How to link your YouTube channel to Google Ads

A link lets your ads use what happens on your channel. Google Ads Help lists:

• View counts: organic, unpaid metrics for your channel's videos.
• Data segments: audiences built from people who have interacted with your linked channel, for targeting.
• It doesn't give the channel owner control of the Google Ads account, and it doesn't let the advertiser add, delete or change channel videos.
• A channel can link to up to 300 Google Ads accounts, and one account can link up to 10,000 channels.

Source: Google Ads Help: Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts, checked 15 October 2026

Use this when you own or manage the channel:

1. In YouTube Studio, select Settings, then Channel.
2. Open the Advanced settings tab and select Link Account.
3. Enter a name for the link and the Google Ads customer ID.
4. Choose which permissions to grant.
5. Select Done, then Save.
6. Ask the Google Ads account owner to approve the request. The link is live once they do.

Source: Google Ads Help: Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts, checked 15 October 2026

You need administrative access to the Google Ads account; check it on the Account access page.

1. In the Tools menu, open Data manager.
2. On the Connected products tab, select Connect Product, then YouTube.
3. Select Add channel, then Link channel.
4. Search for the channel or enter its URL, then select Next.
5. If you're recognised as the owner, add a link name, choose what data to share, select Next, then Link. The link is made straight away.
6. If you're not the owner, enter the owner's email address, select Next, then Link. The owner has to approve the request.

• To be recognised as the owner, use the same email for the channel and Google Ads, and be signed in to the channel in another tab.

Source: Google Ads Help: Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts, checked 15 October 2026

From either side:

1. In YouTube Studio, go to Settings, then Channel, then Advanced settings.
2. Select Unlink next to the account, confirm, then select Save.
3. Or, in Google Ads, open Tools, then Data manager, select YouTube, then Manage and link.
4. Under Linked, find the channel and select Unlink in the Actions column.

Source: Google Ads Help: Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts, checked 15 October 2026

Match the problem to the cause:

Source: Google Ads Help: Link YouTube channels or videos and Google Ads accounts, checked 15 October 2026

Linking is for paid campaigns; the organic videos that build those audiences still need a regular schedule. Zolyp, which publishes this guide, publishes to YouTube as one of 9 platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads). It creates video uploads and Shorts with titles and descriptions written for search, can set a custom thumbnail on a standard video, and schedules them with the posts on your other networks. You approve the week before anything goes live.