Forced to create Google Ads account

Hi there, I’m sorry to hear your experience with Google Listings & Ads did not go well.

I just wanted to clarify that:

• a Google Merchant Account is required to use this plugin; if you do not already have one, the plugin will create one for you, but this account does not cost any money or charge you for any listings
• you can also create a Google Ads account during the onboarding process if you wish, but this should be optional
• payment information for your new Google Ads account can be added if you wish to do paid ad campaigns, but again, this is optional during the onboarding process, you do not need to provide any payment information
• the plugin does not by itself create paid ad campaigns, only the free campaign

In summary, it should be quite possible to set up the plugin, and connect to Google purely to list your products for sale, all for free, without providing any kind of credit card information.

I do hope you will reconsider Google Listings & Ads in the future. I will review our documentation on the onboarding process to make sure it is clear that nothing will be charged except for the manual creation of ad campaigns after onboarding is complete.

• you can also create a Google Ads account during the onboarding process if you wish, but this should be optional

Yes, you’re right that it should be optional. However, it isn’t. To proceed with the onboarding process, creating and claiming an Ads account is mandatory. This is problematic, especially for new e-commerce businesses that are just getting started.

Hey there @il_maca ,
You are correct that Google Ads account is required as part of onboarding because Google For WooCommerce lets you manage your ad campaigns directly from your store dashboard. This requirement has been in place since version 2.5.14 and is part of the onboarding with the account. It’s better to link/set up the ads during the first onboarding than to show another onboarding again for Ads account in the ads section of the plugin dashboard. This is a streamlined setup that ensure the extension is set up only once,. Thanks for your understanding here.

The onboarding setup is documented here and shows this process.

@simplysaru, what if I don’t want to use Google Ads at all?

Or, what if I want to use Google Ads but I already have a Google Ads account?

Requiring the creation of a Google Ads account doesn’t make any sense.

Hi @looksink ,

what if I don’t want to use Google Ads at all?

Or, what if I want to use Google Ads but I already have a Google Ads account?

Requiring the creation of a Google Ads account doesn’t make any sense.

Understandably, being prompted to create a new Google Ads account can be a bit inconvenient if you already have an account.

If you’d like to use an existing Google Ads account, you can definitely link it during the setup. As for avoiding Google Ads entirely, linking the account doesn’t start any ads or incur costs as my colleague mentioned. It just sets up the potential to use the feature if you decide to in the future. You can choose an account to link to through the Setup and Configuration process.

Hope this helps.

If you’d like to use an existing Google Ads account, you can definitely link it during the setup.

No, I definitely can’t. Glad to know I’m supposed to be able to, though.

I have access to dozens of Google Ads accounts, but the “Set up your accounts” step of your setup wizard doesn’t let me choose an account. The WordPress.com, Google, and Google Merchant Center sections all have a green “? Connected” status, but in the Google Ads section, there’s just a “Create Account” button.

My Google account is assigned as a user to two different Google Ads manager accounts: a test account that has no active Google Ads accounts in it, and my company’s account. The latter is the one that has access to many active Google Ads accounts. Could this by why your setup wizard isn’t letting me choose an existing Google Ads account? Maybe you’re not checking for Google Ads accounts under manager accounts that I have access to, or maybe you’re only checking the first one, which only has inactive accounts in it?

Thanks!