Google Ads MCP Server: Hosted, Read and Write

What a call looks like

These are real tool names from the live server, with the shape of what they return.

{
  "terms": [
    { "term": "free accounting template", "cost": 642.10, "conversions": 0, "clicks": 188 },
    { "term": "accountant salary",        "cost": 291.75, "conversions": 0, "clicks": 77 }
  ],
  "suggestion": "Both look like negative keyword candidates at the campaign level."
}

{
  "keyword_ideas": [
    { "keyword": "bookkeeping for contractors",   "avg_monthly_searches": 880, "competition": "MEDIUM", "low_bid": 4.12, "high_bid": 11.80 },
    { "keyword": "construction bookkeeping services", "avg_monthly_searches": 590, "competition": "HIGH", "low_bid": 5.40, "high_bid": 16.25 }
  ],
  "count": 2,
  "country_code": "US"
}

{
  "success": true,
  "resource_name": "customers/4821937755/campaigns/21904471882"
}

{
  "accounts": [
    { "customer_id": "9134472210", "name": "Acme Dental - Search", "currency": "USD", "status": "ENABLED", "is_manager": false },
    { "customer_id": "4821937755", "name": "Northside Bookkeeping", "currency": "USD", "status": "ENABLED", "is_manager": false }
  ],
  "total": 2
}

What you can do with it

MCP Ads exposes the Google Ads API as named tools, so each of these is a sentence rather than a report you build. Every tool name here is real; the catalogue is in the Google Ads tool reference.

• Reports — google_ads_account_overview, google_ads_campaign_performance, google_ads_ad_performance, google_ads_daily_trend, google_ads_device_breakdown, google_ads_geo_performance and google_ads_auction_insights
• Wasted-spend audits — google_ads_search_terms finds terms that spend without converting, google_ads_bulk_add_search_terms_as_negatives turns the ones you choose into negatives, and google_ads_budget_pacing flags campaigns running over
• Keyword research — google_ads_keyword_ideas for volumes, competition and top-of-page bids from seed terms, and google_ads_keyword_forecast for expected clicks and cost
• Campaign builds — google_ads_create_campaign, google_ads_create_adgroup, google_ads_add_keywords and google_ads_create_responsive_search_ad, all created paused
• MCC and multi-account — google_ads_list_mcc_clients, google_ads_find_account and every tool taking a customer_id, with several Google logins connectable at once

Connect Google Ads in three steps

There is nothing to install and no Google Cloud project to create. The whole setup is a URL and two sign-ins.

• Add the server to your AI client. In Claude or ChatGPT, add https://mcp-ads.com/mcp-slim as a custom connector; in Claude Code, run `claude mcp add --transport http mcp-ads https://mcp-ads.com/mcp-slim`; in Cursor, Codex or Gemini CLI, add the URL to the MCP config. OAuth opens in the browser — there is no API key.
• Connect Google Ads in the MCP Ads dashboard with the Google identity that already has access to the account or the MCC. No developer token, OAuth client or google-ads.yaml is needed; MCP Ads holds the API access.
• Ask a read-only question first, such as "give me an overview of this account for the last 30 days". Start the 7-day free trial at pricing if you have not already.

Google's Google Ads MCP compared

Google publishes its own open-source Google Ads MCP server, and for some people it is the right choice. The differences are practical, not a matter of quality:

• Hosting — Google's server is self-hosted: you run it on your own machine or infrastructure. MCP Ads is hosted; you add a URL to your client.
• Reading and writing — Google's server is read-only: it reports on the account but cannot change it. MCP Ads reads and writes: negatives, keywords, budgets, ads and campaigns, each behind your approval.
• Developer token — Google's server needs your own approved Google Ads developer token, along with the OAuth setup that goes with it. MCP Ads needs no developer token; you connect with a normal Google sign-in.
• Cost — Google's server is free. MCP Ads is $49/month or $490/year after a 7-day free trial, and its code is open source under the MIT licence at github.com/RoyAzran/mcp-ads.

Safety defaults

Google Ads writes spend real money, so the defaults are conservative. New campaigns, ad groups and Performance Max campaigns are created paused, and go live only when you enable them. Every write waits for your approval in the AI client, with the tool and its arguments shown before it runs. Budget changes are their own tool and are never made as a side effect of another request. A viewer-role user in your MCP Ads workspace can run every report and no writes, and google_ads_change_history shows what changed afterwards.

More than Google Ads in the same chat

The same connector carries GA4, Search Console, Google Tag Manager, Merchant Center, Meta Ads, TikTok, LinkedIn and Microsoft Advertising, all in one $49/month plan. That is what lets one prompt compare the conversions Google Ads claims with what GA4 records, or check that the GTM tag behind a conversion action is actually firing.