Google Ads
what should a Google Ads agency actually do each month?
Real management has four visible signs: search term hygiene done weekly, a test always running somewhere in the account, budget flowing toward what's working, and a monthly report that tells the truth in plain English. If the report is the only evidence of activity, you're paying for reporting, not management.
the work you should see
Ask for the change history and read it. A managed account shows regular negative keyword additions, ads being rewritten and retired, bids and budgets adjusted with reasons, and landing pages questioned when the data points at them. None of this is secret craft. It's discipline, applied weekly, and it compounds.
a test always running
The core of paid search is that opinions are cheap and tests are truth. Somewhere in your account, something should be on trial: a headline against a headline, a page against a page, a bidding approach against the incumbent. Accounts without live tests aren't being improved; they're being watched.
reporting that respects you
A good report answers three questions without jargon: what did we spend and get, what did we change and why, and what happens next month. It includes the failures, because a report with only wins is marketing about marketing. Ten honest minutes beats forty pages of charts.
the honest catch
Some months, the right professional move is to change very little and let the learning settle, especially after big changes. The difference between healthy restraint and neglect is whether your agency can explain why stillness was the right call this month. Ask. A good one will enjoy answering.
Common questions
How much time does my account actually need?
- It scales with spend and volatility. Small stable accounts need less monthly work than agencies like to admit; larger or competitive ones genuinely need weekly hands. What matters is that attention matches the account, not the invoice.
What's a red flag in agency reporting?
- Metrics without money. If reports celebrate impressions and clicks but go quiet on cost per lead and revenue, attention is being directed away from the thing that matters.
Should I have access to my own account?
- Full access, always, from day one. It's your data and your money, and any structure where you can't see inside is a structure built for the wrong party.
Tom Claydon
Co-founder of Nudge
Ask Tom anything about search, he answers on WhatsApp.