Most people start looking for a new Google Ads agency after the money has already gone. The account spent every day, the reports looked busy, and at the end of the quarter nobody could say which searches turned into customers. Choosing the next agency well is mostly about making sure that cannot happen again.
I run RobbP Media, a paid ads agency in Los Angeles, and a lot of our Google Ads work starts with an account someone else built. Here is how I would choose a Google Ads agency if I were on your side of the table: what to ask, what to look for in the pitch, the red flags, and what a fair price looks like.
Start with who owns the account
Before you talk about strategy, ask one question: will the campaigns run in an account I own? The answer should be yes, without hesitation. Your Google Ads account holds years of data on which searches, ads and audiences worked for you. If an agency runs your ads inside its own account, you lose that history the day you leave, and you have no way to check their work while you stay.
We work inside the client's own account every time, so the campaigns, the data and the history stay with the business whether we work together for a month or for years.
Ask how they check conversion tracking
The second question separates careful agencies from busy ones: what is the first thing you check in a new account? The right answer is conversion tracking. Google's automated bidding optimises toward whatever you tell it is a conversion. If the tracking counts page views, double counts form fills or misses phone calls, every bid in the account is chasing the wrong goal, and no amount of keyword work fixes that.
A good agency will tell you exactly what it checks: what is being counted, whether each conversion fires once, and whether the numbers in Google match real leads or real revenue in your own records. If the pitch jumps straight to new campaigns and bigger budgets, be careful. I explain the full order of work on our Google Ads agency in Los Angeles page.
Ask to see how they handle search terms
Keywords are what you bid on. Search terms are what people actually typed before your ad showed. The gap between the two is where most quiet waste lives: people looking for jobs, free versions, a competitor by name or a different service entirely.
Ask any agency how often they read the search terms report and what they do with it. We review search terms every two weeks and build negative keyword lists from what we find, because new waste shows up every month. An agency that cannot describe this process, or does it once at setup and never again, will cost you money slowly.
Look for one agreed number, not a dashboard
Ask what number they will report against, and push until you get a single one. For an ecommerce brand it is usually return on ad spend. For a practice or a service business it is cost per lead or cost per booked consultation. That number should be agreed before any money is spent, and every report should lead with it.
A report full of clicks and impressions and light on leads or revenue is a warning sign. Our post on what a marketing agency should report each month lists what belongs in a useful report and what is filler.
Check that they look past the ad
A strong ad that sends people to a weak page buys expensive bounces. Ask whether the agency tests landing pages as well as ads, and what they do when the page is the problem. For practices in particular, the page often matters more than the ad. I wrote about what a page needs in landing pages that book consults.
Red flags in a Google Ads pitch
These are the things that make me wary when I hear them from any agency, including in the accounts we inherit.
Guaranteed rankings or guaranteed returns. Nobody controls the auction, and an agency that promises a specific return before seeing your data is selling, not planning.
A long contract before any results, with no way to judge the work first.
Budget first, fixes later. If the first recommendation is to spend more, ask what they would fix with the money you already spend.
Case studies with no numbers you can check. Ask for figures from a real account, with the before and the after. We publish our client results on our case studies pages, and I will not put a Google-only return figure on our site that I cannot show you in an account.
Audit the account before you hire anyone
The best way to judge an agency is to see what it finds in your account before you sign. Ask for an audit and pay attention to whether the findings are specific to you or could have been written about any business. A real audit names the searches that wasted money, says whether your tracking can be trusted and lists what to change first.
If you would rather check the account yourself before talking to anyone, our free ad account self-audit checklist covers the 43 checks we run on every Meta and Google Ads account.
What a Google Ads agency should cost
Our Google Ads management starts from $1,500 a month on top of your ad spend, and we take on accounts spending at least $2,000 a month on ads. Below that there is usually not enough data for the bidding to learn, and the money is better spent getting tracking and landing pages right first. The details are on our Google Ads management page.
Whatever you pay, the fee should buy ongoing work: search term reviews, ad and landing page tests, budget moved toward what pays back, and a clear report against the number you agreed. Many of the same questions apply on the social side, which I cover in how to choose a social media agency.
Questions people ask
How do I find a good Google Ads agency?
Ask four things before you sign: will the campaigns run in an account you own, how they check conversion tracking, how often they review search terms, and what single number they will report against. Then ask for an audit of your current account and judge whether the findings are specific to your business.
What are the signs a Google Ads agency is wasting my money?
Reports that lead with clicks and impressions instead of leads or revenue, no regular search terms review, conversion tracking nobody has checked, campaigns run in the agency's own account, and a habit of recommending more budget before fixing what is already there.
Should I own my Google Ads account?
Yes. The account holds your campaign history and data, and you need it to check the agency's work and to keep that history if you change agencies. We always work inside the client's own account.
How much does a Google Ads agency cost?
It varies by agency and by what is included. Our Google Ads management starts from $1,500 a month on top of ad spend, for accounts spending at least $2,000 a month on ads. Compare what each fee covers, not just the price.
Let's talk
If you are choosing a Google Ads agency because the last one did not work out, send me read access to your account or a short note about what you sell and spend at info@robbp.com. I will tell you where the money is going and what I would fix first, whether or not we end up working together.
