MCM Invitation Not Received, Expired or Stuck: What to Check

Multiple Customer Management (MCM) is how a publisher gets Ad Exchange (AdX) access through a partner: the partner, called the parent, sends an invitation and you, the child, accept it. When that invitation does not arrive, will not accept, or quietly expires, the whole process stalls. This guide covers the checks to run for each case, based on Google's Ad Manager help center. If you are new to the model, read how MCM works first. You will also see searchers call the Manage Account route an "MA account" or "MA approval"; it is the same thing.

Where invitations appear and who can accept them

An MCM invitation is sent from the parent's Ad Manager network to yours. Google's invite instructions show that the parent enters three things about you: a unique name, a unique email address, and your Ad Manager network code. Ad Manager then sends an email invitation that includes the parent's network name and ID.

You can act on it in two places:

• The email. The link in the email opens the Ad Manager admin page where you can approve or reject the request.
• Inside Ad Manager. Go to Admin > Multiple Customer Management to see requests from parent publishers, click the network name, then click Approve or Reject.

To check status as a child, go to Admin > Multiple Customer Management > Parent publishers and look at "Invitation status". Google lists four values:

Google notes that Ad Manager navigation is being updated in phases, so the menu may be labeled slightly differently in your account.

Who can accept matters. Google's help center says an admin user (or a technical account manager) can accept or decline an MCM invitation. If you log in with a user that has a limited role, you may see nothing to approve.

Not received: wrong network code or wrong Google account

If your partner says the invitation was sent and you cannot find it, check these in order:

1. The network code. Find yours under Admin > Global settings > Network settings and compare it digit by digit with what the partner entered. A single wrong digit means the request is not addressed to your network.
2. The email address. The invitation email goes to the address the parent typed. Check that it is the one you use, and look in spam and promotions folders.
3. The Google Account you are signed into. Many publishers have more than one Google Account. If you open Ad Manager with an account that is not a user on the invited network, you will not see the request. Sign in with the account that has admin access to the right network.
4. Whether you have an Ad Manager network yet. Inviting by network code requires that network to exist. If you are still setting up, finish creating the account first and share the new code. Our guide to why an account may not be ready yet covers common setup blockers.
5. The status on the parent's side. Ask the partner what their Child publishers list shows. If it says Pending, the invitation exists and the problem is on your side. If it says Inactive, it may have been withdrawn or expired.

Can't accept: role permissions and account standing

Sometimes the invitation is visible but will not go through. Two things usually explain it.

Your user role. As above, Google says an admin user can accept or decline. If your login is not an Administrator on the network, ask whoever owns the account to accept, or to give you the right role under Admin > Access & authorization > Users.

Your account standing. Google's MCM policies require that both the parent and the child have an active Ad Manager account in good standing. The readiness log Google shows parents lists several account states that block onboarding, including:

• Account pending (still waiting for Google's approval);
• Closed for a policy violation or for invalid activity;
• Closed by the publisher, or deactivated by Ad Manager;
• Disapproved as ineligible, or as a duplicate account.

If your account is in one of these states, accepting the invitation will not move things forward. The account issue has to be resolved first, where that is possible. Google's policies also say that child inventory must not have been previously disapproved by Google, so a site with a disapproval history may not be eligible even under a new partner.

Expired: the 90-day limit and asking for a new one

Google gives a child publisher 90 days to accept or decline an invitation. After that, the status changes to expired and MCM readiness shows Inactive.

The fix is simple: ask the partner to resend. Google's instructions for parents say they can click Resend invitation at the bottom of the child publisher's detail page, which restarts the 90-day period. An invitation that was declined or withdrawn can also be renegotiated and sent again.

If the invitation was withdrawn while it was still pending, Google notes that the old invitation link stops working. Do not keep clicking an old email; wait for the new one.

Blocked: you already have a Manage Account parent, or you are a parent yourself

Some invitations cannot be accepted because of how MCM relationships are structured. Google's rules:

• One Manage Account parent. A child publisher can have only one parent with the Manage Account delegation. If you already accepted one, a second Manage Account invitation from a different partner is blocked.
• Manage Inventory parents can be added alongside. A child can have a Manage Account parent and Manage Inventory parents at the same time. Google's MCM policies also note that Google may limit the number of parents a child can appoint.
• Not the same parent twice. The same parent cannot manage a child under both delegation types.
• One parent per piece of inventory. Any given child inventory can only be managed, represented or sold by one parent. Two partners cannot both represent the same site.
• A child cannot also be a parent. If your Ad Manager network is already set up as a parent managing other publishers, it cannot also be a child.

If you are switching partners, the current agreement must end first. For Manage Inventory, Google says either side can end the agreement at any time after acceptance, and that delegated inventory then stops serving ads while your own inventory and inventory handled by other parents keeps serving. Plan the handover so the gap is short.

Changing terms means a new invitation

A common reason for a "stuck" invitation is that someone wants to change the terms partway through. MCM does not allow edits to a live proposal.

• Before acceptance. Google tells parents that to change the proposal, they must withdraw the invitation (so the child's status becomes Inactive) and send a new one.
• After acceptance. Revenue shares cannot be updated within an existing Manage Account agreement. Google says the parent must end the agreement and send a new invitation with the new proposed auto-payment percentage.

So if your partner mentions new terms, expect a fresh invitation, and expect the old one to stop working. Read the percentage in the new email carefully before you approve. In Manage Account, the agreed share applies to Google monetization revenue from your Ad Exchange account, which Google defines as Preferred Deals, Programmatic Guaranteed, Private Auctions, Open Bidding and Open Auctions. Once accepted, Google says payment preferences may take up to 24 hours to take effect.

After acceptance: readiness statuses

Accepting the invitation is not the finish line. Google tracks each child under MCM readiness with one of three statuses:

• Ready: all onboarding steps are complete and the child is ready to serve.
• Not ready: steps remain, such as account approval, identity verification or address verification.
• Inactive: the relationship is not active, for example because the invitation expired or the agreement ended.

The onboarding steps Google lists are the invitation, account approval, identity verification and address verification (by mailed PIN). Google says Manage Inventory children onboarded after April 3, 2024 are subject to identity and address verification, and that Manage Account children may show "Exempt" for address verification. Identity verification must be completed with your own legal name and documents, even when a partner receives part or all of the payments. If a verification shows Failed or Expired, onboarding is blocked until it is restarted.

Two timing points help set expectations:

• Google's invite page says the MCM child network approval process usually takes a few days, but in some cases 2 to 4 weeks.
• Site review is separate from MCM readiness and can run at the same time. You do not need to wait for full account readiness before sites are submitted.

Our AdSense to AdX timeline puts these steps in order, so you can see which ones overlap.

Next step

Most invitation problems come down to a handful of checks: the right network code, an admin login, an account in good standing, no conflicting parent, and acting within 90 days. If your account and site meet these points, you can request a review and, if eligible, receive an MCM invitation, subject to Google's policies.

Get AdX access or check the requirements first.