Delegation types
Google MCM: Manage Account vs Manage Inventory
Google MCM (Multiple Customer Management) is a Google Ad Manager 360 feature with two delegation types. Under Manage Account, one partner gets edit access inside your Ad Manager account. Under Manage Inventory, you delegate inventory to up to 15 partners who work in their own accounts and never see yours.
By Umashankar Kushwah · Published 1 October 2026
What is Manage Account?
Manage Account gives one parent publisher edit access to manage inventory directly in your Ad Manager account. You keep your own access and settings, and you keep using your own tags. Google says a child publisher can have only one Manage Account parent at a time.
- The parent gets access to your account, except billing.
- Google can send the earnings in your network to the parent (payment facilitation). The share is set in the parent's invitation, anywhere from 0% to 100%. For resellers it is always 100%.
- Your payments profile needs Identity Verification (IDV) in your own legal name, with your own documents.
What is Manage Inventory?
Manage Inventory means you delegate inventory, and the parent monetises it inside its own Ad Manager account. The parent has no access to your account. Your tags change to carry both network codes, and Google allows up to 15 Manage Inventory parents for one child publisher.
- Tag format:
/parent_network_code,child_network_code/ad_unit(for example/1234567,1234/Travel). - Google pays the parent for what it monetises; the parent then pays you under your agreement with it. That is why payment terms must be in writing.
- The parent must submit a seller ID for you. Google says that ID has to appear in the parent's sellers.json and in your ads.txt.
Can you have both at the same time?
Yes. Google allows one Manage Account parent and several Manage Inventory parents at once. The one thing it doesn't allow is the same partner managing you under both types. So one partner can run your account while others monetise delegated inventory, but no partner can hold both roles.
Quick comparison
| Manage Account | Manage Inventory | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to your Ad Manager account | Edit access (not billing) | None |
| Partners at once | 1 | Up to 15 |
| Whose tags | Your own | Parent + your network code |
| How the money moves | Google sends your earnings to the parent at the % in the invite | Google pays the parent, the parent pays you |
| Compare two partners of the same type | No (one parent only) | Yes (up to 15) |
| Can it run alongside the other type? | Yes (alongside Manage Inventory parents) | Yes (alongside one Manage Account parent) |
Which one should an Indian publisher pick?
If you want to keep control and compare partners, Manage Inventory is the safer start: nobody gets into your account, and you can run more than one partner. Manage Account suits a publisher who wants one partner to handle the day-to-day setup and is comfortable giving edit access.
AdxDesk sends Manage Inventory invitations by default. Either way, Google decides whether your site is approved, not the partner.
What should you ask before accepting either invite?
- Which delegation type is this?
- What revenue share, in writing?
- What payment terms (when and how you get paid)?
- Which seller ID will you assign me, and will it appear in your sellers.json?
- How do I leave, and how much notice?
More detail: Seven questions to ask a Google MCM partner · How to check if a Google MCM partner is genuine · Google MCM partners for Indian sites · How AdxDesk measures partners
Sources (Google Ad Manager Help)
- About Multiple Customer Management (support.google.com)
- About Manage Account delegation (support.google.com)
- About Manage Inventory (support.google.com)
- Update your tags to MCM (support.google.com)
- Submit seller IDs (support.google.com)