How much does a Google Ads agency cost?

The cost of Google Ads management consists of two separate components: the agency fee and the advertising budget. You pay the ad budget directly to the platform, with no markup. The fee depends on the scope of work.

Two management models

On demand: services as needed, such as audits, setup, or individual rounds of optimisation. This suits teams that manage campaigns in-house and require specialist expertise on an ad hoc basis. Monthly retainer: predictable support with clearly defined deliverables such as continuous optimisation, structured A/B testing, monthly reports, and joint review calls.

What determines the scope of work

• Number and type of campaigns and channels, for example Search, Performance Max, YouTube, Meta, or LinkedIn.
• Tracking status: The setup effort depends on complexity and the existing foundation, such as call, form, or server-side tracking.
• Landing pages: analysis, optimisation, and testing.
• Frequency of reporting and review meetings.
• Data availability and decision-making processes: In B2B with lengthy decision cycles, it takes longer to gather reliable data for analysis.

What you should look out for in any proposal

What is included in the fee? Who retains access to the account and data? How is the advertising budget billed? What contract term and notice period apply? How long an initial phase should run depends on how quickly the campaigns gather sufficient conversion data. Funding subsidies may be available for consulting services; find out more in the funding check. We provide specific fee quotes following an initial discovery call, as the setup and target outcomes significantly affect the overall effort.