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GAM & MCM Setup Checklist for Publishers

To successfully connect your inventory to our Google Ad Manager (GAM) network via Multiple Customer Management (MCM), please follow this checklist carefully. Google’s approval systems are highly automated and strictly enforce their policies, so precision is key to avoiding delays.

Phase 1: Pre-Setup Verification​

Before accepting any invitations or creating new accounts, you must verify your current Google account status to avoid triggering duplicate account rejections.

  • Check if your app already has a Google account: If you are unsure whether a past team member already set up monetization, you can check your app's public record.
    • Navigate to the developer website listed on your app's App Store or Google Play Store page.
    • Add /app-ads.txt to the end of the URL in your browser (e.g., yourdomain.com/app-ads.txt).
    • Note: If the page loads and contains a line like google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, an active Google publisher account already exists for your app.
  • Locate the existing account owner: If the app-ads.txt file confirms an account exists, but your current team does not have the login, use these best practices to track down the owner before attempting to create a new account:
    • Follow the money: Check with your Finance or Accounting department. They will know where Google's monthly payout wire transfers are being routed or who processed the annual tax forms (1099s).
    • Check with IT: Ask your IT department to search the company's email server logs for historic emails from admanager-noreply@google.com, adsense-noreply@google.com, or admob-noreply@google.com.
    • Audit shared aliases: Test logging into Google using common organizational emails that may have been used for setup (e.g., admin@, dev@, info@, or finance@).
    • Ask legacy partners: Reach out to the original development team, outsourced app agencies, or previous product managers who launched the app.
  • Do not create a new account if one exists: Creating a second account with the same company name, address, or bank info will cause a duplicate account flag, pausing all monetization efforts until resolved. You must use the login credentials associated with the existing account to accept the MCM invite.
  • Locate your legal documents: Ensure you have digital copies of your official government-issued business registration and tax documents. The name on these documents must precisely match the name you will enter in GAM.

Phase 2: Accepting the MCM Invitation​

Once you have confirmed your account status and secured the correct login credentials, you are ready to connect with our parent network.

  • Wait for the official email: We will trigger an MCM invitation from our Google Ad Manager account. Look for an email from admanager-noreply@google.com.

  • Use the correct email address: Click the link in the email and log in. If you are setting up a net-new account, use an organizational email address (e.g., monetization@yourcompany.com or finance@yourcompany.com) rather than a personal employee email to prevent lockouts if an employee leaves the company.

  • Select a "Business" account type: When prompted during a new setup, ensure you select a Business/Organization account, not an Individual account. Individual accounts cannot add multiple users (like your finance team) later.

Phase 3: Identity & Payment Verification​

Google requires strict identity verification before ads can serve or payments can be disbursed.

  • Add your Finance team (if applicable): If a developer or project manager accepted the invite, they should navigate to the Google Payments Center (pay.google.com), click "Settings," select "Manage payments users," and invite the primary financial controller with "Admin" permissions.

  • Complete Identity Verification: The authorized user must upload the required government ID and official business documents.

  • Prepare for Address Verification (PIN): Double-check the physical mailing address entered in the payment profile. Google will mail a physical postcard with a PIN to this address once your earnings cross a minimum threshold. Ads will be suspended if this PIN is not entered within a few months of it being sent.

Phase 4: Technical Setup (ads.txt / app-ads.txt)​

To authorize us to sell your ad inventory, you must update your public seller files.

  • Add our Publisher ID: We will provide you with a specific line of text containing our network's Google Publisher ID. This will be provided after your account has been fully completed; if not provided to you, feel free to check with us for an update.
  • Update your file: Add this exact line of text to your website's ads.txt file or your app's app-ads.txt file.
  • Verify live status: Ensure the updated file is publicly accessible at the root domain of your website (e.g., yourdomain.com/ads.txt for websites, or yourdomain.com/app-ads.txt for apps). Google’s crawlers will routinely check this file.
    • Confirm that the file has been updated for both https:// and https://www.