Google Ads
OAuth-only, built into the core. No token mode. Manager (MCC) accounts are not supported yet.
Google Ads is an OAuth-only platform: there is no token mode. OAuth authorization, ad account discovery, and ad spend/click reporting for Google Ads are built into the core, no plugin and no purchase required.
Google Ads accounts managed under a manager (MCC) account are not supported yet. Autonnel never sends the login-customer-id header the Google Ads API requires to act on behalf of a sub-account, so an agency-style MCC setup will not return data. Connect a standalone Google Ads account directly instead.
Prerequisites
- A Google Ads account with a Developer Token (approved, or in test mode), or use autonnel’s built-in default token to get started
- A standalone Google Ads account, not one only reachable through a manager (MCC) account
- For bring-your-own-app OAuth: a Google Cloud project with the Google Ads API enabled and OAuth credentials created
Why there is no token mode
Facebook, TikTok, and Bing provide long-lived bearer tokens you can paste into a settings form. Google’s Ads API design does not offer this path, all API access requires an OAuth refresh token scoped to a specific customer account. There is no equivalent “generate a static token” flow in Google Ads. Because of this, Google Ads only works through the OAuth authorization flow described below.
Developer token
Google Ads API access requires a developer token in addition to OAuth credentials. Autonnel ships with a built-in default developer token so you can connect an account without applying for your own. If you outgrow its quota, or want your own for production traffic, enter your own developer token in Settings → Ads and it overrides the default; leave the field blank to keep using autonnel’s.
To obtain your own:
- Sign in to your Google Ads manager account (MCC): this is only for requesting the token itself; the Google Ads account whose data you connect to autonnel must be a standalone account, see the MCC limitation above.
- Go to Tools & Settings → API Center.
- Fill in the required fields and submit an application for a Developer Token.
- While awaiting approval, Google issues a test-mode token that only works against test accounts.
Production token approval can take several business days.
Connecting an account
Go to Settings → Ads and open the Google Ads card. Two ways to authorize:
- Click Use our app to authorize through autonnel’s hosted relay app. No Google Cloud project of your own is needed (you can still supply your own developer token, or use the built-in default).
- Or register your own Google Cloud OAuth client, enter its Client ID and Client Secret, and click Connect.
Either way, you’re redirected to Google’s consent screen. Sign in with the Google account that has access to the Google Ads customer you want to use. After granting access, autonnel discovers every standalone ad account your token can reach and creates one connection per account.
Ad spend and click reporting
Once connected:
- An hourly job pulls ad-level spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions for each account, stored per day in that account’s own reporting timezone.
- The first connection of an account backfills 30 days of history; after that, use Refresh now for an on-demand sync.
- Each ad is attributed to a funnel by matching its destination URL’s path to one of your pages. Ads that don’t resolve to exactly one funnel land in the assignment list at Analytics → Ads for manual assignment.
- Reported spend and clicks appear next to your own funnel data at Analytics → Ads and in the Ad Performance panel on each funnel’s Analytics tab.
Event mapping defaults
| Internal event | Google Ads event |
|---|---|
PURCHASE | Purchase |
PURCHASE → Purchase is non-editable. Additional available events: Lead, PageView, AddToCart, BeginCheckout.
Google Ads conversion actions are created in your Google Ads account and identified by a resource name. Autonnel maps internal events to conversion action resource names at send time. You configure the resource name in the platform settings after authorization.
Click-ID routing
Three parameters identify Google Ads traffic:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
gclid | Standard Google click ID |
wbraid | iOS privacy-preserving identifier (web-to-app) |
gbraid | iOS privacy-preserving identifier (app-to-web) |
If any of these parameters is present when an order is created, the postback is routed to the Google Ads adapter.
Caveats
- Manager (MCC) accounts are not supported. Only standalone Google Ads accounts return data today.
- OAuth refresh tokens expire after 6 months of inactivity. If a token expires, the platform shows as disconnected in the admin UI. Re-authorize by connecting again.
- Developer Token approval from Google can take days if you choose to request your own; the built-in default lets you start without waiting.
- The Google Ads API quota is tied to your Developer Token’s access level. Standard access allows more conversion uploads per day than test access, and the built-in default token is shared across installations that use it, so a high-volume account should get its own.