The short answer
Connecting Google Ads to AgencyAnalytics takes about 10 minutes. You authorise a Google account that has access to your Google Ads accounts, AgencyAnalytics pulls in the available accounts, and you map each one to a client campaign inside the platform. From there you build dashboards using drag-and-drop widgets and schedule white-label reports.
The hard part isn't the connection - it's deciding what to put on the dashboard. Default templates are bloated. Ben strips them down to the 8-12 metrics that matter and removes everything else.
Why use AgencyAnalytics for Google Ads
If you're managing more than three Google Ads accounts, you're either copying numbers into Looker Studio every month or paying for a tool that does it for you. AgencyAnalytics is the most popular paid option in UK agencies because:
- It's purpose-built for client reporting - white-label PDFs, custom domains, branded dashboards
- It pulls every major channel - Google Ads, GA4, Microsoft Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Search Console all in one place
- It scales - the same setup works for 5 clients or 500
- Clients can self-serve - send a login, they log in, no monthly chase
The main alternative is Looker Studio (free) - more flexible but slower to build and harder to white-label. For a comparison see AgencyAnalytics vs Looker Studio.
Prerequisites before connecting
Before you click "connect", check these four things:
- You have a paid AgencyAnalytics account or active trial. Sign up at agencyanalytics.com/pricing.
- You have a Google account with access to the Google Ads accounts you want to report on. Either direct user access or access via an MCC (My Client Center).
- That Google account has at least Standard access in Google Ads. Read-only access works for reporting but blocks some metric pulls.
- Conversion tracking is set up correctly in Google Ads. AgencyAnalytics pulls whatever conversions Google Ads reports - garbage in, garbage out.
If conversion tracking is shaky, fix that first. See Google's official conversion tracking setup guide.
Step-by-step connection guide
Step 1: Create or open the client campaign
Inside AgencyAnalytics, every client lives in their own "campaign" (their term for a workspace). Create a new campaign for each client, or open an existing one. Add the client's logo and brand colours here - they'll flow through to every dashboard and report automatically.
Step 2: Open the integrations panel
From the campaign sidebar, click Integrations. You'll see 80+ logos. Click the Google Ads tile.
Step 3: Authorise with Google
A Google OAuth popup opens. Sign in with the Google account that has access to your Google Ads accounts. Grant the requested permissions - AgencyAnalytics needs read access to ad data, conversions and account structure. It does NOT request write access, so it cannot make changes to your Google Ads account.
Step 4: Select the account
AgencyAnalytics lists every Google Ads account the authorised Google account can see. If you're connected via an MCC, you'll see the full account tree. Pick the specific Google Ads account for this client - not the MCC itself.
Step 5: Wait for the initial sync
The first sync pulls 25 months of historical data and takes 5-30 minutes depending on account size. You can start building dashboards immediately - widgets will populate as data lands.
Step 6: Set the data refresh schedule
By default AgencyAnalytics refreshes Google Ads data every 3-6 hours. On the Agency tier and above you can switch to hourly refreshes. For most reporting use cases, the default is fine.
MCC vs single-account connections
If you manage Google Ads through an MCC (the "My Client Center" account most agencies use), you have a choice:
- Connect via MCC (recommended for agencies): Authorise the Google account that owns the MCC. AgencyAnalytics can then access every account under the MCC without needing a separate OAuth grant for each. Adding new clients takes seconds.
- Connect each account directly: Useful if a single client has revoked agency access or if the account is held outside your MCC. Requires that client's Google account to authorise.
If you're not using an MCC and you manage 3+ Google Ads accounts, set one up today. Google's MCC documentation walks through the setup. It's free and saves hours of admin per month.
Building Google Ads dashboards that don't get ignored
The default Google Ads dashboard template inside AgencyAnalytics has 30+ widgets. Most clients glaze over after the third chart. Ben's standard layout uses 10 widgets, in this order:
- Top KPI strip - Spend, Conversions, Cost/Conversion, ROAS (4 big numbers, period vs previous period)
- Spend trend - daily spend line chart for the reporting period
- Conversions trend - daily conversions line chart, same period
- Top 10 campaigns - table sorted by spend, with conversions and CPA columns
- Top 10 search terms - what users actually typed (gold for clients)
- Device breakdown - mobile vs desktop vs tablet performance
- Geographic performance - top 10 cities or regions by conversions
- Ad group performance - condensed table, top 15 by spend
- Quality Score distribution - simple bar chart, helps justify ad copy work
- Notes / commentary - text widget where Ben writes 2-3 sentences explaining the month
That's it. No impression share by hour. No keyword position trend. No demographic breakdown unless the client specifically cares. Clarity beats completeness.
Metrics that actually matter (and ones that don't)
Always include
- Spend - what the client paid Google
- Conversions - what they got back, in volume
- Cost per conversion (CPA) - efficiency ratio
- ROAS or conversion value - for ecommerce clients
- Click-through rate (CTR) - leading indicator of ad relevance
- Conversion rate - leading indicator of landing page health
Include only if relevant
- Impression share - useful for budget cap conversations
- Search lost IS (budget) - the upsell metric
- Quality Score - useful when justifying ad copy or landing page work
Strip out
- Average position - Google deprecated it years ago, AgencyAnalytics still surfaces it in places
- Bounce rate (in Google Ads) - belongs on the GA4 dashboard, not the ads dashboard
- Auction insights - too noisy for monthly reporting; review separately
White-label reports for clients
The AgencyAnalytics white-label features are why most agencies pay for it instead of using Looker Studio. On the Agency plan and above you can:
- Set a custom subdomain (e.g.
reports.youragency.co.uk) - Replace the AgencyAnalytics logo with your own
- Customise email templates so report notifications come from your domain
- Schedule automated weekly or monthly PDF reports
- Give clients a branded login so they can check the dashboard themselves
To set up a custom domain, follow the official white-label guide. You'll need DNS access to add a CNAME record.
Schedule reports clients will actually open
Send monthly PDFs on the 3rd of each month - not the 1st. The 1st is when every other agency sends theirs and your report drowns in the inbox. The 3rd lands when the noise has cleared. Keep PDF reports under 8 pages. Anything longer doesn't get read.
Troubleshooting common issues
"Account not authorised" after a few weeks
Most common cause: someone changed the password on the Google account you used for OAuth. Re-authorise from the integration settings. To prevent this, use a dedicated Google account (e.g. reporting@youragency.co.uk) that isn't used for anything else.
Conversions don't match Google Ads UI
Three usual causes:
- Conversion modelling delay - Google Ads keeps modelling conversions for 7-14 days after a click. AgencyAnalytics pulls the snapshot at sync time, so very recent days will undercount.
- Time zone mismatch - if your AgencyAnalytics campaign is set to UTC and your Google Ads account is on Europe/London, daily numbers will be 1 hour offset.
- "Include in Conversions" filter - AgencyAnalytics only counts conversions where the Google Ads "Include in Conversions" toggle is on. If a key conversion is set to Secondary, it won't appear.
MCC accounts not showing in the dropdown
The Google account you authorised doesn't have access to that MCC, or has access only at the sub-account level. Have the MCC admin invite your reporting Google account at the MCC level with at least Standard access.
Spend showing in USD instead of GBP
Set the campaign currency in AgencyAnalytics to GBP under campaign settings. The Google Ads account currency is independent of the AgencyAnalytics display currency.
