Permissions you need to connect and launch

Snifferdog launches campaigns through your own ad accounts, using each platform's official connection. It can only do what your login is allowed to do. If your login can view an ad account but not create ads in it, Snifferdog can't launch there either.

Most connection problems come down to one of three things: the wrong access level, an account that isn't assigned to you, or an account owned by someone else's business.

The short version

• Google Ads: Standard or Admin access to the ad account.
• Meta: full control of the Facebook Page, and access to the ad account that lets you manage campaigns. Instagram must be in the same business portfolio as the Page.
• TikTok: Admin or Operator permission on the ad account.
• Microsoft Advertising: Super Admin, Standard User or Advertiser Campaign Manager.

Read-only roles, such as Google's Read-only, TikTok's Analyst and Microsoft's Viewer, can't launch campaigns.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

Meta checks your access at three levels: the business portfolio (formerly Business Manager), each asset in it, and the ad account.

What you need

• Business portfolio: full control or partial access.
• Facebook Page: full control. Partial access isn't enough to connect a Page to Instagram or to run ads from it.
• Instagram account: full control or partial access. It must be a professional (Business or Creator) account, and it must sit in the same business portfolio as the Page it's linked to.
• Ad account: full control, or partial access that includes managing campaigns. It needs a valid payment method.

Being an admin of the business portfolio doesn't automatically give you access to every asset in it. You also need to be assigned to the Page, Instagram account and ad account.

Troubleshooting

• "Additional access is required to connect": Meta needs you to have full control of both the Page and the business portfolio before it will link the Page to Instagram. Switch into the Page, go to Settings, then Page setup, then Page access, to see who has full control and ask them to give it to you.
• Your Instagram account doesn't appear: check it's a professional account, that it's been added to your business portfolio, and that you're assigned to it. To add it, go to Business settings, then Accounts, then Instagram accounts, and log in with the Instagram details. An Instagram account can only belong to one business portfolio at a time, and a Page can only link to one Instagram account.
• Your ad account or Page doesn't appear: in Business settings, check whether it's owned by your portfolio or only shared from another one, and assign yourself to it.
• Something is still missing after connecting: when you sign in through Snifferdog, Meta asks which businesses, Pages, Instagram accounts and ad accounts to share. If you skipped one, remove Snifferdog under Business Integrations in your Facebook settings, then connect again and tick everything you need.

Google Ads

What you need

• Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Read-only, Billing and Email-only access can't create campaigns.
• A valid payment method on the account.
• If you use a manager account, it must be linked to the client account, and you need Standard or Admin access to the manager account.

Troubleshooting

• The account doesn't appear: check you signed in with the same Google account that has access. Many people have more than one. Also check you've accepted the invitation email.
• You can see the account but can't launch: ask an Admin on the account to change your access to Standard or Admin, under Admin, then Access and security.
• Only your manager account appears: manager accounts can't run ads themselves. Choose the client account underneath it in the client's profile.
• Campaigns are blocked after launch: Google may ask you to complete advertiser verification. Users with Admin access can do this in Google Ads.

TikTok

What you need

• Admin or Operator permission on the ad account. Analysts can view ads and reports but can't create or edit ads.
• If the ad account is in a Business Center, you must be assigned to it there. Standard members only see accounts they've been assigned.
• An approved ad account with a valid payment method.

Troubleshooting

• The ad account doesn't appear: ask a Business Center admin to assign it to you with Admin or Operator permission.
• The ad account belongs to another business: a Business Center admin can request access using the ad account ID. Whoever owns the account then approves it in TikTok Ads Manager. If one person created the account outside a Business Center, that person needs to approve.
• Campaigns don't start: new TikTok ad accounts must be reviewed and approved before ads can run. Check the account status in TikTok Ads Manager.

Microsoft Advertising

What you need

• A Super Admin, Standard User or Advertiser Campaign Manager role. Viewers can't make changes.
• Advertiser Campaign Managers only see the accounts they've been given, so check the right account is included.
• A valid payment method and, where Microsoft asks for it, completed Advertiser Identity Verification.

Troubleshooting

• The account doesn't appear: check you signed in with the same Microsoft account that was invited. Work and personal Microsoft accounts are separate.
• You can't change someone's access: only Super Admins and Standard Users can invite people, and only a Super Admin can add or change another Super Admin.
• Ads don't serve: if Advertiser Identity Verification shows as pending, your ads may not run in some regions, including the EU. Complete it in Microsoft Advertising.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is coming to Snifferdog soon. We'll add its permissions here when it launches.

If nobody knows who owns the account

This is common when a former employee or agency set the account up. Try these in order:

1. Find out who has access. Each platform lists the people with access. On Meta, check Page access and People in Business settings. On Google, Microsoft and TikTok, check the account's user or member list.
2. Ask them to give you access. If you can still reach them, it usually takes them a couple of minutes.
3. Ask the platform. If nobody listed can be reached, contact the platform's support with proof that you run the business, such as company documents and a utility bill or bank statement showing the business name and address. On Meta, start with requesting full control of a business portfolio.
4. Start fresh if you need to. As a last resort, create a new ad account you own. You'll lose the old account's history, but you can launch straight away.

After you change access

Go to Settings, then Platform Connections, disconnect the platform and connect it again. This refreshes what Snifferdog can see. Then choose the ad account in the client's profile.

Still stuck? Email hello@gyregimble.co.uk with the platform, the exact error message and a screenshot or screen recording, and we'll take a look.

Read more: Meta business portfolio permissions, Google Ads access levels, TikTok Business Center permissions, Microsoft Advertising user roles.