How to connect Google Ads to Claude

MCP Tutorial

This tutorial walks you through connecting Google Ads to Claude via the Porter Metrics MCP server. You’ll learn how to authenticate, query data, and build automated workflows.

Why connect Google Ads to Claude?

Use cases

Campaign performance analysis

When to use this: ROAS optimization, Shopping and PMax campaign analysis, and creative fatigue detection.

Ask Claude to pull conversion data by campaign, compare CTR trends, or identify underperforming ad groups. The MCP server returns structured data that Claude can visualize as tables or charts.

Budget optimization

Query spend vs. budget by campaign, detect overspend patterns, and get recommendations for bid adjustments. Claude can simulate “what-if” scenarios based on historical performance.

Keyword research & expansion

Extract top-performing keywords, analyze search term reports, and discover negative keyword opportunities. Claude can cluster keywords by theme and suggest new ad groups.

Competitive benchmarking

Compare your impression share, average CPC, and quality score against industry benchmarks. Claude can flag metrics that deviate significantly from expected ranges.

Automated reporting

Schedule recurring prompts that pull the latest Google Ads data and format it into executive summaries. Combine with other MCP servers (e.g., Slack, Notion) to distribute reports automatically.

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop (macOS/Windows) or Claude Code installed.
• A Google Ads account with API access enabled.
• Manager account (MCC) recommended for multi-account access.
• OAuth 2.0 credentials configured in Google Cloud Console.
• Basic familiarity with Google Ads concepts (campaigns, ad groups, keywords, metrics).

Step-by-step setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "porter-google-ads": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@portermetrics/mcp-google-ads"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code unlocks

Prompts you can copy

“Show me a summary of all active campaigns this month: impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, conversions, CPA, and ROAS. Flag any campaign with CPA 20% above target.”

“Analyze my Search campaign keyword performance. Group by match type, show CTR and conversion rate, and suggest keywords to pause or add as negative.”

“Compare my Google Ads performance week-over-week for the last 4 weeks. Highlight trends in impressions, CTR, and conversion rate.”

“Build a budget pacing report: current spend vs. monthly budget by campaign, projected end-of-month spend, and recommendations for budget reallocation.”

“Pull my Google Ads auction insights report. Show impression share, overlap rate, and outranking share for my top 3 competitors.”

“Generate a Google Ads Quality Score analysis: break down by keyword, show landing page experience, ad relevance, and expected CTR. Identify low-QS keywords to optimize.”

“Create a weekly Google Ads performance summary for my team Slack. Include top-line metrics, biggest movers (up/down), and 3 actionable recommendations.”

“Find my Google Ads campaigns with declining performance: compare last 14 days vs. previous 14 days for CTR, conversion rate, and CPA. Flag campaigns needing attention.”

“Build a Google Ads audience analysis: show performance by demographic, device, and location. Suggest bid adjustments for underperforming segments.”

Troubleshooting

Authentication errors

If you see “Authentication failed” or “Token expired”:

• Re-authenticate via the OAuth flow in Claude Desktop.
• Check that your Google Cloud project has the Google Ads API enabled.
• Verify your developer token is valid and not expired.

Rate limiting

The Google Ads API has rate limits per developer token. If you hit limits:

• Reduce query frequency or batch multiple requests.
• Upgrade your API access tier in Google Ads.

Data discrepancies

If MCP data doesn’t match the Google Ads UI:

• Ensure you’re querying the same date range and attribution model.
• Check for data freshness delays — Google Ads data can lag 3–24 hours.
• Verify account timezone settings match between API and UI.

Missing metrics

Some metrics require specific report types or segments:

• Quality Score data requires KEYWORDS_PERFORMANCE_REPORT.
• Conversion value requires conversion tracking setup.
• Cross-account data requires MCC-level authentication.

FAQ