Connecting Google Ads lets Pace read your campaigns and act on your budgets. It adjusts daily budgets and pauses or enables campaigns to keep your spend on track. This walkthrough covers the Google-specific details: the access you need, the sign-in flow, and how Pace handles manager accounts. For the generic connect flow shared across every platform, see how to connect your first account.
What you'll need
- Owner or admin access to your Pace workspace.
- A Google account with write access (Standard or Admin) to the Google Ads accounts you want managed. Pace can pause campaigns or change budgets only where your sign-in has write access; read-only access won't allow pacing.
- A few minutes.
Permissions required: You need to be a workspace owner or admin to connect Google Ads. With a member (read-only) role, you'll see an Access Restricted message instead, so ask your workspace owner to connect it for you.
Connect Google Ads
- Open Linked Accounts in Pace.
- In the platform tabs at the top, select Google Ads.
- On the Google Ads card, select Connect Google Ads. Pace sends you to Google's own sign-in screen.
- Sign in with the Google account that can reach the accounts you want, then approve the requested access on Google's consent screen.
You never type your Google password into Pace. Once you approve, Pace returns you to Linked Accounts, syncs the accounts you can reach, and shows a Connected! confirmation.
Link the accounts you want managed
Connecting and linking are two separate steps. Signing in imports no accounts on its own. Pace lists everything you can reach as Unlinked, and nothing is managed until you link it.
- Open the Unlinked tab. Use Search accounts... if the list is long.
- Tick the accounts you want Pace to manage.
- Select Link. They move to the Linked tab.
Manager accounts and sub-MCCs
Sign in with a manager account (MCC) and Pace fetches its child ad accounts for you. The MCC itself isn't a manageable account. Only the ad accounts under it are, so those are what you link. In the Linked and Unlinked lists, Pace groups accounts under their manager, with a header like Acme MCC — 123-456-7890. Groups larger than ten accounts start collapsed.
Nested sub-MCCs work too. Pace discovers accounts several layers deep beneath your top-level manager. Sign in once with the manager account you already use, and Pace reaches every ad account below it. You don't authorise each sub-MCC separately, so there's nothing extra to configure for agency structures.
How you'll know it worked
The Google Ads card shows a green Connected badge, along with who connected it and the date. Below it, a note reads "Secured with OAuth 2.0. Your credentials are encrypted and tokens rotate automatically." OAuth 2.0 is the standard "sign in with Google" method: Pace never sees your password, only a key Google hands it that Pace refreshes on its own. The accounts you chose sit under the Linked tab.
If something goes wrong
- You declined access on Google's screen. You'll see "You declined access to Google Ads. Reconnect whenever you're ready." Select Connect Google Ads again and approve access.
- The connection didn't complete. A "Couldn't connect Google Ads" message with a Try again button means something went wrong mid-flow. Select Try again.
- The card shows Needs attention. If a connection later expires or is revoked, the card reads "Connection needs attention — please re-authenticate to restore access." Select Re-authenticate now and sign in again. For the full reconnect flow, see managing permissions and re-authentication.
If an account connects but doesn't appear or update, see why your ad account isn't syncing.
Your credentials stay protected
You never share your Google password with Pace. You approve access on Google's own sign-in screen. Pace holds the access key Google returns on its server, stored encrypted and kept separately for each workspace. That key is never sent to your browser, never put in a web address, and never written into Pace's activity logs.
Every request to Google Ads runs through Pace's servers, so your browser never contacts Google Ads directly. Pace renews its own access automatically, so you won't have to reconnect routinely.