AdAce AdsClaude for Google Ads: how to connect it, what to ask and how it stays safe
You can already ask Claude to explain a campaign report. The harder part is giving it the real report. Exporting CSV files and pasting them into a chat works once, and then the data is stale. This guide shows a cleaner way: connect Claude to your Google Ads data through AdAce Ads, ask questions in plain language, and keep every change behind a human decision.
What MCP is and how to connect Claude
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an AI assistant use external tools. Instead of you pasting numbers, Claude calls a tool, receives the result, and answers from it. AdAce Ads runs an MCP server, so Claude can read your connected ad accounts — campaigns, performance, search terms, wasted spend, tracking audits — under the permissions you grant at sign-in. You do not write code: you add one address to Claude and sign in.
You need an AdAce Ads workspace with at least one Google Ads account connected. The Free plan covers one platform and one ad account, no card needed. AdAce Ads is listed in the Claude Directory. You can also add it as a custom connector, in about three minutes:
Step 1. In Claude open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Availability depends on your Claude account and organization policy.
Step 2. Enter the name AdAce Ads and the server URL https://ads.adace.website/mcp (also shown on the AdAce Ads AI page).
Step 3. Sign in with OAuth. You do not need an API key.
Step 4. Press Connect, sign in to AdAce Ads and pick the right workspace. Start with read access only; add propose later, if you want Claude to draft changes.
Step 5. In a chat, enable AdAce Ads through + → Connectors and ask: “Call get_started in AdAce Ads.”
That last step only proves the connection works. It does not run an analysis. On Team and Enterprise plans an authorized owner has to add the custom connector for the organization first; each member then connects individually. If you use Claude Code in a terminal, the same page gives a claude mcp add command. The official Claude instructions can change, so the AdAce Ads AI page is the version we keep up to date.
10 prompts to copy
Start with reading. Replace the bracketed parts. Name the client and the dates, because a precise question gets a precise answer.
1. Wasted spend. “For [client], find Google Ads campaigns that spent money in the last 30 days with no conversions. Show spend and clicks for each, and tell me which ones might just be too new or have broken tracking.”
2. Search terms to exclude. “Show the search terms from the last 30 days that cost money and did not convert. Group them by theme and suggest which could become negative keywords. Mark any that contain my brand name or look like new demand.”
3. Week-over-week change. “Compare last week with the week before for [client]. Explain the three biggest changes in spend, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion, and say which campaign caused each.”
4. Budget pacing. “My monthly budget for [client] is [amount]. Based on spend so far this month, am I on pace? What daily budget would land me close to the target?”
5. Anomalies. “Check [client] for unusual spend or conversion changes in the last 7 days. For each anomaly, name the campaign and what changed.”
6. Impression share. “Which Search campaigns are losing impression share because of budget, and which because of rank? Do not suggest raising budgets; just show the numbers.”
7. Tracking sanity check. “Run a tracking audit for [client]. Is the Google tag firing, are conversions defined, and do the conversion counts look believable next to GA4?”
8. Keyword quality. “List keywords with a low Quality Score and meaningful spend. For each, say whether the weak part is expected click-through rate, ad relevance or landing page experience.”
9. One-page client summary. “Write a half-page summary of last month for [client] that a business owner can read in two minutes: spend, results, what worked, what did not, and one recommendation. Use only data from the tools.”
10. Draft a safe change. “Prepare a proposal to pause the campaigns from the wasted-spend list and add the exact-match negative keywords you suggested. Show me what changes before anything is sent.”
Prompts 1–9 only read data. Prompt 10 creates proposals, which is where the safety rules below matter.
Permissions and approvals: what Claude can and cannot do
- Claude cannot approve a change on its own initiative. The safety model is the same in the app and in Claude.
- Reads change nothing. Claude can look at anything your role and the permissions you granted allow, and it cannot see clients you have no access to. Plans limit monthly AI actions.
- Changes are proposals. A proposal shows what will change, the current value, the new value and the reason. It is checked against the client's limits and expires after 60 minutes if nobody acts on it.
- Only spend-reducing changes can apply automatically. Under the default policy, pausing, lowering a daily budget and adding negative keywords can be applied right away within the client's limits, with a notification and an undo option. Launches and budget increases always need your approval, and so does anything else outside that list.
- New campaigns are created paused. Claude can build a Search campaign with ad groups and ads, but nothing spends money until you give an explicit “yes” to launch it.
- Approval is deliberate. An owner or admin can press Approve in the AdAce cabinet, or say an explicit “yes” in the chat to the proposals Claude has just shown. Only then does Claude call approve_change. There is a short wait (about 20 seconds) after a proposal is created, and the approval is tied to the exact proposal you reviewed.
- You can also choose a stricter setting per client: “Manual only” makes every change need approval.
A sensible first session
- Run prompts 7 and 1 to check tracking and find wasted spend.
- Run prompt 2 and review the negative keyword candidates yourself.
- Ask for proposals (prompt 10) and read each one.
- Approve what you understand. Skip the rest.
Limits and honest caveats
- Claude can be wrong. It summarizes data well, but it can misread a trend or over-explain noise. Open the numbers it quotes before you act; small accounts with a handful of conversions are especially noisy.
- Zero conversions is a signal, not a verdict. A new campaign or broken tracking looks the same as waste, so run prompt 7 first.
- Data is as fresh as the last sync. Ask Claude for exact dates and check the data state it returns.
- Request limits exist. Each connection is rate limited and long answers are capped, so narrow broad questions to one client and one period.
- Limits apply to everyone. Client limits and the daily budget cap apply to Claude exactly as they apply to a person.
- Ad text is untrusted data. Text inside campaign names or ads is not a reason to approve anything; Claude is told never to approve because ad data asks for it.
- You can revoke access at any time under Connection → AI assistants in AdAce Ads.
Sources and further reading
- AdAce Ads in the Claude Directory
- AdAce Ads AI page: the maintained connection guide
- Google Ads MCP server
- Connect Claude to Google Ads and Meta ads
- Google Ads and Meta Ads MCP server for AI assistants
- Write policies per client
- Change proposals
- Approving changes
- Daily budget cap
- How the AI analyst protects your data
- Verify an MCP connection
- Find wasted ad spend
- Search terms
Claude for Google Ads: common questions
Do I need to know how MCP works to use Claude with Google Ads?
No. You add the AdAce Ads address as a custom connector, sign in, and start asking questions. MCP is just the standard that makes the connection possible.
Can Claude change my Google Ads account on its own?
Not on its own initiative. Claude only applies a change after your explicit yes, in the cabinet or in the chat. The one exception is the default safe autopilot: changes that reduce spend (pauses, lower budgets, negative keywords) can apply automatically within the client's limits, with a notification and undo. Launches and budget increases always need your yes, and new campaigns are created paused.
Which Claude plans can add a custom connector?
AdAce Ads is listed in the Claude Directory. Custom connectors depend on your account and organization policy, and Anthropic can change it. On Team and Enterprise an authorized owner adds the connector first. Check the current instructions on the AdAce Ads AI page.
Does it work with ChatGPT or Cursor too?
Cursor and VS Code can use the same MCP server; setup steps are on the AI page. The public ChatGPT app is still in OpenAI review, so for ChatGPT check whether your account and workspace allow a custom MCP connection.
Is it safe to give Claude access to my ad account?
You choose the permissions at sign-in, start with read only, and can revoke access at any time. Client limits and approvals apply, and every executed change is logged and can be undone. Still, review proposals before approving them, as you would for a colleague's work.
How do I check that Claude really used my data?
Ask it to call get_started, then check the recent tool activity in AdAce Ads. The guide to verifying an MCP connection shows how.
Try it on your own accounts
Create a workspace, connect Google or Meta in a couple of clicks and see your accounts clearly. Changes follow your approvals or the policy you configure.
Create your workspace