Link your Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts

Before you can create a Shopping campaign, you need to first link your Google Ads account to your Google Merchant Center account as follows:

1. Send a link request from your Merchant Center account to your Google Ads account.
2. Approve the link request in your Google Ads account.

Sending link requests from your Merchant Center account

There are two ways of sending a link request:

1. Use the Merchant Center UI to send a link request.
2. Use the Content API for Shopping to update the adsLinks of your Account.

Managing link requests in your Google Ads account

You can change the status of Merchant Center links in your Google Ads account by using the Google Ads UI to approve/reject a link request. You can approve, reject, or remove existing links and link requests using the Google Ads API as follows:

1. To retrieve all Merchant Center links, make a request to retrieve objects from the MerchantCenterLink resource.
2. For each MerchantCenterLink object you can check the MerchantCenterLinkStatus field to find the link status.
   1. To approve a PENDING link, set the MerchantCenterLinkStatus field to ENABLED.
   2. To reject a PENDING link, remove the MerchantCenterLink object.
   3. To unlink an ENABLED link, remove the MerchantCenterLink object.

Step 1: List all Merchant Center links

You can use the MerchantCenterLinkService to retrieve a list of links for a Google Ads customer ID.

The code example below shows how to use ListMerchantCenterLinks to request all links for customer_id.

ListMerchantCenterLinksResponse response =
    merchantCenterLinkService.listMerchantCenterLinks(
        ListMerchantCenterLinksRequest.newBuilder()
            .setCustomerId(Long.toString(customerId))
            .build());

System.out.printf(
    "%d Merchant Center link(s) found with the following details:%n",
    response.getMerchantCenterLinksCount());
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.java
      

ListMerchantCenterLinksResponse response =
    merchantCenterLinkService.ListMerchantCenterLinks(customerId.ToString());

Console.WriteLine($"{response.MerchantCenterLinks.Count} Merchant Center link(s)" +
    $" found with the following details:");
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.cs
      

// Lists all merchant links of the specified customer ID.
$merchantCenterLinkServiceClient = $googleAdsClient->getMerchantCenterLinkServiceClient();
$response = $merchantCenterLinkServiceClient->listMerchantCenterLinks($customerId);
printf(
    "%d Merchant Center link(s) found with the following details:%s",
    $response->getMerchantCenterLinks()->count(),
    PHP_EOL
);
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.php
      

# Retrieve all the existing Merchant Center links.
response = merchant_center_link_service.list_merchant_center_links(
    customer_id=customer_id
)
print(
    f"{len(response.merchant_center_links)} Merchant Center link(s) "
    "found with the following details:"
)
approve_merchant_center_link.py
      

# Retrieve all the existing Merchant Center links.
response = client.service.merchant_center_link.list_merchant_center_links(
  customer_id: customer_id,
)
approve_merchant_center_link.rb
      

# List all Merchant Center links of the specified customer ID.
my $merchant_center_link_service = $api_client->MerchantCenterLinkService();
my $response =
  $merchant_center_link_service->list({customerId => $customer_id});
printf
  "%d Merchant Center link(s) found with the following details:\n",
  scalar @{$response->{merchantCenterLinks}};
approve_merchant_center_link.pl
      

Step 2: Find the Merchant Center link status

Once you have found the MerchantCenterLink that corresponds to the Merchant Center account you want to approve/reject, you need to check the status. The MerchantCenterLinkStatus enum describes the possible statuses.

System.out.printf(
    "Link '%s' has status '%s'.%n",
    merchantCenterLink.getResourceName(), merchantCenterLink.getStatus());
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.java
      

Console.Write($"Link '{merchantCenterLink.ResourceName}' has status " +
    $"'{merchantCenterLink.Status}'.");
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.cs
      

printf(
    "Link '%s' has status '%s'.%s",
    $merchantCenterLink->getResourceName(),
    MerchantCenterLinkStatus::name($merchantCenterLink->getStatus()),
    PHP_EOL
);
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.php
      

print(
    f"Link '{merchant_center_link.resource_name}' has status "
    f"'{merchant_center_link.status.name}'."
)
approve_merchant_center_link.py
      

#  Iterate the results, and filter for links with pending status.
response.merchant_center_links.each do |link|
  # Enables the pending link.
  if link.status == :PENDING && link.id.to_s == merchant_center_account_id
    # Creates the update operation.
    update_operation = client.operation.update_resource.merchant_center_link(
      link.resource_name) do |updated_link|
      updated_link.status = :ENABLED
    end

    # Updates the link.
    mutate_response = client.service.merchant_center_link.mutate_merchant_center_link(
      customer_id: customer_id,
      operation: update_operation,
    )

    # Display the result.
    puts "Enabled a Merchant Center Link with resource name " \
      "#{mutate_response.result.resource_name} " \
      "to Google Ads account #{customer_id}"
  end
end
approve_merchant_center_link.rb
      

printf
  "Link '%s' has status '%s'.\n",
  $merchant_center_link->{resourceName},
  $merchant_center_link->{status};
approve_merchant_center_link.pl
      

Step 3a: Approve a link request

If the link status is PENDING, then you can approve the link by setting the status to ENABLED. You can use the existing MerchantCenterLink object to help construct an updated MerchantCenterLink object with the status set to ENABLED.

The code example below shows how to construct the mutate operation required to change only the status.

private void updateMerchantCenterLinkStatus(
    MerchantCenterLinkServiceClient merchantCenterLinkServiceClient,
    long customerId,
    MerchantCenterLink merchantCenterLink,
    MerchantCenterLinkStatus status) {
  // Creates an updated MerchantCenterLink object derived from the original, but with the new
  // status.
  MerchantCenterLink updatedMerchantCenterLink =
      merchantCenterLink.toBuilder().setStatus(status).build();

  // Constructs an operation that will update the merchantCenterLink, using the FieldMasks compare
  // utility to derive the update mask from the changes. This mask tells the Google Ads API which
  // attributes of the merchantCenterLink to change. In this case we only want to change the
  // MerchantCenterLinkStatus.
  MerchantCenterLinkOperation operation =
      MerchantCenterLinkOperation.newBuilder()
          .setUpdate(updatedMerchantCenterLink)
          .setUpdateMask(FieldMasks.compare(merchantCenterLink, updatedMerchantCenterLink))
          .build();

  // Sends the operation in a mutate request.
  MutateMerchantCenterLinkResponse response =
      merchantCenterLinkServiceClient.mutateMerchantCenterLink(
          String.valueOf(customerId), operation);

  // Prints the resource name of the updated object.
  MutateMerchantCenterLinkResult merchantCenterLinkResult = response.getResult();
  System.out.printf(
      "Updated Merchant Center link with resource name: '%s'.%n",
      merchantCenterLinkResult.getResourceName());
}
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.java
      

private static void UpdateMerchantCenterLinkStatus(long customerId,
    MerchantCenterLinkServiceClient merchantCenterLinkService,
    MerchantCenterLink merchantCenterLink, MerchantCenterLinkStatus status)
{
    // Enables the pending link.
    MerchantCenterLink linkToUpdate = new MerchantCenterLink()
    {
        ResourceName = merchantCenterLink.ResourceName,
        Status = status
    };

    // Creates an operation.
    MerchantCenterLinkOperation operation = new MerchantCenterLinkOperation()
    {
        Update = linkToUpdate,
        UpdateMask = FieldMasks.AllSetFieldsOf(linkToUpdate)
    };

    // Updates the link.
    MutateMerchantCenterLinkResponse mutateResponse =
        merchantCenterLinkService.MutateMerchantCenterLink(
            customerId.ToString(), operation);

    // Displays the result.
    Console.WriteLine($"The status of Merchant Center Link with resource name " +
        $"'{mutateResponse.Result.ResourceName}' to Google Ads account : " +
        $"{customerId} was updated to {status}.");
}
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.cs
      

private static function updateMerchantCenterLinkStatus(
    MerchantCenterLinkServiceClient $merchantCenterLinkServiceClient,
    int $customerId,
    MerchantCenterLink $merchantCenterLink,
    int $newMerchantCenterLinkStatus
) {
    // Creates an updated MerchantCenterLink object derived from the original, but with the
    // specified status.
    $merchantCenterLinkToUpdate = new MerchantCenterLink([
        'resource_name' => $merchantCenterLink->getResourceName(),
        'status' => $newMerchantCenterLinkStatus
    ]);

    // Constructs an operation that will update the Merchant Center link,
    // using the FieldMasks utility to derive the update mask. This mask tells the
    // Google Ads API which attributes of the Merchant Center link you want to change.
    $merchantCenterLinkOperation = new MerchantCenterLinkOperation();
    $merchantCenterLinkOperation->setUpdate($merchantCenterLinkToUpdate);
    $merchantCenterLinkOperation->setUpdateMask(
        FieldMasks::allSetFieldsOf($merchantCenterLinkToUpdate)
    );

    // Issues a mutate request to update the Merchant Center link and prints some
    // information.
    $response = $merchantCenterLinkServiceClient->mutateMerchantCenterLink(
        $customerId,
        $merchantCenterLinkOperation
    );
    printf(
        "Approved a Merchant Center Link with resource name '%s' to the Google Ads "
        . "account '%s'.%s",
        $response->getResult()->getResourceName(),
        $customerId,
        PHP_EOL
    );
}
ApproveMerchantCenterLink.php
      

def update_merchant_center_link_status(
    client,
    customer_id,
    merchant_center_link_service,
    merchant_center_link,
    status,
):
    """Updates the status of a Merchant Center link request.

    Args:
        client: An initialized GoogleAdsClient instance.
        customer_id: The client customer ID string.
        merchant_center_link_service: A merchant center link service instance.
        merchant_center_link: The merchant center link to be modified.
        status: The updated status to apply to the merchant center link.
    """
    # Creates an operation.
    operation = client.get_type("MerchantCenterLinkOperation")
    link_to_update = operation.update
    link_to_update.resource_name = merchant_center_link.resource_name
    # Enables the pending link.
    link_to_update.status = status
    client.copy_from(
        operation.update_mask,
        protobuf_helpers.field_mask(None, link_to_update._pb),
    )

    # Updates the link.
    mutate_response = merchant_center_link_service.mutate_merchant_center_link(
        customer_id=customer_id, operation=operation
    )

    # Displays the result.
    print(
        "The status of Merchant Center Link with resource name "
        f"'{mutate_response.result.resource_name}' to Google Ads account : "
        f"{customer_id} was updated to {status.name}."
    )
approve_merchant_center_link.py
      

#  Iterate the results, and filter for links with pending status.
response.merchant_center_links.each do |link|
  # Enables the pending link.
  if link.status == :PENDING && link.id.to_s == merchant_center_account_id
    # Creates the update operation.
    update_operation = client.operation.update_resource.merchant_center_link(
      link.resource_name) do |updated_link|
      updated_link.status = :ENABLED
    end

    # Updates the link.
    mutate_response = client.service.merchant_center_link.mutate_merchant_center_link(
      customer_id: customer_id,
      operation: update_operation,
    )

    # Display the result.
    puts "Enabled a Merchant Center Link with resource name " \
      "#{mutate_response.result.resource_name} " \
      "to Google Ads account #{customer_id}"
  end
end
approve_merchant_center_link.rb
      

foreach my $merchant_center_link (@{$response->{merchantCenterLinks}}) {
  printf
    "Link '%s' has status '%s'.\n",
    $merchant_center_link->{resourceName},
    $merchant_center_link->{status};

  # Approve a pending link request for a Google Ads account with the specified
  # customer ID from a Merchant Center account with the specified Merchant
  # Center account ID.
  if ( $merchant_center_link->{id} == $merchant_center_account_id
    && $merchant_center_link->{status} eq PENDING)
  {
    # Update the status of Merchant Center link to 'ENABLED' to approve the link.
    update_merchant_center_link_status(
      $merchant_center_link_service, $customer_id,
      $merchant_center_link,         ENABLED
    );
    # There is only one MerchantCenterLink object for a given Google Ads account
    # and Merchant Center account, so we can break early.
    last;
  }
}
approve_merchant_center_link.pl
      

Step 3b: Reject a link request

To reject a link request (any link in the PENDING state), remove the MerchantCenterLink by constructing a remove operation for the resource using MutateMerchantCenterLinkRequest.

See the example code below:

private void removeMerchantCenterLink(
    MerchantCenterLinkServiceClient merchantCenterLinkServiceClient,
    long customerId,
    MerchantCenterLink merchantCenterLink) {
  // Creates a single remove operation, specifying the Merchant Center link resource name.
  MerchantCenterLinkOperation operation =
      MerchantCenterLinkOperation.newBuilder()
          .setRemove(merchantCenterLink.getResourceName())
          .build();

  // Sends the operation in a mutate request.
  MutateMerchantCenterLinkResponse response =
      merchantCenterLinkServiceClient.mutateMerchantCenterLink(
          Long.toString(customerId), operation);
  MutateMerchantCenterLinkResult result = response.getResult();
  System.out.printf(
      "Removed Merchant Center link with resource name: '%s'.%n", result.getResourceName());
}
RejectMerchantCenterLink.java
      

private void RemoveMerchantCenterLink(
    MerchantCenterLinkServiceClient merchantCenterLinkServiceClient,
    long customerId, MerchantCenterLink merchantCenterLink)
{
    // Creates a single remove operation, specifying the Merchant Center link resource name.
    MerchantCenterLinkOperation operation = new MerchantCenterLinkOperation
    {
        Remove = merchantCenterLink.ResourceName
    };

    // Sends the operation in a mutate request.
    MutateMerchantCenterLinkResponse response =
        merchantCenterLinkServiceClient.MutateMerchantCenterLink(
            customerId.ToString(), operation);
    Console.WriteLine("Removed Merchant Center Link with resource name: " +
                      $"{response.Result.ResourceName}");
}
RejectMerchantCenterLink.cs
      

private static function removeMerchantCenterLink(
    MerchantCenterLinkServiceClient $merchantCenterLinkServiceClient,
    int $customerId,
    MerchantCenterLink $merchantCenterLink
) {
    // Creates a single remove operation, specifying the Merchant Center link resource name.
    $merchantCenterLinkOperation = new MerchantCenterLinkOperation();
    $merchantCenterLinkOperation->setRemove($merchantCenterLink->getResourceName());

    // Issues a mutate request to remove the link and prints the result info.
    $response = $merchantCenterLinkServiceClient->mutateMerchantCenterLink(
        $customerId,
        $merchantCenterLinkOperation
    );
    $mutateMerchantCenterLinkResult = $response->getResult();
    printf(
        "Removed Merchant Center link with resource name: '%s'.%s",
        $mutateMerchantCenterLinkResult->getResourceName(),
        PHP_EOL
    );
}
RejectMerchantCenterLink.php
      

def remove_merchant_center_link(
    client, merchant_center_link_service, customer_id, merchant_center_link
):
    """Removes a Merchant Center link from a Google Ads client customer account.

    Args:
        client: An initialized Google Ads client.
        merchant_center_link_service: An initialized
            MerchantCenterLinkService client.
        customer_id: The Google Ads customer ID of the account that has the link
            request.
        merchant_center_link: The MerchantCenterLink object to remove.
    """
    # Create a single remove operation, specifying the Merchant Center link
    # resource name.
    operation = client.get_type("MerchantCenterLinkOperation")
    operation.remove = merchant_center_link.resource_name

    # Send the operation in a mutate request.
    response = merchant_center_link_service.mutate_merchant_center_link(
        customer_id=customer_id, operation=operation
    )
    print(
        "Removed Merchant Center link with resource name "
        f"'{response.result.resource_name}'."
    )
reject_merchant_center_link.py
      

def remove_merchant_center_link(
  client,
  merchant_center_link_service,
  customer_id,
  link)
  # Creates a single remove operation, specifying the Merchant Center link
  # resource name.
  operation = client.operation.remove_resource.merchant_center_link(link.resource_name)

  # Issues a mutate request to remove the link and prints the result info.
  response = merchant_center_link_service.mutate_merchant_center_link(
    customer_id: customer_id,
    operation: operation,
  )
  puts "Removed Merchant Center link with resource name: " \
    "#{response.result.resource_name}"
end
reject_merchant_center_link.rb
      

sub reject_merchant_center_link {
  my ($api_client, $customer_id, $merchant_center_account_id) = @_;

  my $merchant_center_link_service = $api_client->MerchantCenterLinkService();

  # Reject a pending link request or unlink an enabled link for a Google Ads
  # account with $customer_id from a Merchant Center account with $merchant_center_account_id.
  my $response =
    $merchant_center_link_service->list({customerId => $customer_id});
  printf
    "%d Merchant Center link(s) found with the following details:\n",
    scalar @{$response->{merchantCenterLinks}};

  foreach my $merchant_center_link (@{$response->{merchantCenterLinks}}) {
    printf
      "Link '%s' has status '%s'.\n",
      $merchant_center_link->{resourceName},
      $merchant_center_link->{status};

    # Check if there is a link for the Merchant Center account we are looking for.
    if ($merchant_center_account_id == $merchant_center_link->{id}) {
      # If the Merchant Center link is pending, reject it by removing the link.
      # If the Merchant Center link is enabled, unlink Merchant Center from Google
      # Ads by removing the link.
      # In both cases, the remove action is the same.
      remove_merchant_center_link($merchant_center_link_service, $customer_id,
        $merchant_center_link);
      # There is only one MerchantCenterLink object for a given Google Ads account
      # and Merchant Center account, so we can break early.
      last;
    }
  }
  return 1;
}
reject_merchant_center_link.pl
      

Step 3c: Unlink a link

To unlink a link (any link in the ENABLED state), remove the MerchantCenterLink by constructing a remove operation for the resource using MutateMerchantCenterLinkRequest. This is the same action as rejecting a link request.