MCM Explained: Manage Account vs Manage Inventory

Multiple Customer Management (MCM) is Google Ad Manager's framework for partners who monetize other publishers' inventory. The partner is the parent publisher and each publisher it works with is a child. MCM offers two ways to set up that relationship, and the difference between them matters more than most publishers expect.

Manage Account

With Manage Account, the parent gets edit access inside the child's own Ad Manager account. Google's help page on this delegation type describes it this way:

• Inventory is managed in the child's account
• Reporting appears in the child's network
• The child keeps its permissions and access to all settings
• A child can have only one Manage Account parent
• The child uses its own Ad Manager tags

Payments run through Google's auto-payment, using the revenue share set in the parent's invitation. Google requires identity verification of the child's payments profile.

This is the model H&T GAMING's MCM portal describes, and it's also the model this blog returns to often because it keeps the publisher in charge of their own account.

Manage Inventory

With Manage Inventory, the child delegates inventory to the parent, and the parent manages it inside its own account. Google's overview of MCM and its page on Manage Inventory lay out how this works.

• Trafficking happens in the parent's account
• Reporting appears in the parent's network
• A child can work with up to 15 parents
• Tags come from the parent, with the child's identifier

Side by side

	Manage Account	Manage Inventory
Where work happens	Child's account	Parent's account
Reporting	Child's network	Parent's network
Parents per child	One	Up to 15
Tags	Child's own	Parent's tags

Invitations and timing

The parent sends an invitation with the proposed revenue share. Google keeps invitations valid for 90 days. Child approval usually takes a few days, though it can take two to four weeks.

Which is better for you

Manage Account suits publishers who want to keep their own account, tags and reporting while a partner handles AdX optimization. Since you see everything in your own network, it's also easier to check what your partner is doing day to day.

H&T GAMING onboards publishers through Manage Account for that reason. If you want to see where your current setup stands and whether it fits this model, you can request a free account review.