Connect Search Console, Analytics and Google Ads

Before you start

• Sign in with the Google account that can see the client's data. It can be yours or the client's, and one sign-in serves as many projects as it can see.
• Search Console: any user of a verified property (owner, full or restricted) is enough.
• Analytics: the Viewer role on the GA4 property is enough.
• Google Ads: read-only access to the account is enough, given directly or through a manager account (MCC).

Connect

1. Open the project, then Sources, and choose Search Console, Analytics or Google Ads.

   New accounts do this in step 2 of getting started. You can also start from Connections → Connect Google account.

2. Pick the Google account to use.

3. On Google's screen, keep all three permissions ticked and continue.

   With one unticked, MetricDeck can't read that service and asks you to reconnect.

4. Back in MetricDeck, choose the property or ad account that belongs to this project, and add it.

   The one that matches the project's website is marked Suggested. During getting started, all three are chosen on one screen, and you can leave any out with Don't add.

5. Its history comes in straight away.

   Up to 16 months for Search Console and Analytics, and 13 months for Google Ads. The Sync button shows the progress, and the AI summary is written once the data is in. After that, everything syncs by itself every night.

What MetricDeck reads

• Search Console: clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position every day, with the top queries and pages.
• Analytics: sessions, engagement, new users, key events and revenue, by channel, source and medium, campaign, landing page, device and country.
• Google Ads: each campaign's cost, clicks, conversions and value every day, conversion actions, keywords and quality scores, the search terms report and the account's change history.

If you don't see your property or ad account

• It's under another Google account. Choose Connect another account and sign in with that one. Each project can use properties from any connected account.
• A permission was unticked. The list says which, with a Reconnect button. Tick all three this time.
• Your Google account has no access yet. Ask the owner to add it, then come back and refresh:
  • Search Console: Settings → Users and permissions → Add user.
  • Analytics: Admin → Property access management → add with the Viewer role.
  • Google Ads: Admin → Access and security → add with Read only access.
• Search Console lists verified properties only. A property you were invited to but that isn't verified yet won't show.
• Google Ads lists accounts you can open, and those directly under a manager account you can open. For an account deeper in a manager tree, get access to it, or to the manager right above it.

Reconnecting and disconnecting

• Connections shows each Google account and how it's doing: Connected, Sync failed, Needs reconnecting or Not used yet, with the projects it feeds.
• Needs reconnecting means Google stopped our access, for example after the account's password changed or access was removed. Choose Reconnect and sign in again: the projects keep their data.
• Disconnect stops MetricDeck reading, revokes our access with Google, and deletes the sources that used it with their synced data. The workspace owner can disconnect any account; members, the ones they connected.
• You can also remove MetricDeck from your Google account's third-party access page.

Questions