You're paying two people. Most agencies only tell you about one.
Every PPC invoice splits between media that reaches the auction and fees that reach the agency. Ask most firms for that split and the answer gets vague. We put it in the contract before you sign, and you keep the ad accounts either way.
From $5,000/month · Month-to-month after onboarding · You own the accounts
The account isn't underperforming. It's under-explained.
Most PPC engagements don't fail because someone picked bad keywords. They fail because the client can't see what's happening, so problems run for months before anyone names them.
Four leaks account for most of it.
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You don't know the split
A $10,000 invoice might be $8,000 of media and $2,000 of management, or $6,000 and $4,000. Those are very different deals, and plenty of agencies never put the number in writing.
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Conversions are counted, not qualified
Form fills and phone calls get reported as leads. Nobody checks whether they became customers. The report improves while the pipeline doesn't.
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Automation is running unsupervised
Performance Max and broad match will spend a budget efficiently on the wrong traffic. Without negative keywords and audience exclusions, you buy volume instead of buyers.
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Someone else owns the account
If the agency's manager account holds your campaigns, leaving means starting from zero no conversion history, no learning period served. That's not a service, it's a lock-in.
Where your money actually goes.
This is the single most useful question to ask any PPC agency, and the one most likely to produce an evasive answer. Here's ours, before you ask.
One number, no breakdown
Split disclosed on request, sometimes
Media may be marked up before it reaches you. Management may be a percentage of spend which quietly rewards the agency for spending more, whether or not it works. The account often sits in the agency's own manager account.
Both numbers, up front
Illustrative split - yours is set before you sign
Media billed at exactly what the platform charges, with no spread. Management as a flat fee, so our incentive doesn't move when your budget does. Accounts stay in your name, and you keep every conversion record if you leave.
Six platforms. One accountable number.
We don't add channels because they exist. Each one has to earn its place against the KPI we agreed at the start.
Google Ads
Search, Shopping, and Performance Max with the negative keyword and exclusion work that stops automation buying the wrong traffic.
Google Ads managementLocal Services Ads
Pay per lead rather than per click, above the regular search results. Best-value channel for most service businesses that qualify.
LSA managementMeta & LinkedIn
Demand generation and retargeting where search volume alone can't fill the pipeline. LinkedIn carries the B2B work.
Social advertisingYouTube
In-stream and discovery placements for categories with a long consideration window and a story worth telling on video.
YouTube advertisingMicrosoft Ads
Lower competition and often materially lower cost per click. Worth running wherever your audience skews older or B2B.
Microsoft AdsProgrammatic & display
Retargeting and audience buying across the open web. Used to support search, not to replace it.
Programmatic advertisingFour stages. Live inside a month.
Tracking goes in before spend does. An account that launches without conversion tracking is guessing, and you pay for the guess.
Account review
We go through your existing accounts, wasted spend, search terms, and the competitors bidding against you. You keep the findings whether or not you hire us.
Day 1KPI & fee split
One number the engagement is judged on, plus the media/management split in writing. Nothing starts before you sign off on both.
Day 1 - 2Tracking, then campaigns
Conversion tracking, call tracking, and offline import first. Then campaign structure, ad copy, and landing page alignment.
Day 2 - 5Weekly cycles
Search term review, negative keywords, bid and budget shifts. Monthly reporting against the agreed KPI, not against impressions.
OngoingOne account, in detail.
Broughton Law Firm
A paid ads and lead generation system built for a personal injury practice where a single signed case can justify a quarter's ad spend, and an unqualified lead costs an intake hour.
One number, before you call.
The answer most agencies give - "it depends on your industry" - is true and useless. Here's the actual floor.
$5,000 / month, all in
Covers both your media budget and our management fee. We show you the recommended split before you commit anything.
- Media billed at cost. Whatever Google or Meta charges is what appears on your invoice. No spread, no markup.
- Flat management fee, not a percentage of spend. Our fee doesn't rise when your budget does, so nobody has a reason to recommend spending more.
- Accounts in your name. Google Ads, Meta, analytics, and Google Business Profile all stay yours, with you as owner.
- Month-to-month after onboarding. Setup work is front-loaded and has a defined scope. After that, standard notice.
- Written KPI. One agreed number the engagement is measured against, set before anything launches.
What actually differs.
Every agency claims data-driven optimisation and dedicated account managers. These are the things you can check.
Flat fee, not a percentage
Percentage-of-spend billing pays the agency more for spending more. Ours doesn't move.
You keep the accounts
Conversion history and learning periods stay with you. Leaving costs you nothing structural.
Reported on lead quality
Where your CRM allows it, we report closed business not just form fills counted as conversions.
Regulated-industry experience
Legal, healthcare, and financial services where a careless ad is a compliance problem, not just a wasted click.
Written KPI up front
One number, agreed before launch. Both sides know what success means on day one.
Weekly, not monthly
Search term review and negative keywords every week. A month of unchecked broad match is expensive.
One point of contact
A named strategist who knows your account, not a rotating queue and a ticketing system.
Landing pages included
Sending paid traffic to a homepage wastes the click. We build where the campaign lands.
Before you call.
How much does PPC management cost?
Engagements start at $5,000 per month, covering both your media budget and our management fee. Management is a flat fee, not a percentage of spend so the number doesn't rise just because your budget does. We show you the recommended split between media and fees before you commit to anything.
Do you mark up media spend?
No. Whatever Google, Meta, or Microsoft charges is what appears on your invoice. Some agencies buy media and resell it at a spread, which is legal but means you never see the real cost per click. You'll see ours, because the account is yours.
Who owns the ad accounts?
You do. Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, analytics, and Google Business Profile all stay in your name with you as owner, and we work inside them. This matters more than it sounds: conversion history and completed learning periods are account-level assets. If they sit in an agency's manager account, changing agencies means starting from zero.
How fast will I see results?
Traffic arrives the day campaigns go live. Reliable results take longer typically 60 to 90 days - because automated bidding needs conversion volume before it optimises well, and the first month is largely about finding and excluding the traffic that doesn't convert. Anyone promising stable performance in week one is describing clicks, not customers.
What budget do I actually need?
It depends on your cost per click and how many conversions the platform needs to learn from. In competitive categories legal, insurance, restoration clicks can run well over $50, so a small budget buys too few conversions for automation to work with. We'll tell you honestly during the audit if your budget won't support the channel, and what would.
Is PPC better than SEO?
They answer different questions. PPC buys visibility immediately and stops when you stop paying; SEO compounds slowly and keeps working. Most businesses that can afford both should run both paid search also produces keyword and conversion data that makes the SEO work considerably faster.
Can you work with regulated industries?
Yes — legal, healthcare, and financial services are a large share of our client base. Each carries real constraints: bar association advertising rules, HIPAA considerations around remarketing and audience data, and FTC or FINRA requirements on financial claims. We build those into campaign review rather than discovering them after a complaint.
Am I locked into a contract?
No. Onboarding has a defined scope and duration because the audit, tracking, and build work are front-loaded. After that, engagements run month-to-month with standard notice and because the accounts are yours, leaving doesn't cost you your campaign history.
Give us read access. We'll tell you what's leaking.
A free audit of your existing ad accounts: wasted spend, search terms you're paying for and shouldn't be, tracking that isn't firing. You keep the findings whether you hire us or not.
Read-only access · No obligation · Findings are yours to keep