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How much does Google Ads management cost?
What agencies charge, the four ways they charge it, and what the fee should include.
Published · Updated · 3 min read
Key takeaways
- Agency management of Google Ads typically costs 8 to 20 percent of monthly ad spend, or a flat fee of $500 to $10,000 or more a month, on top of the ad spend you pay to Google.
- The four fee models are percentage of spend, flat monthly fee, hourly and performance-based, and a percentage on a falling scale with written budget approval suits most accounts.
- A real engagement includes account work every business day, verified conversion tracking, landing pages, call tracking to keyword level and one named person who owns the account.
- Never accept an agency owning your Google Ads account or a long contract; good agencies work month to month.
- PPC & Co charges a one-time onboarding fee, then 15 percent of the first $25,000 in monthly ad spend, 10 percent of the next $75,000 and 7.5 percent above $100,000, with a $1,000 monthly minimum.
Google Ads management by an agency typically costs 8 to 20 percent of monthly ad spend, or a flat fee of $500 to $10,000 or more a month depending on account size, on top of the ad spend itself, which you pay to Google. Most agencies also charge a one-time setup fee of $500 to $5,000. The right price depends on what's included: an account worked every business day by a senior strategist, with landing pages and tracking built in, costs more than one checked weekly by a junior, and it should.
The four fee models
Percentage of spend. The most common. 8 to 20 percent, usually on a sliding scale where the rate drops as spend rises. Scales with the work. The objection is that it rewards the agency for spending more; the answer is a falling scale and written budget approval.
Flat monthly fee. $500 to $10,000+ a month regardless of spend. Predictable, and fine when the budget is stable. Wrong at every budget except the one it was set for, and it tends to drift toward the minimum effort that keeps the client.
Hourly. $100 to $300 an hour. Rare for ongoing management because nobody wants to audit timesheets. Reasonable for audits and one-off projects.
Performance-based. A fee per lead or a share of revenue. Sounds aligned, but it pushes the agency toward volume over quality and usually comes with a base fee anyway. Works in a few e-commerce and lead-gen categories with clean attribution; a red flag in most local service accounts.
What should be included
At a minimum: account work every business day, search term and negative management, ad copy and asset refreshes, conversion tracking setup and verification, and a report someone explains. The things that separate a real engagement from a cheap one: landing pages built by the agency, call tracking to keyword level, offline conversion import from your CRM, Microsoft Ads as a mirror, and one named person who owns the account.
What to watch for
- The agency owns the Google Ads account. If you leave, you lose the history. Never accept this.
- A long contract. Twelve months is common and unnecessary; month to month is available from good agencies.
- "Management" that is a weekly login and an automated report.
- No mention of tracking. If they don't ask how you count a lead, the account will optimize to the wrong thing.
- A percentage on spend with no falling scale and no budget approval.
What PPC & Co charges
A one-time onboarding fee of $750 to $2,500 depending on the rebuild and tracking work needed, then 15 percent of the first $25,000 in monthly ad spend, 10 percent of the next $75,000 and 7.5 percent above $100,000, with a $1,000 monthly minimum. Each rate applies only to the spend inside its tier, so the fee never jumps at a threshold. Month to month, landing pages and tracking included, one senior strategist on the account. Full pricing.