Account linking means connecting the analytics tool with advertising systems, webmaster tools and other services. It brings three things: more detailed campaign performance data directly in analytics, the ability to create audiences based on on-site behaviour and use them in advertising, and conversion transfer for automated campaign management. Two things need attention when setting it up. The first is ownership – all accounts should be held under the company's own account, with the supplier given access to it, not the other way round. The second is compliance with data protection rules, because linking means passing visitor data to another party, which must be covered by a legal basis, information provided to the visitors and consent settings.
See also: Ownership of advertising accounts, Consent mode in analytics, Customer lists in advertising.
