How the Connect tool handles your Google data

Last updated October 12, 2026 · Questions: hello@themarketingref.com

What this tool is

The Marketing Ref runs analytics audits ("Tracking Audits") for businesses that hire us. The Connect tool lets a client grant temporary, read-only access so we can review how their Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager and Google Ads accounts are configured.

What we access

• Google Analytics 4 (analytics.readonly): property settings, data streams, key events, custom definitions, product links, and aggregated event and channel counts for the last 30 days.
• Google Tag Manager (tagmanager.readonly): the published version of the container you choose — tags, triggers and variables.
• Google Ads (adwords): conversion actions, conversion settings and aggregated 30-day conversion totals for the account you choose. Google offers no read-only Ads permission; the tool only performs read queries.
• Your email address (email): to record which login granted access.

We do not access user-level or personally identifiable data about your customers, and we never change anything in your accounts.

How long access lasts

We request a short-lived access token only — no refresh token. It is held encrypted in your browser session (never stored in our database) and is revoked through Google's revocation endpoint immediately after the one-time pull. If you leave before the pull, it expires within one hour. You can also confirm or remove access any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

How the data is used and stored

The configuration we pull is stored in our private database and used only to produce your audit, tracking map and recommendations. It is not sold, shared with third parties, or used for advertising, and it is not used to train AI models. We delete it on request; email hello@themarketingref.com.

The Marketing Ref's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.