Test accounts

  • Test accounts allow you to experiment with API implementations and account configurations in a safe environment before using them in production.

  • Test accounts appear as cancelled in the Google Ads UI, have no billing, and do not serve ads to users.

  • To use test accounts, you need a separate hierarchy with a test manager account as the root because they cannot interact with production accounts.

  • You can create a test manager account, test client accounts, and campaigns within the test environment to populate and test with.

  • While useful for testing, test accounts have limitations, including no serving data, inability to test certain features like billing or conversion uploads, and a limit of 50 accounts per hierarchy.

Test accounts let you try out new API implementations or account configurations prior to implementing the changes in your production environment.

While production accounts serve ads that require billing and are rendered to users, test accounts appear in the Google Ads UI as canceled accounts since there is no active billing and they don't render ads to users.

Because test and production accounts cannot interact in any way, you cannot use a test account under your existing production manager account. To use test accounts, you need a new account hierarchy, with a test manager account as the root.

Do you need a test account?

Before creating a separate test account hierarchy, verify which testing option best matches your use case:

  • Making your first API calls or testing against real accounts (up to 2,880 operations per day): You don't need a test account unless you are testing features restricted under Explorer access (such as account creation, user management, keyword planning, or billing). Apply for the automatic Explorer access level on the Google Ads API Overview page in the Google Cloud Console to query and manage production accounts directly.
  • Validating request syntax and policy compliance without changing data: Set the validate_only field on GoogleAdsService.Search or mutate requests (requires at least Explorer access when targeting production accounts).
  • Developing with a Test access project or testing full campaign creation in a free sandbox: Follow the steps on this page to create a test manager account and a test client account.

Why use test accounts?

Test accounts don't affect your live ads or charge your account. They provide the following benefits during active development:

  • Can be set up in a hierarchy and organized just like production accounts.
  • Can be viewed and manipulated in the Google Ads UI, just like production accounts.
  • Don't require production API access to be approved for your Google Cloud project, so you can start experimenting with the API immediately while your project has the Test access level. (If a Google Cloud project with Test access attempts to call a production account, the API returns AuthorizationError.CLOUD_PROJECT_NOT_APPROVED_FOR_PRODUCTION starting in v25, or AuthorizationError.ACTION_NOT_PERMITTED in v24 and earlier.)
  • Can't serve ads or interact with your production accounts in any way. This gives you a safe environment to test code or configuration changes without impacting your serving accounts.
  • Have the same restrictions, including rate limits, as production accounts.

Since test accounts don't have budgets, you might see an error when creating a test sub-account in a manager account. You can safely ignore this error.

Create test accounts and campaigns

The following instructions create a test manager account, a test client account, and a few campaigns to populate the test client account. For a full explanation of these account types, see Account types.

  1. Click Create a test manager account to open the Google Ads account selection page. If prompted, sign in with a Google Account that isn't linked to your production Google Ads manager account, or create a Google Account from the sign-in prompt.

    Create a test manager account

  2. On the account selection page, click New Google Ads Account (or click Create a new account if the Finish setting up your account? dialog appears). The account selection page does not display a test indicator, but opening it from Create a test manager account configures the signup flow to create a test manager account.

  3. On the Confirm your business information page, enter an Account display name, select a Primary use of the account option, and select your country, time zone, and currency. Confirm the red Test account label in the upper-right corner, click Submit, and then click Explore your account to open your test manager account dashboard.

  4. In your test manager account, create a test client account: Click Accounts > > Create new account. Enter an account name, select your country, time zone, and currency, and save the account. Any client accounts you create from your test manager account are automatically test accounts.

  5. Create one or more test campaigns under the test client account so that subsequent reporting queries return sample data.

  6. Record both 10-digit Customer IDs (without hyphens) from the Google Ads UI for your API configuration:

    • customer_id (target client account): Use the 10-digit Customer ID of the new test client account where you created your test campaigns (API calls that query or mutate campaigns must target a client account, not a manager account).
    • login-customer-id (manager account): If you authenticate with a Google Account or service account linked to your test manager account, set login-customer-id to the 10-digit Customer ID of the test manager account.

  7. Follow Make your first API call to configure your client library or REST credentials and execute a test query against your new test client account.

View test accounts

To view test client accounts under a test manager account in the Google Ads UI, unhide the accounts by choosing to view canceled accounts.

During manager account setup and in some Google Ads UI views, test accounts display a red Test account label:

Google Ads UI showing a red Test account label

To check whether an account is a test account through the API, query the customer.test_account field using the GoogleAdsService.Search or GoogleAdsService.SearchStream method:

SELECT customer.id, customer.test_account
FROM customer
LIMIT 1

You can execute this query against either a test manager account or a test client account. When querying a test client account through your test manager account, include the manager account ID in the login-customer-id header. Test manager and test client accounts return true for customer.test_account, whereas production accounts return false.

Limitations

Keep the following limitations in mind when working with test accounts:

  • Since test accounts can't serve ads or interact with your production accounts in any way, serving metrics—like impressions, conversions, or cost data—are empty.
  • You can't test certain features in test accounts, including bid simulations, conversion uploads, and billing. Other features, including recommendations, have limited capabilities within test accounts because test accounts don't generate serving data.
  • Test manager account hierarchies can contain up to 50 test accounts. If you need additional test accounts, you can create another test manager account.
  • Test accounts generating a high volume of continuous requests may be throttled without notice.

See Testing best practices for guidance on working around these limitations.

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