How to Choose a Google Ads Agency

Quick Answer

Choose a Google Ads agency that lets you own your account and reports on the numbers that matter: conversions, spend, return on ad spend and customer acquisition cost. A good one names the strategist who will run your account and can show results within about three months. Walk away from any agency that rents you its account or guarantees results.

Hiring a Google Ads agency means handing a company you barely know your sensitive business information, plus ongoing access to the payment method that funds your ads, all before anyone has written a single ad. It’s hard to tell a good agency from a bad one until the money is already spent.

I know lots of agencies and freelancers who are smart, honest and hard working, and who want to earn your business on merit and results. Unfortunately, I also know a lot who will say anything to lock you into an expensive contract and don’t care whether your business flies or fails. These are the seven red flags I tell every business owner to watch for:

1. They want to own your accounts, or be the only admin.
2. They offer “account for rent” services.
3. Their Google Partner badge is missing or fake.
4. Their reports are vague or hidden.
5. There is no named strategist or clear point of contact.
6. They want a long contract and have no offboarding plan.
7. They guarantee results.

Seriously, if you see or hear anything from this list, run! I start with the two that can do the most lasting damage, and finish with a checklist of questions to take into every sales call.

Who should own your Google Ads account?

The account should always belong to you, so create it yourself with a business email address you control and make that login the admin before you give the agency any access.

Agencies often offer to set everything up for you, and it sounds helpful at first, but the way an account is created decides who owns it. Agencies usually work from a manager account (often called an MCC), a master login that lets them run many client accounts from one dashboard, according to Google’s manager account guide. If an agency’s manager account creates a new account for you, Google says that manager “will automatically become the owner.” If you create the account and link the agency afterward, the agency does not get ownership by default (Google Ads Help on account ownership).

This matters because a client account can only have one owner, and the owner controls who else gets in. Google says the client account “still owns its data” and can remove an owner by unlinking, but that only helps if you have a login. When the agency owns the account and is the only admin, you can lose your data and history, and it becomes hard to work within Google’s systems later. That history includes years of conversion data and the audience lists built from it, which you would otherwise have to rebuild from zero with your next agency.

This is the setup I recommend before you give any agency access:

1. Create your Google Ads account while signed in with a business email address your company controls.
2. Add your own payment method, so billing sits with you.
3. Give the agency Standard access or accept its manager account link request. Google’s access levels guide explains that Standard users can edit campaigns, while only Admin users can manage who has access.
4. Keep at least one Admin login tied to your business rather than to one employee, so your access survives when someone leaves.

A good agency should happily walk you through this on a screenshare. If an agency pushes back on you owning the account, you have your answer.

Why “account for rent” deals put your business at risk

An “account for rent” is when an agency runs your ads through a Google Ads account it already owns, instead of setting up one in your name. It has become increasingly common, and it’s usually pitched as a shortcut that skips the setup work. It opens you up to every ownership risk above, because the account and all of its history belong to someone else.

Renting also runs into Google’s own rules, because Google’s third-party policies for agencies state that “Google requires that you use a separate account for each end-advertiser that you manage.” The same policies prohibit “practices designed to circumvent Google Ads’ enforcement mechanisms.” A rented account that carries more than one business’s ads, or one used to dodge a past suspension, breaks those rules.

Under Google’s Circumventing systems policy, accounts caught getting around its enforcement “will be suspended upon detection and without prior warning,” and the advertiser “will not be allowed to advertise with Google Ads again.” Google’s account suspensions overview adds that a suspension is considered permanent unless an appeal succeeds, and that accounts related to a suspended account may be suspended too.

If the relationship goes wrong, don’t expect Google to referee. Its third-party policy help page says Google “will not intervene on issues of breach of contract between you and the third party.” My advice is to avoid renting altogether, and if an agency tells you that you can’t get your own account running, find out why and fix that first.

What honest reporting looks like

You may have heard of vanity metrics, the numbers that give an agency a positive story to tell but aren’t tied to the goals of your business, such as impressions or clicks on their own. Reports and dashboards can be made to look pretty (or confusing), and neither helps you decide whether your money is working.

An agency worth hiring highlights the numbers that matter to your business, whether they look good or not, and then explains why. At a minimum, every monthly report should cover these five figures:

• Conversions, meaning the leads, calls or sales your ads produced.
• Conversion value, or what those conversions were worth to you.
• Spend, the amount you paid Google.
• Return on ad spend (ROAS), which is revenue from your ads divided by what you spent on them.
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC), what it cost to win each new customer.

For a rough yardstick, WordStream’s 2026 Google Ads benchmarks, drawn from more than 13,000 US search campaigns, put the typical cost per lead across all industries at $66.69. Yours will differ by industry, but an agency that can’t tell you your own cost per lead is a warning sign. Because you own the account, you can also log in and check these figures yourself.

How Google Ads agencies charge

An agency’s fee is separate from your ad spend, because the fee pays for the agency’s time and skill while the ad budget goes to Google. Most agencies set that fee in one of three ways, and each one gives the agency a different incentive:

• A flat monthly retainer. You know the cost up front, and the agency earns the same whether your budget goes up or down, so it has no built-in reason to push spend higher.
• A percentage of ad spend. It’s simple and grows with the account, but the agency earns more when you spend more. Ask how it decides when to recommend a bigger budget.
• A hybrid, such as a base fee plus a smaller percentage, or a fee that steps up at set spend levels.

Our own guide to Google Ads management costs puts typical flat retainers at roughly $500 to $5,000 or more a month, and percentage models at about 15% to 20% of spend. Many agencies also charge a one-time setup fee and ask for a minimum-term contract, so add every fee to the ad budget before you compare proposals.

Clicks aren’t cheap either, and WordStream puts the typical cost per click at $5.42 in 2026, up from $5.26 in its 2025 report. Whatever the model, get every fee in writing before you sign, and if you pay a percentage, agree on a point at which the fee is reviewed as spend grows. Google’s third-party policies say agencies must be “transparent and honest” about “the costs associated with those services,” so a proposal that hides charges is a red flag.

Why no honest agency guarantees results

This one is tough, because a new agency is a big investment for a lot of businesses once you add up the minimum-term contract, the setup fee and the ongoing ad budget. It’s comforting to think there’s a guaranteed outcome for that money.

Unfortunately, there are so many variables in Google Ads that any company guaranteeing a definite return on investment is lying. An experienced agency will have a good idea of what to expect from its past work and case studies. But every business and sector is different, and each website converts differently, right down to its product range and inquiry form.

The honest agencies know this and will be open with you about their process and what to expect on the way to your targets. The red flag is an agency that guarantees a number with no questions asked, before it has even looked at your account. Google’s third-party policies also require agencies to be honest about “the results that advertisers can expect,” which is one more reason to treat a guarantee with suspicion.

Contract length, the learning period and your exit plan

Google’s automated bidding goes through a learning period, and Google says it “can take a few conversion cycles (1-2 typically)” to adjust (Google Ads Help on the learning period). A conversion cycle is the time between someone clicking your ad and becoming a lead or sale.

In my experience, it takes at least two to four weeks for changes to bed in and start showing results. Your agency should also have a staged growth plan that builds your account up over time.

Still, much like sport, paid advertising is a results business. A good agency should be able to show results, understanding and rapport within three months at most, and be willing to live or die by those results. If an agency can prove itself in three months, it’s fair to ask why it needs you to sign for twelve.

Ask for the offboarding plan before you sign, because a mature agency has a clear process that looks after the health of your account and campaigns during a handover. If an agency tries to lock you into a long deal from the outset and has no offboarding plan, treat that as a big red flag for your business. Chances are it doesn’t have your best interests at heart and wants to keep you for as long as possible, then drop you without effort or care.

What a Google Partner badge proves, and how to check it

Official Google Partner status is hard to achieve and maintain, but the badge is easy to fake, since anyone can copy and paste the image onto a website or a pitch deck.

To earn real status, an agency’s registered manager account has to meet three requirements, according to Google’s Partners program rules:

• An optimization score of at least 70%. Optimization score is Google’s estimate, from 0% to 100%, of how well an account is set to perform (Google Ads Help).
• At least $10,000 in ad spend across the accounts it manages, over 90 days.
• At least 50% of its account strategists certified in Google Ads.

Premier Partners meet the same bar and also rank in the top 3% of participating companies in their country, decided once a year. Google checks the requirements daily, according to its Partners FAQ. Those rules show that an agency manages real spend and keeps its team certified. They say nothing about whether it grew a business like yours, so treat the badge as a minimum and keep asking questions.

To check a badge, search the agency’s name in the Google Partners Directory and ask why if it isn’t listed. You can also look up 94n’s listing in the same directory to see what a real entry looks like.

Who will actually run your account?

Watch for the old switch-a-roo, where an agency owner or sales director sells you the dream, then hands your account to “the team” with no handover, or to a junior executive with little experience and no direct contact details.

To be fair, it’s impossible for agency directors to keep in-depth, day-to-day relationships with all of their clients. The good agencies handle this with a strong onboarding process that gives you:

• A named strategist or account manager who runs your account.
• Clear ways to contact them, and how often you’ll hear from them.
• A route to escalate if something goes wrong.

Ask to meet the person who will manage your account before you sign. Then ask what accounts like yours they have run, in your industry and at your level of spend.

Agency, freelancer or in-house?

The right choice depends on how much you spend and how complex your account is, and each option trades cost against coverage.

A freelancer usually costs less, and you deal with the person running your campaigns directly. The trade-off is that you depend on one person’s availability and on how far their skills reach beyond Search into Shopping and tracking. The same ownership rules apply, so you own the account and the freelancer gets linked access. Our guide on how to choose a Google Ads specialist covers that hire in detail.

An in-house hire costs more than the salary, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts at a median annual wage of $78,760 in May 2025 for market research analysts, the occupation group that includes marketing specialists. In private industry, benefits make up 30% of what employers spend on compensation (BLS, June 2026), so at that average mix a $78,760 salary means roughly $112,000 in total pay and benefits. You also pay for tools and training, and when that person leaves, much of what they know about your account leaves with them.

An agency gives you a team of specialists, for example one person focused on Shopping campaigns and another on analytics, plus continuity if someone moves on. Even a $5,000 monthly retainer comes to $60,000 a year, well under that full-time cost. In-house starts to make sense when your spend and complexity can keep a skilled person busy full time. Whichever route you choose, the account should still be yours.

Your checklist: questions to ask before you sign

Take these questions into every sales call, and listen for answers like the ones below.

1. Who will own the Google Ads account? A good answer: “You will. You create it, and we link our manager account to it.”
2. Will my ads run in my own account or one of yours? Only “your own” is acceptable.
3. Can I find you in the Google Partners Directory? Expect a link to their listing, which proves far more than a badge on a slide.
4. What will your monthly report show? Look for conversions, conversion value, spend, ROAS and CAC, with an explanation of what changed and why.
5. Who will manage my account day to day, and how do I escalate a problem? You want a name, contact details and an escalation route.
6. How long is the contract, and what is your offboarding process? A short initial term and a written exit plan are good signs.
7. What results can you guarantee? The honest answer is none, followed by what they expect and how they’ll measure it.
8. What will I pay in total? Every fee in writing, listed separately from your ad spend.
9. Have you run accounts like mine? Ask for examples in your industry and at your spend level, plus a reference you can call.

Frequently asked questions

Who should own my Google Ads account, me or my agency?

The account should belong to you, so create it yourself with a business email address and keep Admin access before you link the agency’s manager account. An agency that creates the account for you becomes its owner automatically, while a linked account stays yours, along with its data and history.

Is renting a Google Ads agency account allowed?

Renting an agency’s account is risky and often breaks Google’s rules. Google’s third-party policies require a separate account for each advertiser an agency manages and prohibit practices designed to get around Google’s enforcement. Accounts caught circumventing Google’s systems are suspended without warning, and Google treats suspensions as permanent unless an appeal succeeds.

How long before a Google Ads agency shows results?

Changes usually need at least two to four weeks to bed in, and Google’s bidding learning period can take one to two conversion cycles. A good agency should be able to show you results within three months at most.

Is a Google AdWords agency the same as a Google Ads agency?

They are the same thing, since Google AdWords was renamed Google Ads in June 2018, as Google announced on its official blog. An agency that still sells “AdWords management” is offering Google Ads management under the old name, so judge it by the same checklist.

What should a Google Ads agency report on each month?

Your report should lead with conversions, conversion value, ad spend, return on ad spend and customer acquisition cost, whether those numbers look good or not. Clicks and impressions are useful context, but they don’t show whether your ads are making money.

How to start your search

Before you sign with anyone, make sure the account will be yours and check any badge in Google’s directory. Then run every agency on your shortlist through the checklist above, knowing that the agencies worth hiring will be glad you asked.

I hope this checklist helps you avoid costly mistakes and find one of the honest, hard-working agencies I mentioned at the start. And if I may be so bold, you could start that search by talking to us at 94n. We have references from clients all over the world, so you can hear what working with us is like before you commit, and we’re happy to answer every question on this list.