Key facts
- Google Ads accounts have their own conversion history, quality scores, and audience data tied to the account itself, not the agency managing it, so an RFP should require you to remain the account owner from day one rather than being added as a user to an account the agency controls.
- Google's advertiser policies (the ones governing what can be claimed in an ad, and stricter rules for regulated categories like healthcare, legal, and finance) apply to your account regardless of which agency runs it, so a bidder should be asked whether your industry has any restricted-category rules they already know about.
- Fee structures for Google Ads management are typically either a flat monthly retainer or a percentage of ad spend; the RFP should require the bidder to state which model they use and to confirm in writing that they do not mark up the media spend itself.
- Negative keyword lists, audience exclusions, and search-term reports are where wasted spend actually gets caught, so the RFP should ask a bidder how often they review search terms, not just how often they report results.
- A new agency taking over an existing account should be asked to preserve the account's conversion and audience history rather than starting a fresh account, since a brand-new account loses months of Google's own learning data and can temporarily perform worse.
Scope boundaries
State which Google Ads campaign types are in scope: Search, Performance Max, Shopping, Display, YouTube, or Local Services Ads. Not every agency runs every type well, and a bidder who quotes one flat fee to cover all of them without naming which they will actually build should be asked to break that down.
State your monthly ad spend budget separately from the management fee, and be specific about whether that budget is fixed or whether you expect the agency to recommend increases. Ad spend and management fee are two different line items, and an RFP that blurs them invites a quote that looks cheaper than it is.
State whether landing page work is in scope. Many underperforming accounts are held back by weak landing pages, not weak ad copy, and an agency that only touches campaigns while ignoring where the clicks land is offering a narrower service than the results you actually want.
What the vendor must be given
Set the vendor up with manager access to your Google Ads account through Google's own account-linking system, so you remain the account owner and can revoke their access at any time without losing the account itself. Never let a vendor create the account under their own login.
Give the vendor access to GA4 and, if you use one, your CRM or call tracking system, so they can see which clicks actually turn into leads or sales, not just which clicks happen. An agency optimizing toward clicks alone, without visibility into what closes, is optimizing the wrong number.
Supply your existing brand guidelines, any claims you are legally allowed to make (pricing, guarantees, certifications), and a list of any regulatory restrictions on your industry, so the agency is not guessing at what is compliant to say in an ad.
Ownership and exit clauses
State that you remain the sole owner of the Google Ads account, its billing, and its conversion history for the full duration of the engagement, with the agency added only as a manager-linked user. This protects the account's learning data and keeps you in control of the billing relationship.
State that on termination, the agency removes their own manager access within a fixed number of business days and hands over any custom scripts, automated rules, or offline conversion import setups they built, since these are configuration you paid for and should keep working after they leave.
Add a clause covering audience lists and remarketing data built during the engagement: confirm these live inside your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts, not in a third-party tool the agency owns, so a change of agency does not mean rebuilding your audiences from zero.
Milestones and acceptance tests
Set an onboarding milestone in the first two to four weeks: a written account audit covering current campaign structure, conversion tracking accuracy, and wasted spend found in the search-term report, delivered before any major changes are made. This audit is your first real look at whether the agency understands your account.
Set a 90-day milestone as the first real performance checkpoint, since Google Ads campaigns, especially Performance Max and new Search campaigns, need a learning period before results stabilize. The acceptance test here is not a specific number of leads, since that depends on your market, but a written comparison of cost per lead, conversion rate, and wasted spend against the pre-engagement baseline the audit established.
Set a recurring monthly reporting milestone: spend, conversions, cost per conversion, and a plain-language note on what changed and why. Reports that only show a dashboard screenshot without explanation do not meet this test.
Scoring rubric
Weight the account audit heaviest: 30 percent the quality and specificity of the written onboarding audit, 25 percent fee structure and total cost transparency, 20 percent relevant experience in your industry or a comparable one, 15 percent reporting clarity, and 10 percent references you can call.
Score the audit on specifics: does it name actual issues in your account (wasted spend on a specific search term, a tracking gap, a campaign type mismatched to your goal) rather than a generic list that could apply to any account.
Score fee structure on total transparency: ask for the all-in monthly cost at your current spend level, and confirm nothing beyond that is billed without your sign-off. A rubric that only compares headline percentages misses agencies that pad the number with add-on fees.
Questions every bidder must answer
Make every bidder answer in writing: Do you mark up my media spend, and what is your exact fee structure at my monthly budget? Will I own the Google Ads account, or will it be created under your login? How often do you review search terms and negative keywords, and can I see a sample report?
Also ask: Have you managed an account in my industry, and are you aware of any advertiser policy restrictions that apply to it? What is your process for taking over an existing account without losing its conversion history? What happens to my campaigns, audiences, and scripts the day I decide to leave?
A bidder who answers with a specific fee number, a named review cadence, and a real account-transition process is describing a repeatable operation. A bidder who answers only in outcomes promised, more leads, better ROI, without process, is describing a sales pitch.
Related questions
Both are common. A percentage of spend scales naturally as your budget grows but can feel expensive at high budgets; a flat fee is predictable but may not adjust if your account grows more complex. Ask each bidder to quote both ways so you can compare the real cost at your budget.
Most agencies need 60 to 90 days to move past the learning period on new or restructured campaigns before results stabilize. Judge them on the onboarding audit immediately, but wait for the 90-day milestone before judging performance.
Yes, as long as you remained the account owner throughout. That is exactly why this RFP requires manager-linked access rather than letting a vendor create the account under their own login.
Yes. Google Ads management here costs 10 percent of your ad budget, a $600 monthly floor, with nothing added on top of media spend, and the account audit plus 90-day checkpoint in this pack are ones we would stand behind.
SearchPod is a vendor for this kind of work and would answer this RFP; the acceptance tests here are the ones we agree to.
Want this scoped and priced for your business?
Get a free, no-obligation proposal within one business day. We look at your site and your market and tell you plainly what we would do, and what we would not.
Get your free proposal