Managing user access in Merchant Center for Agencies

Merchant Center for Agencies provides a centralized system to manage client account connections and team permissions in one place. It is designed to fit a variety of organizational structures, ranging from providing designated team members full access to more specific controls for specific client accounts.

On this page

• About Merchant Center for Agencies
• How the Agency Admin role works
• Manage Agency users
• Manage client account connections
  • Automatic account linking
  • Request access to a Merchant Center account
• Agency account set up options
• How to use “Labels” for advanced client account access
• Frequently asked questions

About Merchant Center for Agencies

This feature introduces 2 key user types on the Merchant Center for Agencies account:

Admin users with comprehensive control and capabilities within the agency account:

• Full access: Automatically gets access to all linked accounts.
• User management: Can add or remove users from agency accounts.
• Account linking: Can link and unlink Merchant Center accounts and request or approve links from the agency account to Merchant Center accounts you already own, all from the "All accounts" page.
• Provisioning: Can grant linked account access to agency employees (Standard users) through "Labels".

Standard users with a focused access level:

• Limited access: Can only view portfolios for accounts they have been explicitly granted access to by an admin user.
• Account linking: Standard users can only link accounts they have user-based access to. They can't link a new account.

This article will show you how to manage account access in Merchant Center for Agencies as an Agency Admin.

How the Agency Admin role works

Agency account user roles

There are 2 primary user roles within your Agency Merchant Center account:

• Admin: Users with the Admin role have full control of the Merchant Center for Agencies account.
  The following are the capabilities associated with the Admin role:
  • Create and manage roles for other agency users.
  • Link client Merchant Center accounts and unlink the existing accounts.
  • Default access to all client accounts linked to the agency.
  • Provision and modify access of Standard users to client Merchant Center accounts, which includes labels.
• Standard user: Users with the Standard and performance and insights role have a limited set of capabilities that focuses on day-to-day client management, as permitted by the Admin.
  The following are the capabilities associated with the Standard role:
  • Viewership and access to client accounts.
    Keep in mind: This capability is only available when clients grant access through labels or direct assignment.
  • Ability to view the labels associated with client accounts.
    Keep in mind: This capability is only available when they have been granted access.
  • Ability to view other agency users who have access to the same client accounts through shared labels.

Client account access levels

Client accounts also have varying levels of access. When an agency user accesses a client’s Merchant Center account, their permissions within that specific client account can be set to:

• Admin: The Admin has full access and control within that specific client's Merchant Center account. For example, managing data sources, users, and settings for that client.
• Standard  and performance and insights: The Standard user has view-only or limited editing capabilities within that specific client's Merchant Center account.

Manage Agency users

For users with access to the Agency Admin role, you can control who has access to your agency’s Merchant Center account and its linked client accounts. Continue reading to learn more about how to create a new Agency user and remove an Agency user.

Create a new Agency user

1. In your agency’s Merchant Center account, go to the “People and Access” page.
2. Select Add person.
3. Submit an email address for the person you would like to add.
4. Select 2 levels of access for the new user:
   • For the “Agency Account Access”: Select their role within your your agency’s Merchant Center:
     • Admin: Full control over the agency account
     • Standard: Limited capabilities within the agency account
   • For the “Client Account Access” (used for Standard agency users): Select the default level of access the user will have to client accounts:
     • Admin: Agency Admin users receive Admin access to all linked accounts by default.
     • Standard + performance and insights: Standard agency users' access is granted to specific client accounts. This is managed through “Labels” or by granting Standard agency users access to all accounts.

Remove an Agency user

1. In your agency’s Merchant Center account, go to the “People and Access” page.
2. Find the user that you intend to remove and select Manage.
3. Here, you will be directed to the “Agency user” access page.
4. In the “Status” section, select Remove user.

Manage client account connections

Link a client Merchant Center account

As an Agency Admin, you can link client Merchant Center accounts. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. In your agency’s Merchant Center account, go to the “All client accounts” page and select Add an account.
2. Fill in the text field for the Merchant Center ID with the client’s Merchant Center ID.
3. Select Next to initiate the process to link a client account.

Link a multi-client account (MCA)

• You can link a client’s MCA using the same process as a single Merchant Center account.
• Sub-accounts within the linked MCA may inherit labels assigned at the MCA (parent) level.
• You can also assign additional specific labels to individual sub-accounts.
• View and manage sub-account links and labels within the MCA view in your agency Merchant Center account.

Unlink a client Merchant Center account

1. In your agency’s Merchant Center account, go to the “All client accounts” page.
2. Find the client account you wish to unlink.
3. Select the “Unlink” icon in the “Remove link” column.

Automatic account linking

Automatic account linking is a simplified way to connect your agency's account with a merchant's account. The connection is automatically approved if the requester is already an Admin on the merchant's account.

Accounts that have been automatically linked will appear in the “All client accounts” page in your Merchant Center for Agencies account. Follow the steps below to automatically link merchant center accounts:

1. In your Merchant Center for Agencies account, go to the “All client accounts” page.
2. Select Add account for each of the merchant accounts you’d like to link.
3. Choose the access type.
4. Select Request link to complete linking for the merchant’s account.

Request access to a Merchant Center account

To manage a client's account, you must first initiate a linking request from your agency account.

1. When you start the request, you must specify which of the 2 access levels your agency requires:
   • Admin: Grants your agency full administrative control over the client's Merchant Center account.
   • Standard + performance and insights: Provides Standard account access combined with visibility into performance metrics.
2. After you send the request, the administrator of the merchant's Merchant Center account must approve it. They will be notified of your pending request in 2 separate locations:
   • Through email
   • Through the “People and access” page under the "Partners" table
3. The merchant administrator can either approve or reject your request.
   • If Approved: Your agency receives the exact access level (Admin or Standard + performance and insights) that you originally requested.
   • If Rejected: Your agency administrator view in the “All client accounts" tab will update to show the request status as "Rejected".

Managing account linking and user visibility

How merchants manage access

The client retains control over the connection at the agency level, not the agency user level. They can view all linked partners (including your agency) and remove access at any time by going to the "Partners" section of the "People and Access" page.

Agency account set up options

Universal setup

• All team members are added as “Admin" users to the agency account.
• This automatically grants every user full access to all linked client accounts.
• Best for: Small agencies where all team members need access to every client, and granular permission settings are not required.

Permission control setup

• A subset of employees are designated as “Admin” access, while others are “Standard” access.
• For Standard users, client account access will be either “Admin all client account access” or “Standard all client account access”.
• This automatically grants all employees comprehensive access to all associated client accounts.
• Best for: Small to medium-sized agencies where all team members require access to every client, but a controlled level of administrative access is desired.

Advanced setup (role-based access with labels)

This setup is ideal for agencies that require more granular control over user permissions.

• Create “Labels” and assign them to specific groups of client accounts.
• This allows you to assign “Standard” users to specific labels, granting them access to only a subset of client accounts.
• Best for: Larger agencies that need to manage which team members can access specific client accounts.

How to use “Labels” for advanced client account access

How “Labels” work

Labels are crucial for providing Standard agency users with access to specific client accounts, rather than all of them. Agency Admins have access to all client accounts by default and are not restricted by labels.

Create and assign “Labels” to client accounts

Users with Agency Admin access are able to create labels within their Merchant Center account. Examples of a “Label” could be “High priority” or “Clients – Region West”. From here, Agency Admins can apply these labels to client accounts.

Grant users access through “Labels”

Users with Agency Admin can assign Standard Agency users to one or more “Labels”. Standard Agency users that are granted access through “Labels” will have access to all client accounts that share a label they are assigned to.

Effective access

A Standard user's permissions within a client account are determined by the client account access level (Admin or Standard) defined for them.

The overall agency access level to that client is the ultimate limit.

Manage labels

In your Merchant Center agency account, users with Agency Admin access can assign or change labels for different users. You can modify which labels are assigned to a Standard user, which allows Agency Admins to control which client accounts Standard users have access to. This can be done individually or in bulk.

Edit label details

In your Merchant Center agency account, you can further manage your “Labels” by editing or deleting them.

Editing labels:

You can edit the name or description of existing labels.

Deleting labels:

Deleting a label will remove that specific tag from all client accounts and revoke access for any users whose access was solely based on that label. Keep in mind that a confirmation is usually required before deleting a label.

Things to keep in mind

Multi-client accounts (MCAs)

• When you link a client's MCA to your agency account, labels can be applied at the parent MCA level. Sub-accounts within that MCA can inherit these labels.
• You also have the flexibility to apply different or additional labels directly to individual sub-accounts within the MCA, overriding or supplementing the inherited labels. This allows for detailed control even within complex client structures.
• Agency admins can view and manage these links and labels for both the parent MCA and its individual sub-accounts from the agency Merchant Center account.

Frequently asked questions

What is the new access model for Merchant Center for Agencies?

What challenges does the new model address?

What are the benefits of the new access model?

How do access levels and permissions work in the new model?