Questions to ask a Google Ads agency before you hand over your budget

Before you hand a Google Ads agency your budget, ask who owns the account, what counts as a conversion, how often they read your search terms, what they do with Google's automatic recommendations, and how they are paid. The right answers are specific: your account with admin access for you, conversions tied to real calls and quote requests, weekly search-term reviews, recommendations applied by a person, and a fee you can see separately from ad spend. Vague answers on any of these are a reason to keep looking.

Here are ten questions, the answers you want, and the ones that should worry you.

Who owns the Google Ads account?

The answer you want: "You do. The account is created under your business, you have admin access, and we're added as users or linked through our manager account."

Google Ads has five access levels: Email-only, Billing, Read-only, Standard and Admin. Admin is the only one that can add or remove users, change access levels, link Google Analytics and accept or unlink manager accounts. If the agency holds the only admin login, you don't really control your account. Google also recommends having at least one more administrator so access isn't lost if a person becomes unavailable.

Red flag: "We run everything from our own account, it's simpler." It is simpler, for them. When you leave, your history, your conversion data and your learnings stay behind.

How are you paid?

The answer you want: a clear flat fee, or a percentage of spend with a minimum and a cap, and the ad spend billed by Google directly to your card or invoice.

Each model has trade-offs. A percentage of spend can reward the agency for spending more, not for spending better. A flat fee can mean less attention as your account grows. What matters is that you can see both numbers separately.

Red flag: an all-in monthly price where you can't tell how much went to Google.

What will count as a conversion?

The answer you want: "Calls from your ads, calls to the number on your site, form submissions and bookings. And if you can share which leads became customers, we'll import those as offline conversions."

Google Ads can track website actions, calls from ads, calls to a number on your website, clicks on a phone number on your mobile site, offline conversions you upload, and key events imported from Google Analytics. The agency should choose these with you, because Google's automated bidding will optimize toward whatever you tell it is valuable.

Red flag: page views, "engagement" or time on site counted as conversions. Automated bidding will happily find you more people who look at pages and never call.

How often do you review the search terms?

The answer you want: "Weekly at first, then at least every two weeks, and we add negative keywords as we go."

The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, which are often different from your keywords. Google's own example: an eyeglasses seller whose ads appear for "wine glasses" should add "wine" as a negative keyword. For a cleaning company, that might be "jobs," "salary" or "DIY." These wasted clicks add up fast on a small budget.

Red flag: "The algorithm handles that now."

What's your policy on auto-applied recommendations?

The answer you want: "We review recommendations and apply the ones that make sense. Auto-apply is off, or limited to a few types we've chosen."

Google Ads can automatically apply recommendations to your account. The list of auto-applicable types includes adding broad match keywords, changing bid strategies, adjusting targets and expanding reach with search partners or Display. Some may suit you; others can change how your budget is spent without anyone deciding to. Auto-apply can be switched off at any time in the account's recommendation settings.

Red flag: the agency doesn't know whether it's on.

Are you a Google Partner, and what does that mean?

The answer you want: an honest explanation.

To earn the Google Partner badge, an agency needs an optimization score of at least 70% on its manager account, at least $10,000 USD in ad spend across managed accounts over 90 days, and at least half of its account strategists certified. Premier Partner status goes to the top 3% of participating companies in each country. The badge shows the agency manages real spend and has certified staff. It doesn't tell you whether they will do well for a business like yours, and the optimization score is built around Google's own recommendations for the account, which are not the same thing as your business goals.

Red flag: treating the badge as proof of results.

Which campaign types will you start with, and why?

The answer you want: a reason tied to your business. For most local service businesses, that means Search campaigns on high-intent keywords first, so you can see exactly which searches bring calls. Broader or more automated campaign types can come later, once conversion tracking is reliable and there's enough data.

Red flag: the same structure for every client regardless of industry, budget or tracking quality.

What budget and test period do you recommend?

The answer you want: a realistic minimum based on your cost per click and the number of conversions needed to learn something, a first test period of a few months, and what would make them recommend stopping.

A tiny budget spread across many keywords produces too little data to make decisions. A good agency will say so, and may suggest narrowing to one service or one area rather than spending more.

Red flag: "Start with whatever you're comfortable with" and no plan for what the data should show by when.

Who will actually manage my account?

The answer you want: a name, their experience, how many accounts they handle, and how you reach them.

Red flag: the person selling is never seen again and the work goes to an unnamed team or subcontractor.

What happens if I leave?

The answer you want: "You keep the account, everything in it, and your conversion tracking. We remove our access after a short notice period, such as 30 days."

Red flag: setup fees that "belong" to the agency, campaigns or landing pages you can't keep, or a long notice period.

How to use these answers

Ask all ten in the first meeting and write the answers down. Then:

• Any red flag on account ownership or conversions: walk away. Everything else depends on these two.
• Red flags on fees, auto-apply or search terms: ask for the answer in writing, in the contract or the proposal.
• No red flags: ask to see a sample monthly report, with the client's name removed. It will tell you what you'll actually receive.

Before turning ads on, also look at the page the ads will send people to. If your website can't turn a visit into a call or a form, more clicks only make the leak bigger.

Where PNE fits

PNE's digital marketing work follows these answers. You own the ad accounts and control the spend; we handle strategy, ad copy, conversion tracking and optimization. Monthly reports show leads, cost per lead and the plan for next month. For the broader version of this checklist, covering SEO and social as well as ads, see our red flags when hiring a marketing agency.

Sources

• About access levels in your Google Ads account — Google Ads Help
• Manage access to your Google Ads account — Google Ads Help
• About conversion measurement — Google Ads Help
• About the search terms report — Google Ads Help
• About applying recommendations automatically — Google Ads Help
• How to become a Google Partner or Premier Partner — Google Ads Help