The essentials
- There is no best agency in absolute terms: there is the one whose size, favoured sector and method match your budget and your market.
- The decisive criterion: the person who will run your account day to day, their experience and the number of accounts they handle in parallel (beyond 15, the time per account becomes insufficient).
- Revealing questions: how do you define a conversion, how often do you work on search terms, what do you do when Google recommends Performance Max.
- Warning sign: a proposal received without access to the account and without a single question about your margin.
“Best Google Ads agency” is a heavily searched query and a badly framed question: the right agency for an online shop with a €3,000 monthly budget is not the one that suits a property group at €50,000. This article gives a method for comparing agencies on criteria you can check. The contractual side (billing, clauses, account ownership) is covered separately in entrusting your SEA to a provider.
The types of agency and who they suit
| Type | Profile | Suits | Point to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEA specialist agency (5 to 30 people) | Does nothing but online advertising, often Google and Meta | Budgets of €2,000 to €30,000 a month, need for sharp expertise | Little perspective on the site and the content; may push you to increase media spend |
| Generalist digital agency | SEO, SEA, website, social media | Small businesses wanting a single point of contact | SEA is sometimes handled by a junior profile or subcontracted |
| Large agency or network | Teams by discipline, proprietary tools | Budgets above €30,000 a month, several countries | High fixed cost; a small account gets little attention |
| Sector agency | Specialised in one field (healthcare, property, fashion e-commerce) | Advertisers in that sector, regulatory constraints | Often handles your direct competitors; ask about the conflict policy |
| Independent consultant | One person, sometimes with a network | Budgets of €1,000 to €10,000 a month | Dependence on one person; see working with a freelancer |
The criteria you can check before the first meeting
- Comparable accounts: the same order of budget, the same type of objective (leads or sales), ideally the same sector or a neighbouring one, with results expressed in cost per conversion or in ROAS, not in clicks.
- An identifiable team: the account managers have a name, a length of service and visible experience; an agency where only the salespeople are visible raises a question.
- A documented method: an onboarding process (audit, restructuring, tracking), a weekly routine, a reporting format; serious agencies describe them willingly.
- The Google Partner badge: useful but not decisive; it certifies a managed volume and certifications, not results. Premier Partner status (3% of agencies) indicates a size, not a quality.
- Transparent pricing: the billing models are explained before the proposal, not discovered in the quote.
The questions to ask in meetings
The answers to these questions separate an agency that applies a method from an agency that applies Google's recommendations:
| Question | Expected answer | Answer that should alert you |
|---|---|---|
| How do you define a conversion on my account? | A discussion about your forms, calls, sales and their value, with tracking checked before any launch | “We pick up the existing conversions” |
| How many accounts does the person handling mine manage? | 8 to 15 accounts; a name and a background | More than 20, or no precise answer |
| How often do you work on search terms? | Every week, with shared negative lists | “The algorithm takes care of it” |
| What do you do with Google's automatic recommendations? | Monthly review, case-by-case application, automatic application switched off | “We apply them, Google knows the account” |
| When do you recommend Performance Max? | When tracking is reliable, with brand exclusions and channel-by-channel reporting | From the first month, for the whole budget |
| What happens if the objectives are not reached after three months? | Analysis of the causes, adjustment, exit clause | A 12-month commitment with no conditions |
| What information do you expect from me each month? | Feedback on lead quality, margin, seasonality | None: “we take care of everything” |
Comparing proposals with a grid
Ask for three proposals on the same brief (budget, objective, scope, account access provided) and score them on five criteria from 1 to 5: understanding of your business (does the document talk about your market or is it generic?), quality of the preliminary audit (has it identified real problems in your account?), method and routine described, profile of the named account manager, consistency between price and service. A proposal scoring below 3 on understanding of the business should be set aside whatever the price. On fees, the 2026 ranges for a small business run from €400 to €1,500 a month on a flat fee, or 10 to 20% of the media budget; a 30% price gap between two agencies weighs less than the quality of the account manager.
After signing: the first 90 days
A good agency starts with an audit and a tracking check, not with an immediate restructuring; it sets KPIs and a reporting format with you, as described in the KPIs for judging your SEA provider ; it asks you for feedback on contact quality from the first month. After 90 days, you should have a stabilised cost per conversion, a change history that shows weekly work and a plan for the following quarter. If those three things are missing, that is what the exit clause is for. An external audit, whose content is described in what a good SEA audit should contain, gives an independent opinion in case of doubt.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's return on investment module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Google Partner badge guarantee an agency's quality?
No. It certifies that the agency manages a certain volume of spend, that its employees have passed Google's certifications and that it applies a share of the automatic recommendations. It is an indicator of administrative seriousness, not of results. Excellent consultants do not have the badge; mediocre agencies do. Look at the accounts managed and at the account manager.
Should you choose an agency specialised in your sector?
It is an advantage in heavily constrained sectors (healthcare, finance, legal, property) where advertising rules and vocabulary matter. The downside is that the agency probably handles your competitors; ask about its conflict of interest policy and the separation of teams. In a standard sector, the management method matters more than knowledge of the trade.
How much does a Google Ads agency cost in 2026?
For a small business, reckon on €400 to €1,500 excluding VAT a month on a flat fee, or 10 to 20% of the media budget with a minimum of €300 to €500. Set-up fees run from €500 to €3,000 depending on the state of the account. Large agencies charge monthly minimums of €2,000 to €5,000, which only make sense above €20,000 of media.
Agency or freelancer: how do you decide?
A freelancer suits budgets of €1,000 to €10,000 a month and offers a single point of contact, experienced and cheaper. An agency brings continuity when someone is away, several skills (feeds, tracking, creative) and the capacity to handle large budgets. Above €10,000 of media, or with several countries, an agency is generally the better fit.