Is it a problem if the agency opens the account in its own manager account?

Yes, and the cost is paid at the moment you part. In an ad account opened inside an agency's own manager account, the campaign history, conversion data and negative keyword list stay with the agency; the next agency starts from zero and the algorithm's learning restarts. The right structure: the account in your name, the agency granted manager access, and that access revoked when the relationship ends.

Could I not run it myself?

On an account that starts with one campaign, a clear product and limited competition, yes — and that is the right way to start. An agency earns its fee once the account spreads across several campaign types, the search terms list needs weekly maintenance and landing pages need testing. The test is not the size of the budget but how many separate decisions the account needs each week.

How do you choose a Google Ads agency?

Short answer

Should an agency run my Google Ads, or should I?

Three things decide the choice of a Google Ads agency: whose name the account is in, how the fee is calculated, and which number the report shows. The account should be in the company's name, with the agency granted access. A fee set as a percentage of ad spend creates an incentive to raise spend. The report should show acquisitions per click, not clicks.

Key takeaways

Google's own documentation states that Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction; "we will raise your Quality Score and lower your CPC" is therefore a checkable claim, not a promise.
Ad position and the price paid come out of Ad Rank, and the bid is only one component; even when a competitor bids higher you can hold a higher position at a lower price with better ads and landing pages.
If the account was opened inside the agency's own manager account, the historical data does not transfer; learning starts from zero with the next agency.
A fee set as a percentage of spend builds a structure where growing the budget grows the agency's revenue; a flat fee or a per-result model removes that conflict.
A good report states the conversion definition: a sale, a form, a phone call — and that definition has not changed mid-month.

What actually sets your price and position?

Your ad position and the amount you pay per click come out of a composite value Google calls Ad Rank. Your bid feeds into it, but so do the quality of your ads and landing page, the Ad Rank thresholds, how competitive the auction is, the context of the person's search, and the expected impact of assets. In Google's own words, even when your competition bids higher you can still win a higher position at a lower price with high-quality ads and landing pages.

Google states outright that Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction; the score is a diagnostic. That makes "we will lower your costs by raising Quality Score" a technically mis-stated promise: what moves cost is the effect of ad and landing page quality on Ad Rank, not the score itself.

What does the fee model change?

Three models and the incentive each creates

Percentage of spend
Incentive
Growing the budget grows revenue
When it fits
Fast-scaling, high-margin accounts
Flat monthly fee
Incentive
Doing the work efficiently is profitable
When it fits
Accounts with a settled, steady budget
Per result
Incentive
Producing conversions is profitable
When it fits
Where the conversion is clearly defined and measurable

Three models and the incentive each creates
Model	Incentive	When it fits
Percentage of spend	Growing the budget grows revenue	Fast-scaling, high-margin accounts
Flat monthly fee	Doing the work efficiently is profitable	Accounts with a settled, steady budget
Per result	Producing conversions is profitable	Where the conversion is clearly defined and measurable

Which questions should you ask?

Whose name will the account be in? The right answer is the company's, with the agency granted access through a manager account. Campaign history opened inside an agency's own account cannot be transferred.
How will a conversion be defined? A sale, a form, a phone call — and measured with which tool. With no definition, the report counts clicks.
Will you share the search terms report monthly? It is the one report that shows where the budget actually went, and there is no good reason to withhold it.
Who holds the negative keyword list? That list is the most valuable asset an account accumulates over time.
Who edits the landing page? Ad quality depends on it; an agency that cannot touch the page is working with half its levers.

Frequently asked

Is it a problem if the agency opens the account in its own manager account?: Yes, and the cost is paid at the moment you part. In an ad account opened inside an agency's own manager account, the campaign history, conversion data and negative keyword list stay with the agency; the next agency starts from zero and the algorithm's learning restarts. The right structure: the account in your name, the agency granted manager access, and that access revoked when the relationship ends.
Could I not run it myself?: On an account that starts with one campaign, a clear product and limited competition, yes — and that is the right way to start. An agency earns its fee once the account spreads across several campaign types, the search terms list needs weekly maintenance and landing pages need testing. The test is not the size of the budget but how many separate decisions the account needs each week.

Sources

01How the Google Ads auction works — Google Ads Help, 2026
02Quality Score — what it is and what it is not — Google Ads Help, 2026

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