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- the official successor to the Content API for Shopping.
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Administer an existing account
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Summary
You can use the following steps to manage an existing merchant account. This
might be your own merchant account, or a client's merchant account.
Manual steps
Here are the ways you can administer a sub-account:
- Administrative user (recommended)
- If you need to use the Merchant Center UI, the
merchant can add your Google account as an administrative user for their
Merchant Center account.
- Service account (recommended)
- If you don't need the Merchant Center UI, you can authenticate through
a service account, then add the service account ID
as a user on the merchant's account.
- Full management (not recommended)
We recommend one of the preceding options unless you only need to manage one
sub-account.
If the merchant wants you to fully manage their Merchant Center account and
you have an MCA, you can do the following:
- Gather the IDs for your MCA and for the merchant's account.
- In the top right menu bar, click the ? question mark > Help center
and support > Contact us.
Request to convert the merchant's account to a sub-account of your MCA,
and provide the ID of your MCA account and the ID of the merchant's
account.
You can contact Google again to undo this process.
Automatic steps
You can use the Content API for Shopping to request, approve, and remove links
between your MCA and other Merchant accounts. Here are the steps:
- Use the Content API for Shopping and
authenticate as an OAuth2 client.
- Request a link to another
Merchant account.
- Ask the merchant to
approve the link.
You can also use the Content API for Shopping to
list and
remove existing links.
Your Shopping solution can present the merchant with a consent screen to give
your OAuth2 application access to their merchant account.
This process still requires use of the Google API Console UI.
See Using OAuth for more details and sample code.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eManage existing merchant accounts through administrative user or service account access for utilizing the Merchant Center UI or API respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFull management is discouraged; if necessary, contact Google support to convert the merchant's account to a sub-account.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAutomate account linking using the Content API for Shopping to request, approve, and remove connections.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eObtain merchant consent via a screen within your Shopping solution for your application's access to their account.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Administer an existing account\n\nSummary\n-------\n\nYou can use the following steps to manage an existing merchant account. This\nmight be your own merchant account, or a client's merchant account.\n\nManual steps\n------------\n\nHere are the ways you can administer a sub-account:\n\nAdministrative user (recommended)\n: If you need to use the [Merchant Center UI](https://merchants.google.com), the\n merchant can add your Google account as an administrative user for their\n Merchant Center account.\n\nService account (recommended)\n: If you don't need the Merchant Center UI, you can authenticate through\n [a service account](/shopping-content/guides/how-tos/service-accounts), then add the service account ID\n as a user on the merchant's account.\n\nFull management (not recommended)\n\n: We recommend one of the preceding options unless you only need to manage one\n sub-account.\n\n If the merchant wants you to fully manage their Merchant Center account and\n you have an MCA, you can do the following:\n\n 1. Gather the IDs for your MCA and for the merchant's account.\n 2. In the top right menu bar, click the **?** question mark **\\\u003e Help center\n and support \\\u003e Contact us**.\n 3. Request to convert the merchant's account to a sub-account of your MCA,\n and provide the ID of your MCA account and the ID of the merchant's\n account.\n\n You can contact Google again to undo this process.\n\nAutomatic steps\n---------------\n\nYou can use the Content API for Shopping to request, approve, and remove links\nbetween your MCA and other Merchant accounts. Here are the steps:\n\n1. Use the Content API for Shopping and [authenticate as an OAuth2 client](/shopping-content/guides/how-tos/authorizing).\n2. [Request a link](/shopping-content/guides/flagging/request) to another Merchant account.\n3. Ask the merchant to [approve the link](/shopping-content/guides/flagging/approve).\n\nYou can also use the Content API for Shopping to\n[list](/shopping-content/guides/flagging/list) and\n[remove](/shopping-content/guides/flagging/remove) existing links.\n\nYour Shopping solution can present the merchant with a consent screen to give\nyour OAuth2 application access to their merchant account.\n\nThis process still requires use of the [Google API Console](//console.developers.google.com/) UI.\n\nSee [Using OAuth](/shopping-content/guides/how-tos/authorizing#OAuth2Authorizing) for more details and sample code."]]
