Google Ads management cost: fees, and who owns the account

On this page · 6 parts

1. What do agencies charge to run Google Ads?
2. Which fee model fits a home-service business?
3. Who should own your Google Ads account?
4. What happens to the account when you leave an agency?
5. What should you ask before you sign?
6. FAQ

What do agencies charge to run Google Ads?

Usually 10% to 20% of your ad spend, or a flat fee of about $1,000 to $3,000 a month, going by the ranges agencies publish. There’s no official price list, and as of October 2026 we couldn’t find an independent survey of what home-service owners pay. So treat these ranges as useful, but remember they come from people selling the service:

• WebFX’s 2026 pricing page puts management at “10% to 20% of ad spend or $1,000 to $3,000 monthly,” with fees “usually decreasing as your total spend increases.”[1]
• AgencyAnalytics says agencies charge “10–20% of monthly PPC ad spend or a flat monthly fee that starts around $500 for smaller budgets.”[2]

That fee sits on top of your ad spend, which goes to Google. What the ads themselves cost by trade is in how much Google Ads cost, and how to size the spend is in Google Ads budgets for home services. Here’s how the common fee models work:

Model	How it works	Watch for
Percent of spend	The fee is a share of what you pay Google each month	The fee rises every time spend rises, whether jobs do or not. Ask about the monthly minimum
Flat monthly fee	A set fee whatever you spend	Ask what it covers: how often someone checks the account, and what they change
Hybrid	A base fee or a percent, whichever is higher. WebFX’s middle tier is “$975 or 15% of spend, whichever is higher”	Work out which side of the line your budget lands on
Performance-based	A fee per lead or per booked job, or a bonus on results	Who defines a lead, and whose tracking counts it. Spam leads count too unless you agree they don’t
Setup fee	A one-off charge to build or rebuild the account	Whether the build stays in your account if you leave

Google sets two rules here. If an agency charges a separate management fee, it “must clearly inform customers,” in writing before your first purchase, and the fee has to appear on every invoice. And if it sends monthly reports, the cost line must show “the exact amount charged by Google, exclusive of any fees.”[3] If you can’t tell your ad spend from the agency’s cut, ask why.

Which fee model fits a home-service business?

One that pays for real work every week at your budget, and is judged on booked jobs, not form fills. Do the math on your own budget first. On $3,000 a month of ad spend, 10% to 20% is $300 to $600 a month. That might not pay for someone to read your search terms every week. A flat fee of $1,000 to $3,000 can, but only if the work is written down.

Percent-of-spend pays the agency more when you spend more, not when you book more. That’s not dishonest, but it isn’t lined up with your number either. Performance-based pricing sounds better, and it can be, if you both trust the same count. For a plumber or a roofer, that should be booked jobs from your own records, fed back to Google through offline conversion tracking, not raw form fills. A fee per form fill pays for spam leads too.

Our own pricing, and what’s included, is on the pricing page.

Who should own your Google Ads account?

You should. The account holds every click, call and conversion you’ve ever paid for, and Smart Bidding, Google’s automatic bidding, learns from that history. In Google Ads, owning it comes down to three things.

1. Admin access. Google has five access levels: Admin, Standard, Read only, Email only and Billing. Only an admin can “give account access, change access levels,” “accept and reject manager account link requests,” “unlink manager accounts” and complete advertiser verification. Google recommends having a second admin.[4] At least one admin should be you, on your own Google login.

2. Manager account ownership. Agencies run accounts from a manager account, one login that holds all their clients’ accounts. If the agency creates your account inside its manager account, “the manager will automatically become the owner.” If it links to an account you already have, it doesn’t get ownership unless you turn it on. Either way, admins in your account “can always unlink a manager with ownership.”[5] So the safe order is: you open the account, you stay admin, the agency links in.

3. Who pays Google. The payments profile, the billing details Google charges for your ads, says who the advertiser is. If its name differs from your verified name, your ads say “Ads funded by” the payments profile name.[6] Moving billing later is a “Change who pays” transfer. That means verifying again “even if you were previously verified,” and any promotional credit “won’t be transferred or refunded.”[7] Set billing in your business’s name from day one. Advertiser verification explains why the names need to match.

That migration notice matters now. If your Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads, Google emails the account admin 14 days ahead.[8] If you aren’t an admin, you may not hear about it.

Free · no cardBefore you pick an agency, see who gets the call.The Google Journey searches Google like a homeowner in your area and shows who gets the job. It never asks for your Google Ads login.Run my free Google Journey →

What happens to the account when you leave an agency?

If you own it, leaving takes five minutes. Remove the agency’s users, unlink its manager account, and the campaigns, conversion actions and history all stay where they are.

If the agency owns it, you need it to hand the account over. Google’s process is that the current admin invites you as an admin, and then removes itself.[9] If it won’t, you start again in a new account. Google Ads Editor, Google’s free desktop app, can copy the campaigns across, but “historical performance data, like impressions, clicks, and conversions, and any bid strategy learning aren’t carried over.”[10] Your new campaigns start cold, so expect a slower first few months while the bidding learns again.

Whatever happens, an agency has to “provide your customers with the customer IDs for their Google Ads” accounts when you ask.[3] Ask for yours now, while things are friendly.

What should you ask before you sign?

Who owns the account, who pays Google, and what you keep if you leave. Then the fee.

A good agency answers every one of these without blinking. If the answers are vague on the first three, the fee doesn’t matter.

FAQ

Is 10% to 20% of spend a fair fee?

It’s the range agencies publish, so it’s normal. Whether it’s fair depends on what you get. On a small budget, a percentage may not pay for real weekly work. Compare agencies on what they’ll do each week and what they’ll report, not just the rate.

Should I pay a setup fee?

It can be fair if the build is real work: tracking, campaigns split by service, a page for each job. Make sure the build lives in your account, so you keep it if you leave.

My old agency says the account is theirs. Can I get it back?

Google’s transfer process runs through the current admin, who has to invite you and step back. Ask in writing, and ask for your customer ID. If they refuse, start a new account in your own name and rebuild. Copy what you can, and expect a slower first few months.

Can I see my account while an agency runs it?

You should. Google lets an agency meet its reporting rule by “allowing your customers to sign in to their Google advertising accounts directly.” Read-only access is the least you should accept. Admin access is better.

Who owns the account if clique.agency runs it?

You do. The ad account stays in your name, and you keep it if you leave. Details are on the pricing page and the Clique to Close page.