What Google Ads management
actually costs.

The models

The three ways agencies charge

Almost every Google Ads agency uses one of three pricing structures. The differences aren't cosmetic. Each one points the agency's incentives somewhere, and it's worth knowing where before you sign.

1. Percentage of ad spend

Usually 10 to 20 percent of what you spend, often with a monthly minimum. It's common because it's simple and scales with account size.

What it rewards: larger budgets. An agency earning 15 percent makes more when your spend goes up, and earns nothing extra for telling you half of it is wasted. If you use this model, ask how the agency is paid when it recommends spending less.

2. Flat monthly retainer

A fixed retainer regardless of spend. For small and mid-size accounts this commonly runs between $1,000 and $5,000 a month, depending on complexity and market. Many agencies also charge a one-time onboarding or setup fee for the initial build, often somewhere between half and one full month's retainer.

What it rewards: efficiency. The retainer is the same whether the agency puts four hours or forty into your account, so get the scope of work in writing: what's included, how often, and what gets billed separately.

3. Performance-based

A base fee plus a share of results, or occasionally a straight cost per lead.

What it rewards: whatever metric you pick. Tie it to leads and you'll get leads, including poor ones. Tie it to revenue and you need attribution both sides trust. These arrangements work well when the measurement is solid and both parties agree on what counts.

What the fee should cover

Whatever the structure, a management fee should buy real work. At minimum:

• Conversion tracking that's been verified, not assumed. If nobody has checked that the numbers are real, everything downstream is guesswork.
• Ongoing search term review and negative keyword work, not just at setup.
• Bid strategy and budget decisions made deliberately, with a reason you can hear.
• Ad copy and creative testing that actually runs and reaches a conclusion.
• Reporting you can read, in revenue and cost per acquisition rather than impressions and click-through rate.
• Access to the person doing the work.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. Who owns the ad account? If the agency owns it, leaving costs you your conversion history, which is the most valuable thing the account has built up.
2. Is there a contract, and how long? Long minimum terms protect the agency from the consequences of poor performance. Ask about the setup fee and the notice period too.
3. Who's in the account day to day? Not who's on the call. Who logs in.
4. What happens if performance drops? A clear answer here tells you a lot.
5. What are you optimizing toward, and how do you know it's accurate?

Why the cheapest option often isn't

Management fees are small compared to ad spend. On a $10,000 monthly budget, the difference between a $1,000 fee and a $2,000 fee is $1,000. A poorly structured account can waste several times that in the same month while the reporting still looks fine.

How we price it

We quote after the free audit, because the honest answer depends on what the audit turns up: how much spend is involved, how many campaigns and markets, whether the tracking works, and whether the landing pages need attention. Quoting before that is guessing.

Engagements are month to month. We generally work best with businesses spending at least $3,000 a month on ads, and if you're below that we'll tell you.