In this guide · 8 sections
- 01Agency, freelancer or DIY: which suits you
- 02Rule one: the Google Ads account must be yours
- 03What Google requires agencies to tell you
- 04Google Ads management fees: the common models
- 05Conversion tracking, consent and landing pages
- 06Reporting you should demand
- 07Do it yourself or get help?
- 08Frequently asked questions
Short answer
Pick whoever will run ads in a Google Ads account owned by your business, state their management fee in writing, set up proper conversion tracking and report cost and results monthly. A freelancer or DIY suits small budgets; an agency suits bigger budgets or several channels.
Agency, freelancer or DIY: which suits you
There is no single right answer; it depends on your budget, your time and how many channels you advertise on.
Do it yourself
- No management fee
- You learn what works for your business
- Easy to waste money with broad settings
- Needs a few hours a week
Best for: Small local budgets with time to learn.
Freelancer
- Usually a lower fee than an agency
- You deal with the person doing the work
- Cover for leave or illness can be thin
Best for: One or two campaigns on a modest budget.
Agency
- A team covering search, display, video and social
- Process, cover and reporting tools
- Higher fees; a junior may do the daily work
Best for: Larger budgets or several channels.
Whichever you pick, the rules below apply. If you are also comparing SEO providers, our guide to choosing an SEO agency in Singapore uses the same ownership-first approach.
Rule one: the Google Ads account must be yours
Some agencies run clients' ads inside accounts they create and control. When you leave, you lose the campaign history, the conversion data and the learning the account has built up, and you start again from zero.
Create the account in your business name
Sign up at ads.google.com with a Google account the business controls, such as a shared marketing@ address, and add your own payment method.
Complete advertiser verification yourself
Google asks for business details and documents. Our advertiser verification guide explains what Singapore businesses need.
Give the manager the right access level
Invite them by email with Standard access, or accept a link request from their manager account. Keep Admin for at least two people in your business.
Record your customer ID
Note the 10-digit Google Ads customer ID. Google's policy says agencies must give it to you on request, and you need it to contact Google directly.
Google's access levels page explains the differences. Standard users can edit campaigns and run reports. Only Admin users can give or remove access, accept or unlink manager accounts and complete advertiser verification. Google also warns that if an account has only one administrator, you may lose access to your tags if that person becomes unavailable.
What Google requires agencies to tell you
Google has third-party policies for agencies and freelancers that manage ads for clients. Its transparency requirements say third parties must:
- share Google advertising cost and performance reports in an easy way, or let you sign in to your account directly;
- clearly tell you about any management fee separate from the cost of Google Ads, in writing before your first purchase and on every invoice;
- give you the customer IDs of your Google Ads accounts when you ask;
- share Google's guide on working with third parties, if most of their customers spend under US$1,000 a month on Google Ads.
Google's policies also prohibit false, misleading or unrealistic claims about services, costs and results. Promises of guaranteed first-place rankings or a fixed number of leads deserve scepticism. If an agency breaks these rules, Google may review it and suspend its programme status or accounts.
Google Ads management fees: the common models
Your total cost is always two things: what you pay Google for clicks (your ad spend) and what you pay the manager. Make sure the proposal separates them.
| Fee model | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly fee | Same fee whatever you spend | What is included: number of campaigns, landing page changes, reports |
| Percentage of ad spend | Fee rises with your budget | An incentive to raise spend rather than results |
| Setup fee plus monthly | One-off build, then management | Who owns the ads, keywords and landing pages after setup |
| Ad spend bundled into one package price | One invoice covers ads and fee | You cannot see what actually went to Google; ask for the split |
| Performance-based | Fee per lead or sale | How a lead is defined and counted, and who owns the tracking |
Also ask about the minimum term and notice period, whether they charge to hand back the account, and whether they use your budget for tests that benefit other clients. Get the answers in writing before you sign.
Conversion tracking, consent and landing pages
Clicks are not results. Before any campaign goes live, agree what counts as a conversion: a form submission, a phone call, a WhatsApp click, a booking or a sale. Then check it is tracked in your own Google Ads account, not only in the agency's dashboard.
If you use a cookie banner, Google's consent mode passes each visitor's choice to Google's tags, which then adjust what they collect. It does not create the banner for you; it works with the one on your site. Our guide to privacy policies and cookie consent under the PDPA covers what your site should tell visitors.
The other half is the page the ad sends people to. A homepage with no clear offer, slow loading or a buried phone number wastes clicks. A focused landing page with one offer, prices or a starting price, and an obvious call or WhatsApp button usually does better. Our guide on landing pages vs full websites explains when a separate page is worth it.
Reporting you should demand
A monthly report should answer one question: what did we spend, and what did we get? Ask for these, in writing, before you start.
Monthly Google Ads report
Be wary of reports that lead with impressions, clicks and click-through rate but do not mention conversions or cost per lead. Those numbers can rise while the business gets nothing.
Do it yourself or get help?
IT Sorted does not manage Google Ads campaigns, so we have no stake in which manager you choose. We work on the parts that make any campaign perform: the page the ads send people to, page speed, and the tracking underneath.
A Landing Page (S$690) gives you a fast, focused page for one offer, with a contact form, WhatsApp button and Google Analytics ready. A Speed & SEO Fix (S$390) fixes slow loading and setup issues on your existing site so paid clicks are not wasted. Both are fixed-price, paid upfront, and everything stays in accounts you own.
Frequently asked questions
By your business. Create the account with a Google account your business controls, add your own payment method, and give the agency Standard access or accept a link from its manager account. If the agency owns the account, you can lose all campaign history and conversion data when you leave.
It depends on the provider and model: a flat monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend, a setup fee plus monthly management, or a fee per lead. Always separate the management fee from your ad spend. Google's policy requires third parties to disclose management fees in writing before your first purchase and on every invoice.
Standard access lets a manager edit campaigns and run reports. Keep Admin access, which controls users, manager links and advertiser verification, for at least two people in your business. If you link to an agency's manager account, unlink it when the contract ends.
Be cautious. Google's third-party policies prohibit false, misleading or unrealistic claims about services, costs and results, and nobody controls ad auctions. A reasonable proposal sets out a plan, a budget, how conversions are tracked and what will be reported, rather than guaranteed rankings or lead numbers.
Ad spend separate from the management fee, conversions by type with cost per conversion, the campaigns and keywords that produced them, the search terms that triggered ads, and the changes made. You should also have your own access to the account so you can check the figures directly.