In Google Ads, this is the unique number assigned to every advertiser account and every manager account. It identifies the account in the interface, in manager hierarchies, in support tickets, and when you connect Ads to other Google products such as Analytics, YouTube, Merchant Center, and Business Profile. The interface typically shows ten digits with hyphens, in the pattern XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) agencies and in-house teams ask for that number so they can send a manager-account link request instead of sharing a login. Developers pass the same digits, with hyphens removed, as customer_id on the Google Ads Application Programming Interface (API). It is not a click identifier, a conversion tag, or a billing-profile number.
Where It Appears in Google Ads
Google’s account-help steps put the number in a few consistent places once you are signed in on desktop:
- Profile menu: Click the profile picture in the top right. The number is listed under the account name (Account Information).
- Account chrome: The same ten-digit value is displayed in the top right of the account, near the account name and email.
- Manager accounts: Click the down arrow next to the manager account name in the top left. The number appears under that drop-down, near the manager account name. Linked client rows also show each client’s number.
- URL: Click the Google Ads logo in the top left. The number is included in the address bar.
- Offline copies: Previous Google Ads emails, billing statements, and the payments profile (billing icon, then Payments profiles).
Newly created numbers can take a few minutes to register. Google advises sharing the value only with people you trust, because others can use it in access and linking flows.
How Teams Use the Number
- Manager linking: From a Google Ads manager account, Accounts → Sub-account settings → Link existing account. Enter the Ads account’s number. For several accounts, enter one number per line, preview, then send the request. An admin on the invited account accepts under Access and security → Managers.
- Analytics: Linking a Google Analytics Version 4 (GA4) property from Ads (Tools → Data manager) attaches reporting, audiences, and key-event import to this Ads account. The Analytics property ID is a different identifier.
- YouTube: YouTube Studio’s recommended link flow (Settings → Channel → Advanced settings → Link Account) asks for a Google Ads customer ID and the permissions to grant. The Ads admin then approves. A YouTube channel ID is not a substitute.
- Merchant Center: When you link an Ads account you do not manage, Merchant Center asks for the Google Ads number found at the top of any Ads page, near the account email. An Ads admin must approve the request.
- Support: Have the number ready when you contact Google Ads customer support so the account can be located without a shared password.
- Handoffs: Store it on the client record in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system so agencies and vendors request access by account number rather than by login.
Manager Accounts Versus Client Accounts
A manager account is a separate Google Ads account, not an upgrade of a client account. Each has its own number. Linking does not merge them. Client users keep signing in and working as usual. They do not get access to the manager account or to sibling clients under it. An admin on the client can unlink the manager later.
When you operate through a manager, the Google Ads API treats two numbers as different roles. The operating customer is the account in the request path (the client you are reading or changing), for example customers/1234567890. The login-customer-id header is the manager you authenticated through, and it is required in that case. Omitting it typically returns a permission error. Setting login-customer-id is the API equivalent of choosing an account after you sign in or click the profile image in the UI.
Do not confuse either Ads number with billing. A payments account is a subset of a 12-digit payments profile. Each payments account has a 16-digit ID in the form XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (often labeled billing setup or invoice setup on monthly invoicing). That identity pays invoices. It does not identify the Ads account in campaign management, manager hierarchies, or the customer resource in the API.
Format in the Interface and the API
The UI presents the value like a segmented phone number: three digits, hyphen, three digits, hyphen, four digits. Copy-paste into a link invitation usually accepts that hyphenated form. The API does not.
- Strip hyphens for customer_id, login-customer-id, linked-customer-id, and REST paths such as customers/1234567890.
- Keep leading zeros so the value stays ten digits. Google’s Ads API guidance treats a non-numeric or wrong-length value as an invalid customer ID.
- Example: 123-456-7890 in the UI is 1234567890 in API headers and resource names. Google’s own examples use that hyphenated display form and the digits-only resource form side by side.
Account Number Versus Click, Conversion, and Analytics IDs
These identifiers show up in the same Google Ads and Analytics stack, and they are easy to mix. Use the account number when you mean the Ads account itself. Use a Google Click Identifier (GCLID) when you mean one click. Use an AW- conversion ID and conversion label when you mean a tag. Use a GA4 property or measurement ID when you mean Analytics.
| Identifier | What It Identifies | Typical Format | Used For |
| Google Ads account number | One Ads account (client or manager) | Typically 10 digits, XXX-XXX-XXXX in the UI; digits only in the API | Access, manager linking, support, product links, API customer_id |
| Manager login-customer-id | The manager you authenticated through | Same 10 digits, no hyphens | Required API header when access is via a manager |
| GCLID | One ad click | Long encoded query-string token | Auto-tagging, attribution, offline conversion upload |
| Conversion ID | The Google tag / conversion tracking ID for the account | AW- plus digits in gtag send_to | Website tags and Tag Manager, not account access |
| Conversion label | One conversion action | Alphanumeric string paired with the AW- ID | Event snippet; unique per conversion action |
| GA4 property / measurement ID | An Analytics property | Numeric property ID or G- measurement ID | Analytics admin and linking, not Ads account access |
| YouTube channel ID | A YouTube channel | Typically a UC… channel ID | YouTube Studio; Ads linking still needs the Ads account number |
| Payments profile / payments account | Who is billed | 12-digit profile; 16-digit payments account XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX | Invoices and monthly invoicing, not campaign management |
Mixing them is how manager invitations go to the wrong account, tags fire under the wrong Google tag, and offline conversion uploads never match. When someone asks for the Google Ads account number, send the hyphenated ten-digit value from the top of the Ads UI, then strip hyphens only for API calls.