Managing Google Ads AI Max Across Multiple Accounts — MCC and Manager Account Best Practices

Google Ads Manager accounts (MCC — My Client Center) let agencies and advertisers with multiple accounts manage them from a single interface. With AI Max campaigns running across client accounts, MCC management requires updated approaches.

Cross-Account AI Max: What's Shared vs Siloed

AI Max campaign learning is account-level: the AI model for one client's campaign learns from that account's data only. There is no cross-account signal sharing in MCC, even if all accounts are under the same MCC.

This matters for smaller accounts where individual accounts don't have enough conversion volume for the AI to learn efficiently. Two approaches for low-volume accounts:

Option 1: Account consolidation. Merge historically separate accounts if they target the same business and the account split was for organizational rather than performance reasons. A combined account gives the AI more signal per campaign.

Option 2: Portfolio bid strategies across campaigns within one account. If you can't consolidate accounts, ensure that within each account, campaigns with shared goals use portfolio bid strategies. Portfolio strategies share signal across campaigns in the same account.

Shared Libraries Across Accounts in MCC

MCC manager accounts can create shared negative keyword lists, shared audiences, and shared budgets that apply across multiple client accounts. This is the primary MCC tool for AI Max efficiency.

Cross-account shared negative keyword lists: create in MCC > Shared Library > Negative keyword lists. Apply to AI Max campaigns in multiple client accounts to maintain consistent brand safety and query exclusions. Particularly useful if multiple client accounts should avoid the same competitor names or product categories.

Cross-account remarketing: in MCC > Audience Manager > Audiences, audiences built from one account's tag can be used in other accounts under the same MCC. This is powerful for agencies: a client's website visitor list can be used as an audience signal in a second account running related AI Max campaigns.

The June 2026 Deletion in MCC Context

The June 2026 data deletion (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-reporting-data-deleted-june-2026) affected all accounts in the MCC equally — no MCC-level protection from the deletion. For agencies managing Q4 planning:

• Pull cross-account reports from GA4 (which survived the deletion) for Q4 2025 benchmarks
• When creating Q4 2026 reports for clients, note explicitly that comparison data uses GA4 for Q4 2025
• MCC-level dashboards that automatically compare to "last year" will show zeroed data for the deleted period — update these to use GA4-based benchmarks or Q4 2024 Google Ads data

DSA Migration Across MCC Accounts

If you manage multiple accounts with DSA campaigns (retiring February 2027: https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-dsa-ai-max-migration-february-2027), prioritize migration planning across all accounts simultaneously.

Create a migration tracker at the MCC level:

• List all accounts with DSA campaigns
• Document DSA campaign count and conversion volume per account
• Estimate migration complexity (simple DSA with URL rules vs complex DSA with page feeds)
• Set migration timelines: high-volume, high-revenue accounts first (more time for learning); smaller accounts later

The February 2027 deadline is hard. Agencies with 20+ client accounts each with DSA campaigns need to start migration no later than November 2026 to complete all accounts before the deadline.

AI Max for Shopping Management at MCC Scale

For AI Max for Shopping (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ai-max-shopping-replacing-performance-max-2026) across multiple e-commerce client accounts: Merchant Center linking and product feed quality vary by account. MCC doesn't centralize Merchant Center management — each account's Merchant Center is managed separately.

Best practice for MCC with multiple shopping clients:

• Create a Merchant Center account checklist: product approvals, feed freshness, price accuracy, custom labels for margin tiers
• Run this checklist for all shopping client accounts before Q4

The July 2026 ToS at MCC Level

The July 2026 ToS (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-tos-july-2026-ai-automation-what-changed) applies at the account level. As an MCC manager, you accept the ToS on behalf of managed accounts. Review the ToS provisions for agency relationships — specifically provisions about AI optimization data use, as some clients have specific data use restrictions in their contracts.

Agency considerations:

• Client contracts signed before July 2026 may not have provisions for AI data use under the new ToS
• Update client contracts or data processing agreements to reflect the current ToS provisions if clients have EU operations (GDPR implications)
• Ensure client privacy policies are updated to reflect Enhanced Conversions and AI optimization data use for each managed account

MCC Reporting for AI Max

Cross-account MCC reports (Reports > Cross-account reporting) aggregate performance across all client accounts. For AI Max campaign types:

• Filter by campaign type to see AI Max for Search vs AI Max for Shopping vs traditional campaigns across all accounts
• Create a cross-account Q4 performance dashboard using Q4 2024 Google Ads data as the available historical benchmark
• For individual client reporting, pull account-level data and supplement with GA4 for Q4 2025 benchmarks

MCC scripts (account-level scripts that run across the MCC) follow the same rules as single-account scripts: budget management, alerting, and reporting scripts work; keyword bid management scripts conflict with AI Max bidding and should be disabled for AI Max campaigns.