Are multiple parties in a Google Ad account a violation?

May 8, 2023 7:21 AM

We have a vendor that is insisting campaigns allowing access to the same Google account by multiple parties is a major concern and a violation of Google policy. This is the first we have heard of it. Certainly there must be cases of multiple ad agencies, comms agencies, etc having access to the same Google Ad Campaign? Does the concern ring a bell? Are they perhaps confusing an existing policy that anyone knows of?
posted by UMDirector to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Response by poster: To be clear - I don't think they are talking about multiple people sharing a login - i.e. [e-mail] with multiple IPs logging in with the password. I think they are saying [e-mail] has access to adwords but [e-mail] ALSO does...
posted by UMDirector at 7:23 AM on May 8, 2023

Is this admin access or standard access? For sure you can give standard access to multiple people.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:25 AM on May 8, 2023

Best answer: Of course not, Google Ads provides many options to allow multiple people (with separate Google accounts) to access Ads, with different levels of access.
posted by ssg at 7:26 AM on May 8, 2023

Response by poster: I assume it is standard access. Basically one vendor is up a tree because they see multiple agencies running ads. So for example Agency A may be promoting "Check out this feature story this month" - i.e. content promotion but Agency B may be promoting "Subscribe today" - i.e. more transactional, e-commerce work.
posted by UMDirector at 7:27 AM on May 8, 2023

I mean. Do they think that a huge account only has one person on staff who can log into AdWords on behalf of the whole company? This doesn't make sense.

If what you're doing is against policy it sounds like it would be trivial for Google to detect and block.
posted by potrzebie at 7:40 AM on May 8, 2023

Best answer: It sounds like the vendor might not be aware of how user access to various campaigns, that there's the potential to use an ad manager account, etc. can be managed.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:50 AM on May 8, 2023

Best answer: Ask them to point to the Google terms and conditions that say that.
posted by saturdaymornings at 8:29 AM on May 8, 2023

I'd make absolutely sure they don't think it's the former case (multiple people sharing a login).
posted by pullayup at 2:39 PM on May 8, 2023

I work with several campaigns that spent "millions" of dollars last year, and enough "millions" that there is a Google employee who emails everyone involved regularly to invite them to catch-up calls and to generally make sure we're happy and keep the money flowing.

One of his regular agenda items is "has anyone left the project, have you removed any unnecessary credentials?". They absolutely do want you to have each person using a distinct account to access Ads, and they do NOT want multiple people using a shared login.

I think your vendor is confused... or worse - they could be trying to establish a system whereby it is harder for you to control their level of access.
posted by samworm at 1:06 AM on May 9, 2023