Here's one for 'ya...

So...the general opinion is that, as an agency or developer working with multiple clients google accounts, we should setup one account per client that houses things like Webmaster Tools and Analytics (probably the only two that most people really use/need). Now I am still a little confused as to why it is so wrong to just have a central hub, so to speak, with all clients accounts in, ie;

• Main Google Account
  • Client 1
    • Webmaster Tools
    • Analytics
  • Client 2
    • Webmaster Tools
    • Analytics
  • Client 3
    • Webmaster Tools
    • Analytics

You get the idea...

Having all accounts in one place offers, as far as I can see, no real downside or negative issues? It makes keeping an eye on things much simpler for the developer/agency.

OK, so people might say "what happens when the client wishes to leave?". Well, how is that an issue? If the Analytics account has been set up as just that, an account, and NOT just a profile then you can simple add a new admin email and once they have control, remove yourself as admin. Job done, account moved, access withdrawn??

Webmaster Tools is pretty much the same, you can add multiple verification files to the root of the site, so again, you can simply add the new one and remove your own one if the client wishes to move elsewhere?

If there is a major downside, can somebody explain it, and if so, what do you do in regards to creating and managing multiple client accounts.

I could simply create a google account each time I set up a new site, easy right? Well, no, not really. You see google wants to verify every account by a mobile phone number (or landline), and here lies the problem.

Not every client is going to want to give google a phone number, no matter how much the "it's a security measure" spiel is sugarcoated! "But google doesn't always ask for verification", I hear you cry, and you'd be absolutely right, it doesn't. Until you begin to login to various accounts in a short time-frame from the same machine/ip address.

You see, even if my clients were happy to provide a phone number for the account, this still wouldn't be enough. Let's take a real life scenario that I am encountering right now.

I create a new account for Client A. I verify with a genuine phone number, he sends me the code and i enter it. All is well with google. I then create a new account for Client B, verify with another unique number and, again, enter the code. Everything is still fine. Until I attempt to log back in to Client A's account to begin migrating data etc. Google decides that it has detected 'unusual activity' on this account and I must verify the account again, via sms or voice call. OK, may be a glitch, so off I go and enter the clients mobile number to verify, but no, that fails because that number has already been used to verify an account (the same account) before and we must use another. What? Another? We can't just pluck random numbers out of the air, this is a genuine phone number owned by the client. Even if we could use that number again, I am pretty sure the client would get pissed off pretty damn quick if they received a pin code every time I needed to access the account!!

So, for the love of God, what on earth does everyone else do?