What questions should I ask before hiring a Google Ads agency?

Pitch meetings are unreliable. Everyone says senior-led, profit-focused and transparent. The questions that actually separate agencies are the ones that force a specific answer rather than a slogan.

Start with the commercial mechanics. How do you charge: fixed fee, percentage of spend, hybrid? What is the minimum term, and what is the notice period after that? What happens if my spend doubles or halves: does the fee move? These reveal incentive alignment before any campaign discussion.

Then go to the team. Who runs my account day-to-day after the pitch ends? Can I meet them now? How many other accounts does that person carry? An agency answering 'we have a team' is dodging: push for the named senior.

Then the methodology. What metric do you optimise to. ROAS, POAS, contribution profit? How do you decide which SKUs to push and which to suppress? How do you handle PMax cannibalisation of brand? If the answers stay generic, the methodology is generic.

Finally the accountability. What does the first 60 days look like? What is the cadence of reporting and live conversations? What do you do if month two under-performs? A confident agency tells you the recovery plan rather than assuring you it will not be needed.