How to Choose a Google Ads Agency: Access, Fees and Handover + Free Procurement Template
Before choosing a Google Ads agency, establish how enquiries will be measured, who controls the account and what happens when the contract ends. Those decisions make a proposal easier to evaluate than a promise of cheaper clicks.
This guide is for Hong Kong businesses outsourcing search advertising for the first time, changing suppliers or renegotiating a contract. Use it to compare proposals against a common brief and agree on a practical first-month acceptance plan.
Define the business outcome before requesting proposals
Choose one primary outcome, such as enquiries that meet your service area and budget criteria. Map the steps you can observe: ad click, landing-page visit, completed form, qualified enquiry, appointment and sale. For a long sales cycle, retain the enquiry creation date alongside subsequent outcomes; sales closed this month may have originated much earlier.
Give bidders your services, locations, languages, monthly media budget, landing pages and sales follow-up process. If conversion measurement is missing, specify setup and testing as an initial deliverable. Website development should never be silently assumed to sit inside a management retainer.
Ask these 12 questions using the same scoring sheet
Area | Questions | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
Outcomes | 1. What qualifies an enquiry? 2. Who returns sales outcomes? | Written definition, owner and reporting frequency |
Measurement | 3. Which events are primary conversions? 4. How are duplicate and test submissions excluded? | Event register and test record |
Strategy | 5. Which search intent is tested first? 6. How are irrelevant searches reviewed? | Initial hypotheses and review frequency |
Scope | 7. How many copy or landing-page changes are included? 8. Who handles design and development? | Quantities, responsibilities and exclusions |
Reporting | 9. How does reporting connect to qualified enquiries? 10. What changes when performance disappoints? | Anonymised report and decision log |
Access and exit | 11. Which permissions does the business retain? 12. What is handed over at termination? | Access register, handover list and timetable |
Ask for assumptions, limitations and stopping rules rather than guaranteed acquisition costs. If a presentation focuses on impressions and clicks, ask how those measurements change the next budget decision.
Distinguish user access from manager-account ownership
Keep a working company administrator, billing information and a backup internal owner. Grant agency access through appropriate account permissions or a manager-account link rather than a shared password.
Google explains that linking an existing client account does not automatically grant manager ownership. Granting ownership adds management capabilities, but the client retains its data and administrative rights and can unlink the manager. Establish why that additional authority is needed before granting it. See Google's manager-account ownership guidance.
The handover scope should include analytics, tag management, landing pages, measurement configurations, creative source files, reports and unfinished experiments. Record the owner and transfer method for each. Where an agency uses proprietary software, establish which records remain exportable after termination.
Free Google Ads agency procurement template
The editable template combines a 12-question scorecard, fee comparison, access register and exit checklist. A completed example shows how to use it. Agree the scoring criteria before reviewing proposals and ask every bidder to answer the same questions.
Compare the complete cost, not just the management percentage
Separate platform media spend from management, creative production, tracking setup, landing-page development and software. Classify each amount as one-off, monthly fixed or variable.
The following is a fictional procurement calculation, not a market benchmark or Allua quotation. Assume HK$20,000 in monthly media spend over three months:
Cost | Proposal A | Proposal B |
|---|---|---|
Monthly media | HK$20,000 | HK$20,000 |
Monthly management | HK$4,000 fixed | 15% of spend, HK$3,500 minimum: HK$3,500 |
One-off tracking setup | HK$6,000 | HK$9,000 |
Monthly creative | HK$2,000 | Excluded; illustrative allowance HK$2,000 |
Three-month total | HK$84,000 | HK$85,500 |
Calculate three months of media, management and creative, then add one-off setup. Under these assumptions B has the lower management fee but the higher total. Before deciding, confirm equivalent creative quantities, measurement testing and support. Check payment terms, taxes, renewal and early-termination charges separately.
Agree first-month acceptance and an exit process
A practical sequence is access and measurement review in week one, campaign groups and creative approval in week two, then search-term checks, conversion testing and initial enquiry-quality review in weeks three and four. This is a suggested working schedule, not a guarantee that costs stabilise within 30 days.
Monthly reporting should show spend, primary conversions, qualified enquiries with returned sales data, costs and the next experiment. Qualified-enquiry cost equals period spend divided by enquiries meeting the agreed definition. Where none qualify, report the spend and zero enquiries rather than manufacturing a cost figure.
At exit, export settings and reports, confirm that the company can take over, then remove unnecessary access according to the agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Can the agency be paid only for sales?
Possibly, but define a sale, sales follow-up responsibilities, refunds and the attribution period first. Product, pricing and sales execution are not controlled solely by the agency.
Does changing agencies require a new account?
Not automatically. Review the existing account, permissions and data before deciding whether to retain or restructure it. Ask for a specific reason if a new account is proposed.
Is outsourcing worthwhile with a small budget?
Compare full monthly management with internal operation plus one-off setup support. The right arrangement depends on internal capability and whether enough budget remains for useful testing.
How many products should launch together?
Start with offers that can be measured clearly and have dependable margin and availability. Spreading a small budget across too many products, languages and regions makes results harder to interpret.
Ask Allua to assess your Google Ads brief
Share your market, core services, monthly media budget and current measurement setup so Allua can assess the scope and handover requirements. Explore search engine marketing services or submit your Google Ads agency brief.
Verify third-party online information before use. Services and prices are subject to a formal quotation. Please contact us with corrections.
Comments