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Help › Getting started › How do I link my YouTube channel to Google Ads?

How do I link my YouTube channel to Google Ads?

What linking does

Linking tells Google Ads that the channel and the campaign belong together. That unlocks the campaign reporting that comes from your channel:

  • Campaign subscribers and campaign likes
  • Playlist adds and earned views
  • Cost per subscriber and cost per engagement
  • Goals that pause ad groups when they cost more than you want to pay

Without a link, your report still shows spend, impressions, ad views, view rate and cost per view, but the subscriber and engagement columns stay empty.

A Sprizzy ad group report with the Earned Subscribers column outlined, showing a different subscriber total against each audience. The spend and cost columns are blurred out
The earned columns only fill in once the channel is linked.

Linking is optional. Your campaign runs either way.

Is it safe?

Yes. Linking gives Google Ads a small set of analytics from your channel, such as subscribers, likes, comments and shares generated by the promotion. Nobody gets access to your channel, your account or your videos, and nothing can be posted or changed.

How to link

  1. Open My Channels in your account menu.
  2. Find your channel and click Link Now in the Google Ads Linked column.
  3. Follow the link in the window that opens. It takes you to your YouTube Studio.
  4. When asked for a link name, enter Sprizzy.
  5. Leave every permission checked and click Link.
  6. Come back to Sprizzy and click I have successfully linked.
An earlier version of the Sprizzy My Channels page, with a Google Ads Linked column reading Not Linked and a Link Now button on each channel row
An earlier version of My Channels. It has fewer columns now; Link Now is still in the Google Ads Linked column.
The Sprizzy how-to-link panel listing the three linking steps, with a Link My Channel Later button and an I Have Successfully Linked button below them
An earlier version of the panel that opens after Link Now. Come back and confirm once YouTube Studio says the link is made.
The YouTube Studio Google Ads account linking box with Sprizzy typed into the link name field and the View counts, Remarketing and Engagement permissions all ticked
Steps 4 and 5, in YouTube Studio. Type Sprizzy as the link name and leave all three boxes ticked.

While you are in YouTube Studio, go to Settings, then Channel, then Advanced settings, and make sure Disable interest-based ads is not ticked. With that box ticked, Google cannot report your campaign subscribers and likes.

An earlier version of YouTube Studio's Advanced settings, with Settings, Channel and Advanced settings numbered one, two and three, and the Disable interest-based ads checkbox outlined and unticked
The same setting, in an earlier version of YouTube Studio.

If linking does not work

“Something went wrong” or “sign in as … to finish the process.” You are signed in to a different Google account from the one that owns the channel. Sign in to the owner account and try again. A private or incognito window helps if you use several Google accounts. The Google account does not have to match your Sprizzy login, it only has to own the channel.

“Link request not found” when YouTube Studio already shows Sprizzy. Remove the old link first. In YouTube Studio go to Settings, then Channel, then Advanced settings, scroll to Google Ads account linking, find Sprizzy, click Unlink, save, then link again from Sprizzy.

YouTube Studio's Advanced settings showing the Google Ads account linking table, with Sprizzy listed as Linked and an Unlink link beside it
An earlier version of Studio’s linking table. This is where an old Sprizzy link is removed.

It asks for a Google Ads customer ID. You do not need your own Google Ads account. The ID in the request belongs to Sprizzy.

Someone else runs the channel. Click Link Now, then Don’t have access to the channel?, and send the link to the person who owns the channel.

It is an auto-generated topic channel. Channels YouTube generates for music distribution cannot be linked. Upload to a channel you control if you want the extra reporting.

What to do next

If the same error keeps appearing, email support@sprizzy.com with a screenshot of the error and the channel name.

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