What Is Google MCM? A Plain-English Guide for Publishers

If you have looked into Ad Exchange, you have probably met the acronym MCM. It stands for Multiple Customer Management, and it is the framework Google uses to let one company manage ad inventory for many publishers inside Google Ad Manager.

Parents and children

Google describes MCM as a feature that lets parent publishers manage inventory and accounts for child publishers. The parent is a partner such as Holuron that runs an Ad Manager 360 network. The child is the website, app or CTV publisher.

A child publisher still needs its own Ad Manager account. Google explains that this account is what uniquely identifies the child's inventory, even though day-to-day work is done with the parent.

The two delegation types

MCM comes in two flavors, which Google covers on its delegation types page.

Manage Account

• The parent gets edit access inside the child's own Ad Manager network.
• The child keeps using its own ad tags.
• The child keeps permissions and access to all settings.
• A child can have only one Manage Account parent.

Manage Inventory

• The child delegates inventory to the parent.
• Inventory is monetized in the parent's network, using the parent's tags with the child's identifier.
• The parent does not get access to the child's account.

A child can have one Manage Account parent and several Manage Inventory parents, but not both types from the same parent.

How money flows

The parent and child agree on a revenue share up front. Google then handles payment through auto-payment, and says payment information is usually ready around the 15th of each month. For Manage Account, Google also requires identity verification of the child's payments profile.

How a child joins

1. The parent sends an invitation.
2. An Administrator in the child network reviews it under Multiple Customer Management in Ad Manager, or from the link in the invitation email.
3. The child approves, completes any verification, and the relationship becomes active.

Who supports you

Google says child publishers should go to their MCM parent for support. That makes the choice of parent important: you want a partner that answers quickly and explains its policies clearly.

Where Holuron fits

Holuron is a Google MCM partner that onboards web, app and CTV publishers to AdX. Before an invitation is sent, ADX Approval reviews your Ad Manager network for Holuron to confirm it meets the program's requirements.

If MCM sounds like the right model for your network, the first step with us is a review, not a contract. Apply for an account review and we'll take it from there.