Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Google Ads Agency
The questions that separate a good Google Ads agency from a good pitch: ownership, tracking, who does the work, reporting and how you leave.
The best questions to ask a Google Ads agency are the ones a weak agency cannot answer well. Ask who owns the account, how they check tracking, who will do the work each week, what they would change first in your account, how they report, and how you leave. A good agency answers each one plainly and with examples. A weak one answers with confidence and no detail.
Use the list below on every agency you talk to, including us. Each question has the answer you want to hear and the answer that should worry you.
Ownership and access
Who will own the Google Ads account?
Good answer: “You do. We are added as users, or we link through our manager account. You can remove us any time.”
Worry: “We run all clients in our own account.” If the account is theirs, so is your history when you leave.
Who owns Merchant Center, Google Analytics and tag manager?
Good answer: the same as above. Everything in your name.
Worry: hesitation. Feed and tracking history matter as much as the ad account.
Do I pay Google directly?
Good answer: “Yes. Your card is on the account.”
Worry: “We pay Google and bill you.” Ask whether media is marked up, and what happens to the account when you leave.
Tracking and measurement
How will you check that my conversion tracking is right?
Good answer: a specific process. They compare Google Ads purchases and revenue with your store’s orders, check for duplicate tags, and look at what else is being counted as a conversion.
Worry: “We will set up tracking.” Setting up is not checking.
What will you count as a conversion?
Good answer: purchases, at their real value. Other actions such as add-to-cart are tracked but not used to steer bidding, or only with care.
Worry: a long list of soft actions all counted together. That makes numbers look better than sales.
How do you treat branded search?
Good answer: “We report it separately, because people searching your name were likely to buy anyway.”
Worry: no answer, or branded search mixed into every number. Our guide on how to read a Google Ads report explains why this matters.
The people
Who will be in my account each week?
Good answer: names and roles. You can meet them.
Worry: “Your dedicated account manager.” Ask who builds and checks the campaigns. Account managers often do not.
How many accounts does that person run?
Good answer: a straight number, and how they keep time for each.
Worry: dodging. Too many accounts per person is how weekly management turns into monthly.
Has that person run ecommerce accounts before?
Good answer: yes, with examples of feed work and Shopping or Performance Max structure.
Worry: only lead generation examples. A store is a different job. See Google Ads for ecommerce for why.
Your account
What would you change first in my account?
Good answer: specific findings after looking at the account. “Your search terms show spend on queries that never buy.” “Your feed titles do not match how people search.”
Worry: a generic plan that could apply to anyone. If they have not looked, ask them to. Many agencies, us included, will audit an account free.
What would you stop doing?
Good answer: something specific they would cut or pause.
Worry: nothing. An agency that never cuts anything is often paid on spend.
What results do you expect, and by when?
Good answer: what they will fix first, and how you will both know it worked. No promised number before they have run the account.
Worry: a confident number on the first call. Nobody can know that yet.
Reporting
What does a report look like?
Good answer: they show you a real one, with names hidden. It covers cost, revenue tracked, what changed and what is next.
Worry: a deck of charts with no decisions in it.
How often will we talk, and with whom?
Good answer: a clear rhythm, with the person doing the work on the call when needed.
Can I see real results from other accounts?
Good answer: real dashboards or exports, client names withheld. Real account data beats a case study written for marketing.
Worry: only logos, awards and quotes.
Contracts and leaving
What is the minimum term and notice period?
Good answer: short and clear.
Worry: a long lock-in with no exit if results fall short.
If I leave, what do I keep?
Good answer: “Everything. The account, campaigns, feed work, tracking and reports.”
Worry: “We keep our campaign structure.” Then you start from scratch when you leave. Read how to switch Google Ads agencies without losing your data.
What does the fee include, and what costs extra?
Good answer: a plain list. Our guide to Google Ads agency pricing models explains what to look for.
How to use the answers
Ask the same questions of every agency and write the answers down. The differences show quickly. Agencies that answer in specifics, show real data and give you ownership without being asked are worth a second call. Agencies that answer in slogans are not.
Ask us the same questions
We wrote this list, so it is fair to hold us to it. Nathan Synoground founded TheCMO. He has managed $20.5M in Google Ads across 150 client accounts since 2018, and our results page shows the dashboards from real accounts with client names withheld. Your account stays yours. Start with the free Google Ads audit and judge us on what we find, or compare us with the others on our ranking.