🔌 Connecting Google Ads

There are two ways to connect. Pick one; you can use both.

The easy way: the Google Ads script (Google Ads tab, "Easy: connect with a Google Ads script"). One script, pasted once into your own Google Ads account. It runs as you, so Google needs no approval and no Google Cloud project.

1. Press Copy below the script.
2. Press "Open your Google Ads scripts" on the Google Ads tab (or in Google Ads click Tools, then Bulk actions, then Scripts), then the blue + button.
3. Delete what is in the box, paste, and call it ResultsAiX ADs.
4. Press Authorize, choose your Google account and allow it. Then press Run.
5. Set Frequency to Hourly and save. Come back to ADs: the box turns green within a minute of the first run.

Every hour the script reports your campaigns and spend, creates the campaigns you approve in ADs (paused), applies changes you make (pause, budget, keywords, and whole updates from Update Google Ads), reports each ad group's clicks and cost for Results by ad group and page, and sends back the leads and sales from your Google ads. Anything waiting runs on the next hourly run; to do it now, open the script in Google Ads and press Run. "What the script is doing" lists each job. Keep the script private: it holds the key that lets it talk to your site. If it ever leaks, press Make a new key and paste the script again. If the script stops reporting for two days, ADs emails you.

The direct connection (your own Google Cloud project), for people who already have one:

1. In Google Cloud, create an OAuth client (Web application) and add the redirect address shown on the screen exactly as shown. A different address gives "Error 400: redirect_uri_mismatch".
2. Paste the client id and secret, save, then press Connect Google Ads and approve.
3. Choose your ad account. If it is not in the list, open "Your account is not in the list? Type its id" and type the ten-digit id, plus the manager account id if you reach it through one.
4. Press Check my access. It checks each permission ADs needs, one by one, and tells you how to fix anything Google refuses. A new Google Cloud project starts on Test access, which only works with test accounts: press Apply for Explorer access (one click in Google Cloud) and check again. Nothing is changed in Google Ads by the check.

Big campaigns: a direct connection on Google's Explorer access can make 2,880 changes a day (Basic access, which you apply for in Google Cloud, allows 15,000), and Google counts its check as well as the real send. A campaign of many pages can be bigger than that, so with the Google Ads script set up, ADs sends anything over about 1,000 changes through the script, which has no daily allowance, and does the same for everything while Google's daily allowance is used up. Without the script, the campaign screen says so before you press Create, and Google's message says when the allowance resets.

If Google says you have no access to an account, the screen shows Google's reason. Usually the Google login you connected with needs access to that ad account: in Google Ads, Admin, Access and security, add that email with Admin access.