I'm so hyped. Managed to get my Claude desktop app connected to Google Ads. How? Via MCP. This whole article is dedicated to how you can set this up for yourself.
Step 1: Get Google Ads API Access (5 minutes)
Go to Google Cloud Console, create a new project, search for "Google Ads API" and enable it. Go to "Credentials" → "Create Credentials" → "OAuth Client ID", select "Desktop Application", download the client_secret.json file.
Step 2: Get Google Ads Developer Token (1-3 business days)
Sign in to Google Ads, click the wrench icon (Tools & Settings). Under "Setup" click "API Center", accept the Terms of Service, click "Apply for token", fill out the form, submit and wait for approval.
Step 3: Install Required Software (5 minutes)
Install Python (3.11+, check "Add Python to PATH"), Node.js from nodejs.org, and Claude Desktop from anthropic.com.
Step 4: Download the Google Ads Tool (2 minutes)
Go to the mcp-google-ads GitHub repository, click "Code" → "Download ZIP", unzip to a convenient location.
Step 5: Set Up the Tool
Navigate to the folder in Terminal, create a virtual environment, activate it, and install requirements with pip install -r requirements.txt.
Step 6: Connecting Claude to Google Ads (5 minutes)
Edit Claude's config JSON, paste the configuration, replace paths to Python, google_ads_server.py, credentials file, developer token, and manager account ID. Save and reboot Claude Desktop.
Try it out
Try prompts like:
- "Can you run a YoY analysis of my Search campaigns"
- "Which Ads have the highest CTR?"
- "Show me my Google Ads accounts"
What used to take me 2 hours each morning now takes 5 minutes. I ask Claude to summarize performance, flag anomalies, and suggest optimizations. It's like having a senior analyst on call 24/7.
