Companies running Google Ads campaigns overseas should take note: a new round of Google Ads security rules is about to take effect. This update directly affects account administrator permissions and will impact core tasks such as personnel management and asset linking for MCC managers. Some advertisers participating in the pilot program have already received official emails from Google, and the window for companies to make adjustments is very limited.
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It's not a login ban; it's a tightening of administrators' sensitive permissions.
Many people’s first reaction is to mistakenly assume that they will no longer be able to log in to the Google Ads dashboard using their personal Gmail account. It’s important to clarify a key distinction here: there are no restrictions on day-to-day campaign management.
Even if you log in to the backend using a free personal email account, such as Gmail or Yahoo, you can still set up ad campaigns, upload creative assets, view campaign data, and export reports as usual—your ad campaigns will not be interrupted.
The restrictions actually apply to top-level management actions related to account security. Once the pilot program takes effect on August 24, personal email accounts will no longer be able to perform the following actions:
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Add or unlink ad sub-accounts, and complete asset linking -
Add new team members, reclaim accounts, and adjust user administrator permissions
In other words, personal email accounts can be used as “advertising operators” but are no longer suitable for the role of MCC super admin. Many companies expanding overseas and agencies have long been accustomed to managing their entire MCC using personal Gmail accounts. Once the policy takes effect, they will find themselves unable to add new accounts or grant permissions to employees, which will directly disrupt their team’s operational workflow.
Corporate domain email has become an essential requirement for top-level account management.
Google has provided a very clear solution for this permission change. For any high-risk settings—such as adjusting account permissions or linking assets—you must log in using an email address from your company’s own domain, such as 也就是name@公司域名.com这类企业邮箱.
Going forward, when managing MCC manager accounts, a corporate email address will no longer be a bonus but a mandatory requirement. The platform hopes to leverage its corporate identity system to minimize the ripple effects of account theft.
The reasoning behind this:Account HijackingRampant; Risk Control Pressures Continue to Escalate
This new policy is not a temporary measure imposed by the platform; it is a defensive measure against the increasingly rampant ATO email hijacking attacks.
Hackers often use phishing tactics to steal personal email accounts. Once they gain access to an MCC administrator’s email, they can freely tamper with account permissions and misappropriate account balances. The most alarming consequence is that all sub-accounts under the MCC may be affected, leading to collective irregularities and risk control penalties.
In recent years, Google Ads has continued to tighten its risk control standards, and the number of suspended ad accounts has risen sharply in 2024. For businesses expanding overseas, account security has long been about more than just defending against hacker attacks; standardizing account identities is also a critical step in avoiding false positives by the platform and preventing mass account suspensions due to association. By centralizing high-risk administrative operations within the corporate email system, businesses can reduce the risk of a single point of compromise at the source—thereby preventing industry-wide incidents where a single breach leads to a complete collapse.
Four-Step Self-Check to Avoid Business Disruptions After the Policy Takes Effect
The pilot program is set to begin very soon. Don’t wait until the rules take effect to make last-minute adjustments—account permission transfers and identity verification all take time, and rushing through these steps can easily lead to problems. We recommend that advertising managers complete their internal reviews as soon as possible:
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List All Administrator Accounts
Compile a list of all accounts with administrator privileges in the MCC backend, distinguish between personal free email accounts and corporate domain email accounts, and flag high-risk accounts. -
Complete the transfer of administrative privileges
Prioritize replacing the MCC primary administrator with the company’s corporate email account, ensure a smooth handover of permissions, and verify that the new administrator can access all assets without issue. -
Review Permissions for Existing Quantum Accounts
Check the administrator settings for your subsidiary accounts at the same time and plan ahead for future adjustments; it is highly likely that the policy will eventually be rolled out to all accounts. -
Please keep an eye out for official email notifications
Advertisers on the pilot program list will receive a notification email from Google; once received, they should prioritize making the necessary corrections. Companies not included in the pilot program are also advised to develop contingency plans in advance.
Rules on overseas advertising platforms are changing with increasing frequency, and the underlying account management system is often the most overlooked aspect—yet one that has a significant impact on the big picture. Many companies expanding into international markets have run into trouble not because of violations in their ad creatives, but because of lax management of administrator accounts, which has led to a chain reaction of losses.
This channel will continue to monitor policy changes on major overseas advertising platforms such as Google, Meta, and TikTok, and provide practical interpretations tailored to the needs of Chinese companies expanding into international markets.
