How to Connect Claude to Google Ads via MCP (2026)

STEP-BY-STEP

Connect Claude to Google Ads via MCP

1. Step 1 · Choose your Google Ads MCP server

   Pick a remote (URL-based) Google Ads MCP server for the fastest setup, or a local server if you want to run it on your own machine. Remote needs no install.

2. Step 2 · Authenticate to your Google Ads account

   Sign in through Google's OAuth screen and grant access to the ad accounts you want Claude to read. For a self-hosted local server you'll also need a Google Ads API developer token from your MCC account.

3. Step 3 · Register the server in Claude

   For a remote server, paste its URL into Claude's connectors settings. For a local server, add it to claude_desktop_config.json with the command and credentials, then restart Claude Desktop.

4. Step 4 · Confirm the connection

   Ask Claude: 'List my Google Ads campaigns with spend and conversions for the last 7 days.' Live numbers confirm the server is connected and authenticated correctly.

5. Step 5 · Set read-only or read-write scope

   Keep the server read-only if you only want analysis. To let Claude pause campaigns or change budgets, enable write scope — and keep a human approving every change.

6. Step 6 · Automate it with an agent (optional)

   To get continuous coverage instead of on-demand answers, connect the same account to Hadrian and let its paid-media agent audit and propose changes on a schedule, under your approval.

What you can do once Claude is connected to Google Ads

With a live connection, Claude stops being a writing tool and becomes an analyst that reads your account. You can ask it to pull spend and conversions by campaign, diagnose a CPA spike by drilling into the ad groups and search terms behind it, find wasted spend on converting-poorly keywords, compare this period to last, and draft a client-ready summary — all from one chat, against current data.

Because the data is live, the answers are decision-grade. 'Which of my campaigns are pacing over budget with falling ROAS?' returns a real list you can act on today, not a snapshot from a deck someone built last week. That speed is the whole point of connecting Claude rather than pasting exports.

Remote server vs. local server

A remote MCP server runs in the cloud and connects by pasting a URL into Claude — nothing to install, and it's the fastest path. A local server runs on your machine and is registered in Claude Desktop's config file (claude_desktop_config.json); it gives you more control but requires editing JSON and keeping the process running. Most marketers should start remote.

Whichever you choose, authentication is the real work. Google Ads access goes through Google OAuth and, for direct API use, typically a developer token tied to a manager (MCC) account. Managed connectors handle this for you; rolling your own local server means setting up the developer token and OAuth credentials yourself.

The faster path: an agent that runs Google Ads for you

Connecting Claude gives you a copilot that answers when you ask. But you still have to remember to ask, every day, across every account. Hadrian closes that gap: it connects the same Google Ads data and runs an always-on paid-media agent that audits the account on a schedule, flags pacing and CPA anomalies before you notice them, and drafts the budget or bid changes for your approval.

The difference is who initiates the work. With Claude + MCP, you do — every time. With Hadrian, the agent does, and you approve. You get the same plain-English control plus continuous coverage, so nothing waits for the moment you happen to open chat. Every change still passes through your approval gate; the agent proposes, you decide.

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