Compare the agency, not the pitch.
Choosing an ecommerce PPC agency means comparing scope, people, account ownership, measurement and commercial fit. This guide gives you one neutral set of questions for different agency models and named UK providers.
We optimise Google Ads for POAS, not just ROAS, so bidding follows contribution margin after COGS, shipping, returns and fees rather than headline revenue. If you want that managed rather than compared, start at our ecommerce PPC agency page.
At a glance: the three agency archetypes.
Every ecommerce PPC agency falls into one of three models. The differences are not cosmetic: they determine how your budget is spent, what gets measured, and who profits.
| Feature | The Generalist | The Specialist | The Profit-First Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel breadth | Ask which channels are managed together | Ask where the specialist boundary sits | Google and Microsoft Ads in-house |
| Commercial measure | Ask which business outcomes enter reporting | Ask how platform measures connect to contribution | Contribution alongside attributed platform results |
| Tracking | Ask who owns cross-channel measurement | Ask which tracking work is included | Scope agreed against the existing measurement setup |
| Account ownership | Confirm ownership in writing | Confirm ownership in writing | Brand-owned accounts and data |
| Product economics | Ask which catalogue costs can be used | Ask how product differences affect decisions | Contribution, stock and customer goals inform decisions |
| Team | Name the channel leads and responsibilities | Name the account lead and cover | Named delivery team |
| Reporting | Agree one cross-channel decision view | Agree channel and commercial views | Commercial and platform reporting |
| Pricing | Check scope, exclusions and change control | Check scope, exclusions and change control | Fixed fee, no percentage of spend |
| Selection question | Does the brief need several channels together? | Does the brief need deeper channel focus? | Does the brief centre on Google and Microsoft Ads? |
Seven UK ecommerce PPC agencies, compared honestly.
Agency models are useful, named agencies are more useful. Below are seven UK agencies with their published service scope and neutral questions to take into a selection process. We are one of them, so read our own row with that in mind.
Disclosure: JudeLuxe is included in this comparison and JudeLuxe publishes it. Everything here is drawn from each agency's own public positioning. It is a starting point for a shortlist, not a ranking, and no agency has paid to appear. Follow each source and verify the current offer directly.
| Agency | Published service scope | Questions to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Circus PPC | Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, Amazon Ads and ChatGPT Ads. Source | Which channels and campaign types would be in scope, who would lead the account, and how would commercial goals be reflected in reporting? |
| PPC Geeks | PPC management and ecommerce advertising audits. Source | What would the audit cover, who would act on its findings, and which business costs can be included in ongoing reporting? |
| Found | Paid media, SEO, digital PR, content, data and related digital services. Source | Which services belong in the proposed scope, how are responsibilities divided, and how will paid-media decisions be measured? |
| Oxedent | Ecommerce Google Ads management, including product feeds, Shopping and Performance Max. Source | How would product economics, feed work and campaign management apply to your catalogue, and who would own each part? |
| Upscale Digital | Ecommerce Google Ads, Shopping, Performance Max, feed optimisation and tracking. Source | Which services would be included, who would be responsible for delivery, and how would margin and product performance be reported? |
| Salience Search Marketing | PPC, ecommerce SEO, paid social, digital PR, content, CRO and analytics. Source | Which channels would be included, who would lead paid search, and which cost and product data would inform decisions? |
| JudeLuxe (us) | Google Ads and Microsoft Ads managed in-house. Social and email are handled through partners. Source | Does a focused Google and Microsoft Ads partner fit your channel plan, and what commercial data can your team make available? |
Circus PPC
Circus PPC presents itself as a paid-media specialist and publicly lists Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, Amazon Ads and ChatGPT Ads. Confirm the proposed scope, named team and reporting basis for your account.
Published scopePPC Geeks
PPC Geeks publicly offers PPC management and an ecommerce advertising audit. Ask how the audit findings would translate into account priorities and how performance would be connected to your commercial data.
Published scopeFound
Found describes itself as an integrated digital agency spanning paid media, SEO, digital PR, content and data. Ask which capabilities your engagement needs and how the proposed team would work together.
Published scopeOxedent
Oxedent publishes guidance on ecommerce Google Ads management that covers product economics, feeds, Shopping and Performance Max. Ask how that published approach would apply to your data and catalogue.
Published scopeUpscale Digital
Upscale Digital publicly lists ecommerce Google Ads, Shopping, Performance Max, feed optimisation and tracking. Confirm the proposed delivery team, scope and reporting inputs for your account.
Published scopeSalience Search Marketing
Salience publicly offers PPC alongside ecommerce SEO, paid social, digital PR, content, CRO and analytics. Ask which services are relevant to your brief and how paid-search decisions would be governed.
Published scopeJudeLuxe (us)
We manage Google and Microsoft Ads in-house for ecommerce brands and use a fixed-fee model. Social and email are handled through partners, so we are not a single-agency option for every channel.
Published scopeIf you are running this shortlist properly, pair it with how to choose a PPC agency and whether you should change agency at all. If Shopify is your platform, the technical questions differ: Google Ads for Shopify brands.
The multi-service agency.
A multi-service agency can coordinate paid media with SEO, creative, social or other disciplines. That breadth may suit a joined-up brief, but the exact team and division of responsibility vary by proposal.
Ask which services are genuinely in scope, who leads each discipline, how decisions are resolved across channels and which commercial outcomes the shared report is designed to support.
Questions to resolve
Which channels and deliverables are included?
Who is named on the delivery team?
How will product economics and stock enter decisions?
What belongs in the shared measurement view?
Who owns the accounts, data and tracking assets?
The channel specialist.
A channel specialist concentrates its team and process on a narrower area. That focus may suit a brief centred on Google Ads, Shopping or feeds, but specialisms differ between agencies.
Ask where the specialist's remit ends, which commercial data it can use, who owns adjacent work such as creative and tracking, and how platform attribution will be separated from wider business performance.
Questions to resolve
What is the agency's exact specialism?
Which commercial costs can be included?
Who owns feed, creative and tracking work?
How are attributed results described?
How will the agency work with your wider team?
The commercially focused partner.
A commercially focused brief considers platform results alongside contribution, stock, customer quality and business priorities. The available data, its quality and the decisions it can support should be agreed before work begins.
Products can play different commercial roles even inside the same catalogue. Every SKU has a job™: Scale, Profit, Protect, Recovery or Gateway. People decide those jobs from business context rather than an advertising system assigning them automatically.
What this looks like
Contribution reviewed alongside attributed platform results
Five BOI® jobs discussed with the commercial team
Reporting designed around agreed business questions
Fixed monthly fee with no percentage of spend
100% account ownership and full data transparency
Attribution kept distinct from incrementality
Three points to settle in the proposal.
Measurement responsibility
Confirm who owns tracking, which sources are used, how consent affects available data and how discrepancies will be investigated.
Automation and judgement
Ask which decisions automation makes, which require commercial judgement and how product, stock and customer context will be supplied.
Pricing and scope
Compare how fees respond to changes in spend, channels, markets and workload. Record inclusions, exclusions and change control in the proposal.
Put attributed revenue in commercial context.
Contribution = Revenue − COGS − fulfilment/shipping − returns − payment fees − advertising
Ask which inputs are available, how often they change and whether the agency reports attributed results or has evidence of incrementality. The formula is public; the right commercial decision still depends on your business context.
Five questions to ask before hiring your next agency.
The answers will tell you more about an agency than any case study or testimonial.
"Who actually moves the levers?"
Ask for the names, roles and responsibilities of the people who would work on your account, including who approves strategic decisions and provides cover.
"How do you handle SKU-level profitability?"
Ask which product-level costs and outcomes can be included, how data quality is checked, and what happens when product economics differ.
"Do I own my data and my accounts?"
Confirm in writing who owns each advertising account, data source, tracking setup and reporting asset during and after the engagement.
"How are you preparing my brand for AI Search?"
Ask which changes are relevant to paid search, which belong to your website or feed, and how the agency will distinguish evidence from prediction.
"Can you show me a report that includes my COGS and shipping costs?"
Ask what commercial data the report can include, where it comes from, who validates it and which decisions the report is intended to support.
Go deeper.
Questions about choosing an agency.
What is the difference between a generalist and specialist PPC agency?
A generalist agency can coordinate several channels or disciplines, while a specialist concentrates on a narrower area. Neither model is automatically better. Compare the scope your brief needs, the named team, relevant experience, measurement approach and ownership terms.
Why is ROAS not enough on its own?
ROAS measures attributed revenue per advertising pound. It does not include product cost, fulfilment, shipping, returns or payment fees, and attribution is not incrementality. Review it alongside contribution and the wider commercial context.
What does profit-first PPC management look like in practice?
It starts by asking what each product needs to do for the business, then considers contribution, stock, returns, customer quality and commercial trajectory alongside platform reporting. Every SKU has a job™: Scale, Profit, Protect, Recovery or Gateway. People decide the job; it is not assigned automatically.
How do I know if my agency has a conflict of interest?
Every pricing model creates incentives and trade-offs. Ask how fees change when spend or scope changes, what work is included, and how recommendations to raise or reduce investment are documented.
What should I look for in an ecommerce PPC agency in 2026?
Check the proposed scope, named delivery team, relevant experience, account ownership, measurement approach, commercial-data requirements, pricing and exit terms. Ask every shortlisted agency the same questions and verify important claims against its current proposal and public information.
Is it worth switching agencies mid-year?
It can be, but the decision depends on the commercial problem, contract, tracking access, account ownership and readiness of both teams. Ask for a written transition plan with responsibilities, dependencies and risks rather than relying on a fixed timetable or promised payback.
How we work
See allSee what your ROAS is hiding.
Review how attributed revenue relates to contribution, stock, customer quality and the commercial job of each product.