How to choose a PPC agency: questions, pricing and red flags
How to choose a PPC agency comes down to two steps. Decide what a lead or sale is worth to you, then ask each agency the same questions: who owns the ad account, what they will track, how they charge, who does the work and how you can leave. Choose plain answers and an account in your name.
This guide gives you the questions, explains account ownership and access in Google Ads, describes the common pricing models without quoting prices, says what the Google Partner badge requires, and lists the red flags. It is written for a small or mid-sized company hiring for the first time or replacing an agency. The Google rules below link to Google Ads Help; check the current page before you rely on a detail.
Before you talk to an agency
An agency can only be judged against a goal. Write down three things before the first call:
- What you want from the ads: enquiries, bookings, online sales, or calls to a branch. One main goal per campaign.
- What a result is worth: roughly what a new customer brings in and how many enquiries become customers. That sets the most you can pay for a lead.
- What you can measure today: whether your website records form submissions and calls, and whether your CRM or booking tool says where each customer came from.
If you cannot answer the third point, the first job of any agency is tracking, and a good one will say so. Our guide to PPC lead generation explains what that tracking should count.
How to choose a PPC agency: the questions to ask
Ask every agency on your shortlist the same questions, in writing if you can, so the answers can be compared.
| Question | What a clear answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Whose name will the Google Ads account be in? | Yours. You create it or it is created under your business, and the agency is given access |
| What will you count as a conversion? | Named actions (quote requests, calls over a set length, bookings), not “traffic” or “engagement” |
| What will the first month look like? | Tracking checks, a small set of high-intent keywords, weekly reviews of the search terms |
| Who will work on my account day to day? | A named person, with their experience on accounts like yours |
| How do you report, and how often? | Cost per lead or per sale against the goal you set, with what they changed and why |
| How do you charge, and what does the fee include? | A written fee structure, with setup, landing pages and reporting either included or priced |
| Who pays Google for the ad spend? | Ideally you, with your own payment method, so you see every invoice |
| How long is the contract, and how do I leave? | A notice period you can live with, and a written handover of the account, tags and data |
| Which industries and channels do you know? | Examples relevant to yours, which you can check with a reference |
Listen for how they talk about results. A credible agency describes a process and a way of measuring; it does not promise a number before it has seen your account.
Who owns the ad account and the data
In our observation, comparison guides rarely cover this question, yet it is the one that costs most when it goes wrong. If the account is in the agency’s name, your campaign history, conversion data and audiences may stay with them when you leave.
Access levels in Google Ads
Google Ads gives each user of an account a level of access. Google’s page on access levels lists five:
| Access level | What it allows, in short |
|---|---|
| Email-only | Receives notification emails and reports |
| Billing | Views and edits billing information and manages payment |
| Read-only | Views performance reports |
| Standard | Edits campaigns and reports |
| Admin | All of the above, plus managing who has access and linking other products |
Only Admin users can give account access, change access levels and cancel invitations.
Manager accounts
Agencies usually work through a manager account, which links to yours. Google says that once you accept a link to a manager account, its admin users can manage your campaigns. If the manager account also has ownership of your account, its admin users can edit the user access, managers and product links in your account as well.
Our advice, as a buyer: create the account under your business, keep at least one Admin user of your own, and give the agency Standard access or a manager-account link without ownership unless you have a reason to grant more. Google itself notes that adding at least one additional administrator may help ensure uninterrupted tag management, and warns that with a single administrator you can lose access to your tags if that person becomes unavailable.
The data outside Google Ads
Ownership is not only the ad account. Ask who controls:
- the Google Analytics property and the website tags;
- the landing pages, if the agency builds them on its own tools;
- the leads from any lead form ads, which Google stores for 60 days and lets you download for the last 30 days, so they should flow to your own CRM;
- the reports, if they are built in a tool the agency licenses.
Each one should either be yours or come with a written promise of handover.
How PPC agencies charge
Agencies mostly use one of three models, sometimes with a setup fee on top. We describe them; we do not quote market prices, which vary too much to be useful.
| Model | How it works | What it rewards | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of ad spend | The fee is a share of what you spend with Google | Managing larger budgets | Whether there is a minimum fee, and whether advice to spend more is in your interest or theirs |
| Flat fee | A fixed monthly amount for a defined scope | Predictable work and cost | Exactly what the scope includes: how many campaigns, channels, landing pages and reports |
| Hybrid | A base fee plus a percentage above a spend level | Both: a floor for the agency, growth with the account | The level at which the percentage starts, and how the two parts add up at your budget |
Some agencies also offer performance-based fees, paid per lead or as a share of sales. They look safe, and can be, if both sides agree in writing on what counts as a qualified lead and how it is recorded. Without that, the incentive is volume.
Whatever the model, ask for a proposal that lists every charge, including setup, landing pages, creative, tools and reporting, and compare proposals on the same scope.
What the Google Partner badge tells you
The Google Partner badge is a real signal, but a narrow one. Google’s page on how to become a Google Partner sets three requirements at the time of writing (October 2026), checked daily:
- Performance: a minimum optimization score of 70%.
- Spend: a 90-day ad spend of $10,000 USD across the accounts the company manages.
- Certifications: at least 50% of the company’s account strategists certified in Google Ads, and at least one certification in each product area with campaign spend of $500 USD or more in 90 days.
Premier Partner status goes to companies that meet those requirements and are in the top 3% of participating companies in their country, determined once a year. Google notes that Premier Partner status may not be available in every country.
Our reading: the badge shows that an agency manages a certain level of spend, keeps its staff certified and follows Google’s optimization recommendations across its accounts. It does not show that the agency knows your industry, or that it will judge your account by cost per qualified lead. Treat it as a minimum bar, then ask the questions above. An agency without the badge, especially a small one under the spend threshold, can still be the better fit.
Red flags
Walk away, or at least slow down, when you hear any of these:
- Guaranteed results: a promised number of leads, a first-page position or a cost per lead before they have seen your account and your market.
- The account in their name, or a refusal to give you Admin access to an account you pay for.
- Vague reporting: clicks, impressions and “reach” in place of conversions, or a report you cannot trace back to the account.
- No tracking plan: the campaign launches before conversion tracking is set up and tested.
- Hidden costs: tools, landing pages or creative billed separately after the contract is signed.
- Long lock-in: a long minimum term with no exit clause and no handover terms.
- Pressure to sign: a discount that expires today. A good agency can wait while you check its references.
- One answer for every business: the same campaign plan before they ask about your customers, margins or sales process.
Comparing proposals and making the choice
- Shortlist two or three agencies, and send each the same brief: goal, budget range, what you can measure, and your timeline.
- Compare proposals on the same scope. Put the fees, inclusions, contract terms and reporting side by side.
- Call a reference for each finalist, ideally a client of a similar size, and ask what happened in the first three months.
- Agree the first month in writing: tracking, the first campaigns, the review rhythm and the report you will receive.
- Check the account setup on day one: your business owns it, you have Admin access, and you can see the billing.
If you are still deciding whether paid search belongs in your plan at all, our guide to what digital marketing is shows where it sits next to your other channels. The same questions apply to any agency you consider, including us; our digital marketing service page describes what we run.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a PPC agency before hiring it?
Ask whose name the account will be in, what it will count as a conversion, who will work on your account, how it charges and what that includes, how it reports, and how you can leave with your data.
Should I own my Google Ads account?
In our view, yes. Create it under your business, keep an Admin user of your own, and give the agency the access it needs. Google’s access levels let you do this without slowing the agency down.
How do PPC agencies charge?
Usually as a percentage of ad spend, a flat monthly fee, or a hybrid of a base fee and a percentage. Some charge per lead or per sale. Compare them on the same scope.
Does a Google Partner badge mean an agency is good?
It means the agency meets Google’s requirements on optimization score, managed spend and certified staff. It does not tell you whether the agency fits your industry or how it measures success.
What are the warning signs of a bad PPC agency?
Guaranteed results, an account in the agency’s name, reports without conversions, no tracking plan, hidden costs, long lock-in contracts and pressure to sign quickly.