How to Connect Google Ads to Claude (2026 Setup Guide)

Claude already knows a lot about Google Ads. It can critique a keyword list, rewrite headlines and explain why your cost per click crept up. What it can't do on its own is see your account. Connect Google Ads to Claude and that changes: "why is this campaign not spending" gets answered from your real keyword data, and "launch a Search campaign on these five keywords at $40 a day" becomes something Claude builds for you, paused, for you to check before a cent is spent.

This guide shows how to set that up with AdWhispr and what you can do once it's connected. It's updated for October 2026. I'll also cover the other ways to connect Google Ads to Claude, including Google's own MCP server, because they do different jobs and it's worth knowing which one you need.

What you need

• Claude on the web, desktop or mobile, or Claude Code / Cowork if you work in the terminal.
• An AdWhispr account. It's created the first time you sign in from Claude. The free plan covers keyword research, competitor research and connecting your ad account. Launching campaigns, managing them and reading your account's performance need Pro or above (pricing is further down).
• A Google Ads account with billing set up. You only need it for the account steps. Keyword research works without one.

Step 1: Add AdWhispr to Claude

Pick the route that matches how you use Claude.

Claude on the web, desktop or mobile (most people). AdWhispr is listed in Anthropic's Claude directory, so there's nothing to paste.

1. Open the AdWhispr listing in the Claude directory and click connect.
2. Sign in to AdWhispr when Claude asks. There's no API key.
3. Start a new chat. That's it.

Claude Code or Cowork. Run /plugin, search for AdWhispr and install AdWhispr Ads & Marketing Agent. Same sign-in, same Google Ads features. The Claude Code setup post has the details.

Custom connector (every feature). Add https://adwhispr.com/api/mcp as a custom connector in Claude's settings, or in Claude Code run:

claude mcp add --transport http adwhispr https://adwhispr.com/api/mcp

For Google Ads, the one practical difference is keyword editing. Pausing or re-bidding individual keywords, adding negative keywords and splitting a keyword theme into its own ad group are on the custom connector only. Everything else in this guide works on all three. The connect guide shows where to paste the address.

Step 2: Link your Google Ads account

1. Say: "Connect my Google Ads account." Claude gives you a sign-in link.
2. Approve access on Google's own consent screen. Sign in with the Google login that has access to your ads. AdWhispr gets access to your ad accounts, never your Google password.
3. Check what's linked. Ask "Which ad accounts can I launch into?" and Claude lists them.

One thing that trips people up: a manager (MCC) account can't hold campaigns. If you sign in through a manager account, launch into one of the regular accounts under it. If you see an error about this, ACTION_NOT_PERMITTED explains the fix. The step-by-step version is in how to connect your Google Ads account.

You can remove AdWhispr's access at any time from your Google account's connected apps.

Step 3: Research keywords before you spend

Start here even if you already have a keyword list. It touches nothing in your account, and it stops you from bidding on guesses.

What keywords should a chiropractor in Austin target,
and what does a click cost?

You get real Google Keyword Planner data: monthly search volume, the top-of-page cost per click range and competition for your seed terms. You can set the country (United States by default, most countries supported) and the language (English by default, 30+ supported). Match the language to the country for accurate local numbers.

Then look at a competitor:

What keywords is competitor.com about? Which of those
am I not covering?

Give it a competitor's site and you get back the keywords Google associates with that page's content. Be clear on what that means: it's a picture of what the site could target, not their live bids. Google doesn't publish anyone's bids, so any tool claiming to show a competitor's exact keyword bids is guessing. We go deeper in competitor keyword research with an AI assistant and whether to bid on competitor keywords.

The same connector also reads Meta and TikTok ad libraries, so you can ask "show me [competitor]'s longest-running Meta ads" and see which messages they keep paying for. Keywords tell you where a competitor shows up. Long-running ads tell you what they say once they do.

Step 4: Launch a Search or Performance Max campaign

With a paid plan and an account connected, you can go from research to a built campaign in the same chat.

Search.

Launch a Google Search campaign called "Austin chiro" on the three
keywords we picked, to https://riversidechiro.com, $25 a day,
max CPC $5. Write four headlines and two descriptions.

Claude builds the whole thing: the campaign, an ad group, your keywords and a responsive search ad. Phrase match is the default, United States is the default location, and you can name any country, region or city. Set the max cost per click from your research. The default of 1.00 is usually too low to win auctions.

Want phone calls too? Add a phone number and country ("add a call button with my number") and the campaign gets click-to-call, so people can ring you straight from the ad.

Performance Max.

Launch a Performance Max campaign called "Linen PMax" at $40 a day.

Claude writes the headlines, long headlines and descriptions and makes the images from your saved brand profile, so a name and a budget is usually enough. Two checks run first: the account needs conversion tracking (Performance Max bids toward conversions), and your AdWhispr brand profile needs a logo and a website. If either is missing, Claude tells you what to fix.

Every launch works the same way. Claude shows a preview of exactly what it's about to create. You confirm. The campaign is created paused. Nothing spends until you say "resume it", and resuming asks you to confirm again. That's deliberate: you can look at it in Google Ads first.

If Google refuses a launch, the reason comes back in plain words. The common ones are a policy flag on a keyword or headline and a campaign name that already exists. For a walkthrough of a first launch, see launching your first campaign, and for the Search builder in detail, Google Search campaigns by chat and launching Performance Max from chat.

Step 5: Read performance and find wasted spend

This is where having Claude on your account pays for itself. Account reads are on Pro and above.

How are my Google campaigns doing over the last 30 days?
Where am I wasting money?

You get spend, impressions, clicks and conversions per campaign. Then drill in:

Why is the Austin chiro campaign not spending its budget?

On a Search campaign, Claude pulls per-keyword diagnostics straight from Google: quality score, keywords bidding below Google's first-page estimate (with the bid that would fix it), keywords rarely shown, and approval issues. A campaign that spends far less than its budget almost always has a keyword problem, and this tells you which keyword and what to change. There's a short version in why a campaign isn't spending.

Three patterns cover most waste: a campaign that spent and converted nothing, a cost per conversion far above your others, and a campaign that isn't spending at all. Our guide on reading performance and cutting wasted spend walks through each one with examples.

On the custom connector, you can act on the keyword findings directly: "pause 'free chiropractor', raise 'chiropractor near me' to $6.50 and add 'jobs' and 'salary' as negatives." Each change shows a preview with the keyword's quality score and recent spend, and waits for your yes.

Step 6: Manage budgets and campaigns

Once a campaign exists you can list your campaigns, pause, resume, change the budget or add locations just by asking.

Pausing is immediate. Budget and location changes show a preview first. Two kinds of Google campaigns can't be changed from chat: YouTube (Video) campaigns, which Google doesn't allow to be edited through its API (MUTATE_NOT_ALLOWED), and experiments. Change those in Google Ads. The full reference is in our Google Ads docs.

Other ways to connect Google Ads to Claude

There are a few, and they're built for different jobs.

Google's official Google Ads MCP server. Google publishes one on its developer site. Per Google's own docs, the current release is read-only: it lists the accounts you can access, runs Google Ads Query Language (GAQL) queries for metrics, budgets and status, and describes the API's resource types. Google says plainly that it can't change bids, pause campaigns or create assets. You run it yourself (it's written in Python, locally or on Google Cloud Run) with your own Google Cloud project and OAuth credentials. If you're a developer who wants first-party, read-only access to your own data and are comfortable writing queries, it's a solid option. It doesn't launch campaigns and it has no competitor data.

Marketing data connectors, like Supermetrics. These connect your ad platforms to Claude for reporting and analysis, usually across many platforms at once. Some now go further: per Supermetrics' Google Ads to Claude page, theirs can also create Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns (created paused), adjust bids, pause ad groups and add negative keywords. If cross-platform reporting is the main job, look at these.

AdWhispr. Your Google account (performance reads, per-keyword diagnostics, paused launches, budgets) plus research into what everyone else is doing: keyword data, competitor keyword research, and Meta and TikTok ad libraries in the same chat. The research is the part I'd point to. Knowing what to launch matters more than how fast you can launch it.

For a broader checklist on the whole category, see our Google Ads MCP guide.

A note on safety

Connecting Claude to a live ad account sounds riskier than it is, because nothing here runs on its own. Every launch is previewed, confirmed and created paused. Resuming asks again. Budget, location and keyword changes show a preview before they apply. Pausing is the one instant action, because stopping spend should be easy. Keyword and competitor research use public data and touch no account. And Google lets you revoke access at any time.

What it costs

Brands and ad accounts are unlimited on every plan: connect as many ad accounts as you want on Meta, Google, TikTok and the rest, with no per-account fees. The free plan covers research and connecting your ad account; launching, managing campaigns and reading your account's performance need Pro or above. On paid plans, launching, pausing, budget changes and reading your own results don't use agent calls. Researching new brands and making creative do.

FAQ

Is there an official Google Ads MCP server?

Yes. Google publishes one on its developer site. The current release is read-only (account list, GAQL queries, resource metadata) and you host it yourself with your own Google Cloud project. It can't launch or edit campaigns, per Google's docs.

Can Claude launch Google Ads campaigns?

Yes, through a connector that can launch. With AdWhispr, Claude builds a full Search campaign (with click-to-call if you want it) or a Performance Max campaign. Both are created paused and need a paid plan.

Do I need to install anything?

No. On Claude web, desktop or mobile it's one click from the Claude directory and a sign-in. In Claude Code, it's /plugin or one claude mcp add command.

Can it spend money without my approval?

No. Every launch is previewed and confirmed, and campaigns are created paused. Spending starts only when you tell Claude to resume and confirm.

Can Claude see my competitors' Google Ads bids?

No, and nobody can. Google doesn't publish bids. AdWhispr's competitor keyword research shows the keywords Google associates with a competitor's site content, which is a good guide to what they could be targeting, but it isn't their live bid list.

Why can't I add negative keywords from the Claude directory?

Keyword-level edits (pausing or re-bidding keywords, negatives, new ad groups) are on the custom connector at https://adwhispr.com/api/mcp. You can add it alongside the directory connector.

How many ad accounts can I connect to AdWhispr?

As many as you want. Every AdWhispr plan, including Free, lets you connect unlimited ad accounts on each platform, and there is no per-account fee. Many other tools cap the number of ad accounts by plan.

Get started

1. Add AdWhispr to Claude from the directory, or run /plugin in Claude Code and install AdWhispr Ads & Marketing Agent.
2. Or create a free AdWhispr account first.
3. Open Claude and type: "Connect my Google Ads account and tell me where I'm wasting money."