5 Signs it's time
to fire your Google
Ads Agency

Live and die by in-platform reporting

If a Google Ads agency only reports & strategises based on how performance is inside the Ads platform - this is a red flag.

Only relying on Google Ads metrics mean performance is only tied to top-line revenue reporting. What's worse is that Google's own attribution methodology means it's blind to other channel's roles in the journey, only taking credit for it's own interactions - regardless of how significant a role it played.

Often this leaves you reporting on the same conversions that also get tracked higher up in the funnel in Meta, Pinterest etc.

Consent banners, privacy browsers, parameter stripping, IOS updates all mean that ad platforms are now modelling estimates of actual performance.

Living and dying by these bit-part figures, with no accountability or insight into margins, return rate, contribution margin, payback windows, repeat order rate etc leave you a weak strategy into how to actually grow.

My independent Google Ads & Merchant centre audit starts outside the platform to understand these challenges - before diving inside the platform.

No strategy - tactical tweaks only

If your Google Ads agency is refusing to touch strategy, or the strategy is the execution, then you've got a problem.

Handling tactical execution in-platform is not the hard part for google ads specialists anymore. With automation in-platform, machine learning, scripts & now more advanced AI, the role of a Google Ads specialist is shifting more into strategy work - leveraging the ads account to help with this.

Tactical executions are not 100% of the job. Working with me on an on-going basis means you get the commercial strategy, paired with in-platform execution.

Communication/action is slow / only quick for the invoice

Slow communication and action from a Google Ads agency, except when the invoice is due, is a sign it's time to fire it.

Communication should not feel like a painful or anxious process. You should be able to get clear insights and understanding in a timely manner.

If they're only promptly replying when it comes to paying the invoice - that's a red flag right there.

Issues are buried or shied away from

A Google Ads agency that buries problems or only reveals them after the fact is not being accountable for performance.

A good PPC specialist will be the first to let you know when something's gone wrong. Being accountable for performance is key, so burying it in a QBR deck or not telling the client until after it's happened does not help either party.

Owning the losses is just as important as owning the wins.

Cookie-cutter templates

A Google Ads agency that builds your account from a cookie-cutter template will hold you back, because no two businesses share the same margins, price points or funnels.

If your ads account has been set up because "it worked well on another client". Run.

Every business is different. Different margins, delivery times, price points, funnels, on-site experience.

Using a cookie cutter approach is lazy.

Ad specialists who don't take the time to get to know the business inside out (not just the ad platform), will only hold you back in the long run.