Google Products Test Workflows

Questions
1

Hi Community​:waving_hand:

I want to build Google Ads / GA4 report automation workflows, but I don’t have real Google Ads or GA4 accounts with actual data.

I tried using Google test accounts, but I couldn’t get proper API access or pull meaningful data from them.

What are the best ways to test such systems during the development stage if you don’t yet have production accounts?

I’m especially interested in:

  • Google Ads API testing without real ad spend
3

hey @Arman_Shamyan1
Both have official “test mode” paths, no real ad spend
needed. here’s what works:

for GA4 — use the google analytics demo account. google
provides two real production properties anyone can connect to
read-only:

  • google merchandise store (e-commerce)
  • flood-it! mobile game (app analytics)

join here: Demo account - Analytics Help

once joined, it shows up in your GA4 list. use your normal
oauth credential in n8n and the data api works fully — real
dimensions, metrics, date ranges.

for google ads — you mentioned test accounts didn’t work,
which usually means one of these:

  1. wrong dev token tier — for test MCC you need “test access”
    (instant approval). if you applied for basic access, that only
    works on real accounts.
  2. you tried converting a real account into test mode — won’t
    work. needs a fresh MCC with the test flag set at creation.
  3. the dev token wasn’t linked to the test MCC customer id in
    your api headers.

if you can share the exact error you got, i can pinpoint which
one tripped you up.

honest tip though — even when test MCC works, the dummy data is
pretty thin (2-3 fake campaigns, 1 month of metrics). for real
reporting automation testing, the better path is finding a small
business or freelance client running ads and asking for
read-only api access to their account:

  • they go to ads.google.com → tools → access & security → users
  • add your gmail as read-only
  • you can pull their real data via api without touching their
    spend

most small businesses agree to this in exchange for a free
monthly report. one real account = 100x more realistic data than
any sandbox.

are you building this for a client or for your own product?
changes which path makes more sense.

4

good day @Arman_Shamyan1

One extra approach I’d suggest is to separate extraction from reporting. While you wait for real Google Ads or GA4 access, mock the API response with sample JSON or a Google Sheet using the same fields you expect from the real API, such as campaign, clicks, cost, conversions, sessions, users, and revenue. Then you can build and test the reporting part first, including calculations, formatting, Google Sheets output, email delivery, scheduling, and error handling. Later, you only replace the mocked input with the real API response instead of rebuilding the whole workflow.

5

Thanky you for answer.

Here is a Error when i trying to connect credential “GA4” .

"n8n.cloud has not completed the Google verification process. The app is currently being tested, and can only be accessed by developer-approved testers. If you think you should have access, contact the developer.

If you are a developer of n8n.cloud, see error details.

Error 403: access_denied"

6

@Arman_Shamyan1 That error is something many n8n.cloud users hit with Google integrations! The message about n8n.cloud not completing Google verification means the built-in OAuth app for n8n.cloud hasn’t passed Google’s OAuth app review for restricted scopes like Analytics and Ads.

The fix that works reliably is to use your own Google OAuth app instead of the built-in n8n.cloud one. Here’s the quick path:

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console (console.cloud.google.com)
  2. Create a new project (or use an existing one)
  3. Enable the Google Analytics Data API and Google Ads API for your project
  4. Go to APIs & Services > Credentials > Create OAuth 2.0 Client ID
  5. Set Application type to Web application
  6. Add the authorized redirect URI: https://oauth.n8n.io/oauth2/callback
  7. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret
  8. In n8n, when creating a Google Analytics or Google Ads credential, switch to OAuth2 type and paste your own Client ID and Secret

With your own OAuth app, you won’t hit the verification wall. You’ll just see a warning saying the app isn’t verified, but since you’re the developer, you can click through it.

For the GA4 demo account approach that @Dharmendra_Kumar shared, that’s still a great idea once the credential is connected.

Hope this unblocks you! If it works, feel free to mark the most useful reply as Solution.