Choosing a Google Ads agency is less about portfolio and more about three answers in writing: who runs your account day to day, what exactly is included in the fee, and who owns the ad account if the contract ends.
The promise that should kill a proposal on the spot
If someone guarantees the top position, a number of leads, or a specific return before even looking at your account, end the conversation. It’s not a lack of skill, it’s a lack of honesty about how the auction works.
Position in Google Ads depends on your bid, Quality Score, and what your competitors are doing today, and none of those three is controlled by whoever is selling you the service. Results also depend on your pricing, your landing page, and whoever handles the lead. A guarantee in this scenario is a guess with a contract attached.
A serious proposal talks in terms of hypotheses and test periods. Something like what budget generates enough data volume, and how many weeks it takes to read the first signal.
Who owns the ad account
This is the question that costs the most later, and almost nobody asks it beforehand.
Your Google Ads account should be under your own CNPJ (Brazil’s company registration number), with the agency having manager-level access. If the agency creates its own account and runs your campaigns inside it, you don’t take the history with you when you leave. And account history is an asset: it’s months of algorithm learning, negative keywords, and conversion data that you paid to build.
The same goes for GA4, Google Tag Manager, and Merchant Center. All of it should be yours, with access given to whoever does the work.
- My Google Ads account is under my own CNPJ
- I have administrator access, not just read-only
- GA4 and GTM are mine too
- When you end the contract, you keep everything without having to negotiate
What to ask to see before signing
A brand portfolio tells you nothing about operations. Ask for evidence of process.
A real search terms report, with the client’s data hidden, shows whether the agency cleans up the account or lets Google spend on any similar search. A screenshot of the conversions screen shows whether it sets up proper tracking or just lives off clicks.
Also ask how often the account gets worked on and what happens in the first week. Whoever answers with a timeline knows what they’re going to do. Whoever answers with adjectives doesn’t.
Certification helps, but it’s not the deciding factor
The Google Partner badge shows that the company manages a minimum ad spend, keeps its certifications current, and meets a performance threshold measured by Google itself. It’s a useful filter, but it’s not a guarantee they’ll take good care of your account.
Use it as an initial cutoff, not as the decision itself. A certified agency with 400 clients and one account manager for every 80 of them may give your account less attention than a small agency with 15 clients.
How many clients per operator
This question separates a good agency from a big agency, and almost no one asks it.
A well managed account takes a few hours a month between reviewing search terms, testing ads, and adjusting budget. Do the math. If each operator handles forty accounts, there’s little time left for yours, no matter how skilled they are.
There’s no magic number, just a sense of scale. Ask, write it down, and compare between proposals.
The contract: term, penalty, and exit
A long commitment period is usually a sign that results alone aren’t enough to keep the client.
Read three clauses before signing. The minimum term, the early termination penalty, and what happens to account access on the last day.
The third one is the one that hurts later. If the account, GA4, and GTM are all in the agency’s name, you leave without the history you paid to build.
- Minimum term and advance notice, in writing
- Prorated penalty, not the full amount
- Access under your CNPJ (Brazilian company registration number) from day one
- Delivery of reports and negative keyword lists upon exit
Signs that the operation is real
A sales presentation is easy to put together. Operations aren’t.
Ask to see, with the client’s data hidden, a search terms report with negative keywords applied over time, and the conversions screen of an active account. These are two things that only exist for agencies that actually do the work.
Also ask what they’d do in the first week with your account. Whoever answers with a timeline has a method. Whoever answers with adjectives has a pitch.
The test that costs nothing
Before signing anything, ask for a diagnosis of the account you already have. It doesn’t need to be paid, and what comes back tells you more than any presentation.
If the diagnosis points out specific issues, with numbers from your own account, you’re talking to someone who actually opened the dashboard. If you get a generic document that could apply to any company, you’re talking to someone who opened a template.
That’s why our Google Ads management always starts with a review of your account, not a proposal.