are specific to the type of engine.

Special permissions required

• In Search Ads 360, you need agency manager or advertiser manager permissions.
• In Google Ads, you need administrative access to the Google Ads account.

How to create a Google Ads engine account

Here's an overview of how to create a Google Ads engine account (the details appear later in this article):

1. In Search Ads 360, create a Google Ads engine account.
2. In Google Ads, link your customer ID to Search Ads 360.
3. Run your first sync to import existing campaigns from the engine.
4. View the engine account status to confirm that the account is able to serve ads.

Create a Google Ads engine account

1. Navigate to the advertiser that will contain the engine account.

   Steps for navigating to an advertiser

   1. Click the navigation bar to display navigation options.

   2. In the "Agency" list, click on the agency that contains the advertiser. You can search for an agency by name or scroll through the list.

   3. In the "Advertiser" list, click on the advertiser.

   4. Click Apply or press the Enter key.

   Search Ads 360 displays the advertiser page, which contains data for all of the advertiser’s engine accounts.

2. Click the Engine accounts tab.

3. Click New ▼ and select Google Ads.

   The settings panel for the new engine account appears.

4. Name the account.

   • Choose a name that will allow you to identify the account. Enter up to 100 characters.
   • If you have a naming convention in other systems (for example, Google Ads manager accounts, billing), using the same convention here would help account matching (for auditing or billing).

5. Optional. Select a date in the Launch date field.

   Choose a date that is meaningful to you such as the date you linked the account. Search Ads 360 doesn't use the date for reporting or syncing.

6. Enter engine settings as described below.

7. Click Save.

   If your account isn't already linked to Google Ads, a message appears with instructions to sign in to your Google Ads account to accept the link request. If you see this message, sign into Google Ads and link your customer ID to Search Ads 360.

Link the Google Ads customer ID to Search Ads 360

After you create an engine account in Search Ads 360, Search Ads 360 sends a link request to your Google Ads account. A message appears in the Search Ads 360 UI, instructing you to sign in to your Google Ads account to accept the link request. (If you don't see the message, then your account is already linked and you can skip the following steps.)

Complete the following steps to accept the link request in Google Ads:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.

2. Click the gear icon and select Account settings.

3. Click Account access in the left navigation pane.

4. In the Client managers table, look for a linking request from,

   dart_search_google_mcc_ds3 number

   The number represents the link between Search Ads 360 and the Google Ads account.

5. From the Actions menu, click Accept request to grant Search Ads 360 access to the account.

6. Click OK in the note that describes the account's access level.

7. Go back to Search Ads 360 and click Save again.
   Search Ads 360 will successfully create the engine account.

The new engine account appears in the engine account table and will be available under Account in the account navigation bar.

If the conversion API is enabled for your advertiser, Search Ads 360 automatically does the following as soon as you click Save:

• Enables auto-tagging in your Google Ads account if it isn't already enabled
• Adds the following parameters to the Final URL Suffix in Google Ads:
  • gclsrc=aw.ds

  • {_dsmrktparam} 

These updates may place your account under review.

Run your first sync

To import existing campaigns from the engine, run your first sync. 

Verify the authorization status of your Google Ads engine account and your Google Ads manager account

To verify that Search Ads 360 is authorized to access a Google Ads engine account that is managed by a Google Ads manager account, navigate to an advertiser and check the Authorization status column in the reporting table. The Authorization status column displays one of the following:

• OK indicates that the Google Ads account is successfully associated with Search Ads 360. 

• Invalid Credentials indicates that the Google Ads manager account's customer ID should be linked to Search Ads 360.
  To resolve this issue, contact support.

The Authorization status updated column indicates the last time the authorization status was updated. The status is updated several times each day.