// Price_04

    Google Ads management fees, and which model to pick.

    Percentage of spend, flat fee, or performance-based. Each has an incentive problem. Here's how to choose and what we charge.

    Every ads fee model creates an incentive, and you should choose the one whose incentive you can live with. Percentage of spend rewards spending more. Flat fee rewards doing less. Performance fees reward attribution games. We use flat monthly fees with margin-based reporting, because underspend and overspend both need to be honest conversations.

    // Key_Takeaways

    • Percentage-of-spend fees create pressure to increase budget rather than efficiency.
    • Performance-based fees push agencies toward last-click attribution and brand-term harvesting.
    • Whatever the model, ask what the fee buys per week in actual account work.

    Percentage of spend pays your agency more for spending more. That is the whole problem with it.

    — Arise GEO, Google Ads Management Fees

    Performance fees don't align incentives — they align incentives with whatever your attribution model rewards.

    — Arise GEO, Google Ads Management Fees
    Flat fee
    Our model
    Margin
    Reported KPI
    Weekly
    Optimization cycle
    ~$30k/mo
    Spend we work best above
    // Model 1

    Percentage of spend

    Typically 10–20% of media. Simple and common, but it rewards budget growth and punishes the recommendation to cut a losing campaign.

    • Scales automatically with spend
    • Rewards budget growth
    • Penalizes efficiency advice
    • Common at 10–20%
    // Model 2

    Flat monthly fee

    Predictable and neutral on spend, so cutting waste costs the agency nothing. Needs a clear scope definition or it drifts.

    • Neutral on budget decisions
    • Predictable for forecasting
    • Requires explicit scope
    • Our default model
    // Model 3

    Performance-based

    Attractive until you look at attribution. Whoever defines the conversion defines the payout, and brand terms become irresistible.

    • Attribution defines payout
    • Brand-term harvesting risk
    • Hard to audit fairly
    • Works only with strict definitions
    // Ours

    Flat fee, margin reporting

    A flat monthly fee sized to account complexity, with reporting on contribution margin and new-customer share rather than blended ROAS.

    • Flat fee by complexity
    • Contribution margin reporting
    • New vs returning split
    • Weekly optimization cycle
    // The_Contract

    The 180-day money-back guarantee.

    We can promise this because our methodology already works. Hundreds of pages now sit in position #1 across our clients' catalogs. The risk shouldn't be on you — it's on us.

    • 01We run the full 10-stage audit and deliver a sequenced 90-day plan.
    • 02You implement our recommendations (or hire us to implement them).
    • 03If you don't see measurable ranking and revenue improvement in 3–6 months — we refund you. In full.
    Lock in your audit slot →
    // Frequently_Asked

    Questions about this engagement.

    Why won't you do percentage of spend?+

    Because we regularly recommend spending less, and we don't want a fee model that argues with that advice.

    What does the fee actually cover?+

    Weekly optimization, feed and structure work, bid strategy management, creative and asset coordination, and reporting.

    Is there a minimum spend?+

    We work best above roughly $30,000 a month in media. Below that the fee ratio rarely justifies itself.

    Can you audit our current agency's work?+

    Yes. A paid media audit is a standalone engagement and you keep the output regardless of what you decide.

    // Keep_Reading
    Google Ads management →Ecommerce ads agency →Target ROAS calculator →

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