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Choosing a Partner

How to Choose a PPC Agency: The Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Choose a PPC agency on what you can verify before you sign: the ad account will be registered to your business, you will have administrator access from the first day, media spend and fees appear as separate lines, and results are reported as enquiries rather than clicks. Then compare two itemised proposals written against the same brief.

Prabhu SolutionsPublished 8 October 2026Last reviewed 8 October 202613 min read

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How do you choose a PPC agency?
Who should own the Google Ads account?
What access should you have from the first day?
How should PPC spend and agency fees be shown?
Why can a percentage-of-spend fee create a conflict of interest?
What PPC agency questions should you ask before you sign?
How do you compare PPC agency proposals?
How should you judge a PPC agency's results?
What should the first stage of a PPC engagement involve?
When is hiring a PPC agency the wrong choice?
What if you already have a PPC agency and are not sure about it?

How do you choose a PPC agency?

Choose a PPC agency on what you can verify before you sign: the ad account will be in your business's name, you will have administrator access from day one, spend and fees appear as separate lines, and results are reported as enquiries rather than clicks. Then compare at least two proposals written against the same brief.

A PPC agency runs paid search and paid social campaigns for you, most often on Google Ads. What a PPC agency actually does is a separate question from whether a particular one is right for you, and this guide covers only the second. The questions below work on any supplier, including us.

The order matters. Ownership and access come first because they decide whether you can leave. Fees come second because they decide what the agency is rewarded for. Results claims come last, because they are the easiest part of a pitch to polish and the hardest to check. If you are still deciding between channels, SEO or PPC comes before this guide, and if the brief is wider than paid search, how to choose a digital marketing agency is the better starting point.

The point
Ownership and access come first because they decide whether you can leave.

Who should own the Google Ads account?

You should. The account belongs in your business's name, with your payment method on it and your own login as administrator, and the agency added as a user or linked through its manager account. The campaign history, the conversion data and everything the platform has learned about your customers then stay with you if the relationship ends.

The reverse arrangement exists. The agency creates the account under its own name, or buys the media through its own billing and invoices you a single figure. That is not unlawful, and some of it is habit rather than intent, but it means you cannot see the account without asking permission, and on leaving you may start again from nothing. Treat “we'll set it all up for you” as a prompt to ask whose name is on it.

Ask for the answer in the proposal, in writing, and ask what is handed over on departure: the account itself, not a folder of screenshots. Both paid advertising and PPC management are straightforward to run inside an account the client already owns, so there is rarely a good operational reason for it to be anywhere else.

The point
Ask for the answer in the proposal, in writing, and ask what is handed over on departure: the account itself, not a folder of screenshots.

What access should you have from the first day?

You should have administrator access to the advertising account, read access to the change history and the search terms report, and ownership of the analytics property and tag container that measure results. If any of these is held back for “security” or “simplicity”, you are renting visibility rather than buying management.

Administrator access to the ad account, on your own login, not a shared one that the agency controls. You can always grant the agency a lower level of access; you cannot easily take back control of an account you never held.
The change history, which records every edit with its date and the user who made it. It is how you check that the work described in a report actually happened.
The search terms report: the real searches that triggered your ads. A report that never shows search terms is hiding the place where most wasted spend is found.
The list of conversion actions and how each one is counted, including what fires it. If nobody can tell you, the platform is being trained on noise.
Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager in your name, so the measurement does not disappear with the contract.
The platform's own invoices, showing what was spent, rather than only the agency's summary of it.
A named person who works on the account and a way to reach them. Ask whether that person writes the changes or only approves them.

How should PPC spend and agency fees be shown?

Advertising spend and the agency's fee should be separate, named lines, with the platform's own invoices available to you. The questions are whose account the media is bought through, how the fee is calculated, and what you pay for setup and for leaving. Ask for each answer in writing before you compare prices.

What to ask	What a clear answer sounds like	What to watch for
Whose account is the media bought through?	Yours. The platform bills your card and you can see the invoice.	Media bought through the agency's account and passed on as one bundled figure.
How is the management fee calculated?	A stated basis you could reproduce yourself: flat, tiered by scope, or a share of spend, with the reasoning.	A fee that is vague, changes with budget without explanation or cannot be written down.
Is anything added to the cost of media?	A direct no, or a stated and separate line if the answer is yes.	Reluctance to answer, or an answer that depends on “the package”.
What does setup cost, and what does it cover?	Itemised jobs you can recognise: tracking, structure, ads, page work.	A single setup charge with no description of what it buys.
What are the notice period and the exit terms?	A stated notice period and a written list of what is handed over on leaving.	Long fixed terms combined with an account held in the agency's name.
Who pays for third-party tools?	Named tools, who pays, and whether you keep access afterwards.	Tool costs folded in with no way to see what they are.

Why can a percentage-of-spend fee create a conflict of interest?

When an agency is paid a share of your ad spend, its income rises whenever your budget rises, whether or not the extra money earns anything. That does not make it dishonest. It does mean a recommendation to spend more and one that suits you can point in different directions, so know which incentive you are buying.

Every fee model has a weakness. A flat fee can drift towards the minimum effort the contract allows. A fee tied to results invites arguments about what counts as a result, and can push an agency towards easy conversions rather than valuable ones. A share of spend is common, simple to administer and easy to understand; the point is only to test it rather than assume it is neutral.

The test is easy to run. Ask: “If the data showed this campaign should spend less, or stop, what would you recommend, and what would it do to your fee?” A good answer admits that the fee falls and recommends it anyway. Ask also who sets the budget, how increases are proposed, and whether they are argued from cost per enquiry rather than from clicks or impression share. What drives Google Ads management costs covers the fee side of the arithmetic.

The point
Ask also who sets the budget, how increases are proposed, and whether they are argued from cost per enquiry rather than from clicks or impression share.

What PPC agency questions should you ask before you sign?

Twelve questions worth asking every PPC agency you speak to, ours included. A good supplier answers each one plainly and puts the answer in writing. The ones to worry about change the subject, quote a result instead of an answer, or say it is covered in the contract.

“Whose name will the ad account be in, and what do I receive if I leave?” A good answer is that it is yours, with the account, the history and the conversion data staying with you.
“Can I have administrator access from day one?” A good answer is yes, with the agency working as a user inside your account.
“How do you define and count a conversion?” A good answer separates a form submission, a call and a sale, and describes testing each with a real enquiry rather than assuming the tag works.
“Who works on the account day to day, and will I speak to them?” A good answer names the person and what they do. Subcontracting is not a scandal, but it belongs in the conversation before you sign.
“How is your fee calculated, and what happens to it if you recommend spending less?” A good answer is specific and does not flinch.
“Is anything added to the cost of media?” A good answer is a direct yes or no, with any addition shown as its own line.
“What do you do about the landing page?” A good answer says the page is checked before the budget is raised, and that the agency will tell you when the page is the constraint. Page problems are often conversion rate optimisation problems rather than advertising ones.
“How do you find and remove wasted spend?” A good answer describes reading the search terms report and adding negative keywords from real searches, not applying a generic list.
“What will you report, and how will each measure be defined?” A good answer leads with enquiries and cost per enquiry by campaign. Clicks and impressions are inputs, not results.
“How do you decide when to change the bidding strategy?” A good answer ties the decision to the volume of conversion data, and admits that changing too often resets what the platform has learned.
“What would you tell me not to advertise?” A good answer is specific and costs the agency some potential spend. If every idea you describe is a good idea, you are talking to a sales process.
“What result would make you tell me to stop?” A good answer names a condition. An agency with no stopping condition has no way to be wrong.

How do you compare PPC agency proposals?

Compare proposals line by line against the same brief: what is being set up, what is being managed, who owns each piece, how fees are calculated and what happens on exit. A proposal that cannot be compared line by line makes the decision harder than it needs to be, so ask for it to be itemised.

Proposal element	A clear proposal	A vague proposal
Scope	Names the platforms, the campaign types and the markets, and says what is excluded.	“Full PPC management” with no list.
Tracking	States what will be counted and how it will be tested before optimisation starts.	Assumes the existing tracking is right.
Ownership	Names the account, analytics property and tag container as owned by you.	Silent, or “managed on your behalf”.
Fees	Fee and media as separate lines, with the basis for the fee stated.	One bundled figure.
Reporting	Names the measures and defines them, leading with enquiries.	Describes dashboards and shows screenshots.
Exit	Lists what you receive on leaving and the notice terms.	Does not mention leaving at all.

How should you judge a PPC agency's results?

Judge results by enquiries and what they became, measured the same way before and after, with the baseline stated. A claim of improvement without a starting point, a definition of what was counted and the period compared is not evidence. Ask to see an account itself, with the client's permission, rather than a slide.

Some patterns to watch for: click-through rate or impressions presented as the headline success; a return on ad spend quoted without any mention of margin; percentage improvements with no baseline; results from a different industry presented as if they transfer. None of these proves bad work. Each one is a reason to ask what was actually counted.

Match the claim to the channel, too. Search, shopping and social behave differently. If you sell products, ask how the agency judges product feed quality for Google Shopping. If you are weighing social, paid social advertising is a separate skill, and paid social against Google Ads explains why you should ask for it separately.

The point
If you sell products, ask how the agency judges product feed quality for Google Shopping.

What should the first stage of a PPC engagement involve?

The first stage should confirm what counts as an enquiry, repair or build the conversion tracking, and check the landing page, before anything is optimised. Bidding and budget changes on top of unreliable tracking train the platform on noise. If an agency proposes to raise spend before measurement is confirmed, ask why.

Expect a review of the existing account if there is one, and a written description of the structure that will replace or improve it: campaigns split by offer and margin, ads written for each theme of search, and each theme pointed at a page that answers it. How PPC management is structured sets out what that work looks like in order, and it is a fair template to hold any proposal against.

Be wary of promised dates for results. How long it takes before a campaign can be judged depends on how many conversions the account produces, which neither you nor the agency knows in advance. If the page itself is the constraint, someone has to fix it, and an agency that cannot build pages should say who will. For a site that needs rebuilding, website development is where that work sits.

The point
How long it takes before a campaign can be judged depends on how many conversions the account produces, which neither you nor the agency knows in advance.

When is hiring a PPC agency the wrong choice?

Hiring a PPC agency is the wrong choice when your customers rarely search for what you sell, when your website cannot turn a visit into an enquiry, when the fee would be a large share of your ad spend, or when you want a one-off setup rather than ongoing management. Fix the cause first, or choose another route.

Small budgets are the common case. When most of the money would go on the fee, a freelancer, a time-limited review of the account or a carefully learned in-house setup may serve better; the trade-offs between a freelancer, an agency and an in-house hire are worth reading before you commit. If the market is unproven, a small controlled test teaches you more than a long contract does.

Some businesses are better served by another channel altogether. A local trade business may get more from local SEO than from paying for clicks in a competitive area. An agency that tells you this before you sign is doing the job you are hiring it for.

The point
A local trade business may get more from local SEO than from paying for clicks in a competitive area.

What if you already have a PPC agency and are not sure about it?

Ask for administrator access to the account, read the change history and the search terms report yourself, and compare the agency's reported enquiries with the ones your own team recorded. You are entitled to see the account you pay for. If access is refused or the numbers do not reconcile, you have your answer.

Before giving notice, check whose name the account is in. If it is the agency's, ask in writing for a transfer, or at least for exports of the conversion data, negative keyword lists and campaign structure. Do this while the relationship is still working, because it is much harder to ask once it has ended.

If you would like a second opinion on an account, contact us; who we are is set out plainly, and it may be that the right answer is to stay where you are.

The point
If you would like a second opinion on an account, contact us; who we are is set out plainly, and it may be that the right answer is to stay where you are.

Questions people ask about this

How do I choose a PPC agency?

Ask whose name the ad account will be in, whether you get administrator access, how fees and media spend are separated and how a conversion is counted. Then compare two itemised proposals against the same brief. Plain, written answers are a better sign than a long list of logos or a polished results slide.

What questions should I ask a PPC agency?

The twelve above cover ownership, access, fees, conversion tracking, landing pages, reporting and exit. If you only ask three, ask whose name is on the account, what happens to the fee if the agency recommends spending less, and exactly what you receive if you leave.

Should I pay a PPC agency a percentage of ad spend?

It is a common and legitimate model with a built-in tension: the fee grows with your budget whether or not results do. If you agree to it, ask what the agency would recommend if the data said to spend less, and agree in writing how budget increases are proposed and approved.

Who should own my Google Ads account?

Your business. The account, the payment method and the administrator login should be yours, with the agency given access to work inside it. If the account sits in the agency's name, your campaign history and conversion data stay with them when you leave. Ask before you sign, in writing.

Is a PPC agency better than a freelancer?

Neither is better in general. A freelancer offers direct contact and often lower overhead but little cover for absence. An agency offers more skills and continuity at a higher cost. The choice turns on scope and how much change the account will see, so compare against the same written brief.

How do I know if my current PPC agency is doing a good job?

Check that you hold administrator access, read the change history and search terms report, and compare reported enquiries with the ones your own team recorded. Good work leaves a visible trail of changes, each with a reason. If you cannot see that trail, you cannot judge the work.

Do I need a PPC agency on a small budget?

Not necessarily. When the management fee would be a large share of the ad spend, a freelancer, a time-limited account review or a carefully learned in-house setup may serve better. Agencies suit accounts large or complex enough to justify ongoing attention, and an honest one will tell you if yours is not.

What should a PPC agency report on?

Enquiries and cost per enquiry by campaign, defined the same way each time, alongside what those enquiries became where you can track it. Clicks and impressions are inputs, not results. Ask for the definitions in writing so a change in reporting cannot quietly flatter the numbers.