Short answer: agencies charge for PPC management with a flat monthly fee, a percentage of your ad spend, or a mix of the two. Some bill by the hour, or per lead or call. Many add a setup fee and a minimum term. We found no recent fee survey that publishes its sample, dates and method. Our PPC Starter plan costs $1,250.00 a month plus a $500.00 setup and covers up to $5,000.00 of monthly ad spend; above that, it adds 10% of the excess. The ad spend itself goes to Google or Meta.
The work behind the fee
PPC (pay-per-click) management is the work of running your paid ads on Google and Meta. Part of it happens once, at the start. The rest repeats every week, and that is what the monthly fee pays for.
Once, at the start
- Access to your ad account, or a new one opened in your business's name.
- Conversion tracking: each form, call or booking that should count as a result, set up and tested before any money is spent.
- The first campaigns: the searches or audiences to reach, the ads, and the landing page each ad sends people to.
Every week and every month
- On Google Search, reading the searches that showed your ads and adding negative keywords: the words you don't want to pay for.
- Writing new ads and pausing the ones that bring no calls or forms.
- Checking that the landing page loads fast and keeps the ad's promise.
- Moving bids and budget toward what brings leads at a lower cost.
- Testing one change at a time, such as a new offer or a new audience.
- The report: what you spent, what came in and what changes next.
A low monthly fee can mean that some of this list gets done less often, or not at all, so ask how often each task happens.
How PPC management is charged
Our article on digital marketing agency pricing compares the ways agencies charge for any service. Ads add a second number that changes every month, your ad spend, and each model ties the fee to it in its own way.
| Model | How the fee moves | What it means for your ads |
|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly fee | The same amount every month, whatever you spend on ads | The agency earns nothing extra from a bigger budget. On a small budget, the fee can be most of what you pay each month. Ask how many platforms, campaigns and new ads it covers |
| Percentage of ad spend | A share of what Google and Meta charge you, often with a minimum fee | Every budget increase raises the fee, so agree in writing on who decides those increases. With a minimum fee, a small budget pays more than the percentage suggests |
| Flat fee, then a percentage | Flat until your ad spend passes a set amount, then a share of the excess | Ours works this way. Ask where the line is, and whether it's measured on what the platforms charged that month |
| Hourly | The time someone spends on your account | Fits an audit, or a team of your own that runs the ads and wants a second opinion. Ask for the minimum, the size of each block of time and written notes |
| Per lead or per call | A price for each lead or call the ads bring | Get the definition of a lead in writing: how long a call must last, and what happens with duplicates, spam and existing customers. Ask who pays for the ads and whose account they run in |
Daily budgets also move the fee when it depends on spend. In most campaigns, Google can charge up to twice a campaign's average daily budget on a given day, and no more than 30.4 times that budget in a month. Meta can spend up to 75% over a daily budget on some days, but in a calendar week (Sunday to Saturday) it spends no more than 7 times that budget. With ad set budget sharing on, it can spend up to 210% of the daily budget in a day and 8.4 times it in a week. Those extra dollars count toward a percentage fee too.
Sources: Google Ads Help, About average daily budgets; Meta Business Help Center, About daily budgets. Read October 22, 2026.
Is one model more common, and what do agencies usually charge? We found no recent survey that answers it and publishes its sample, dates and method. Credo's survey publishes its sample: 507 agencies and consultants, most of them in the US. Its PPC pages were last updated in June 2022 and don't say when the answers were collected, so we leave its figures out.
Setup fees and minimum terms
A setup fee pays for the work at the start: access, tracking and the first campaigns. A minimum term gives new campaigns time to collect enough results to judge them. Before you sign, ask what leaving early costs. Our PPC plans have a 3-month minimum and then run month to month. If you cancel inside the minimum, you pay the fees for the 30 days of notice, not for the months left.
Our fee as a share of your ad spend
A flat fee weighs more on a small budget. These are our PPC Starter numbers at three monthly budgets, before the $500.00 setup of the first month:
| Ad spend | Our fee | Share of ad spend |
|---|---|---|
| $2,000.00 | $1,250.00 | 62.50% |
| $5,000.00 | $1,250.00 | 25.00% |
| $9,000.00 | $1,650.00 | 18.33% |
Our calculation with the prices on our pricing page, read October 22, 2026: the fee covers up to $5,000.00 of ad spend a month, then 10% of the excess. At $9,000.00: $1,250.00 + 10% of $4,000.00 = $1,650.00.
Over the 3-month minimum at $2,000.00 a month of ad spend, you would pay us $4,250.00 ($1,250.00 × 3 + $500.00 setup) and Google or Meta $6,000.00. With a much smaller budget, the fee would take most of each month's total. A few hours of consulting may serve you better.
On Google, daily budgets that add up to $164.00 keep a month at $4,985.60 or less in most campaigns ($164.00 × 30.4), inside what Starter covers. If you haven't picked a platform yet, our comparison of Google Ads vs Facebook Ads helps you decide where to start.
Who pays Google and Meta, and who owns the accounts
The ad spend is a separate bill from the fee. On the postpay setting, Google charges the payment method saved in your ad account after the ads run. Meta asks for a payment method on the ad account with the first ad. With automatic billing, used with most cards and PayPal, it charges that method when spending reaches a payment threshold, and again on the monthly bill date for anything left.
Google also offers monthly invoicing, a line of credit for businesses that meet its requirements, such as spending $5,000.00 a month in 3 of the last 12 months. It requires a manager account, the kind agencies use. If an agency offers to pay the platforms for you and bill you, ask whether it adds anything on top.
| Question | Google Ads | Meta |
|---|---|---|
| Who charges you | Google, to the payment method in your ad account | Meta, to the payment method in your ad account |
| Where the account lives | In your business's name, with an admin user from your business | In your business portfolio, where someone from your business has full control |
| What the agency gets | Standard access, which lets a user edit campaigns, or a link to its manager account | Partner access: full control, or partial access for tasks such as managing ads |
| How you remove the agency | An admin of your account can unlink the agency's manager account at any time | You remove the partner from your business portfolio |
If an agency creates your Google Ads account from its manager account, that manager account becomes the owner automatically. Its admins can then invite and remove users in your account. Your business keeps the data, and an admin of your account can still unlink it. To check, open Admin, then Access and security, then Managers, and look at the Owner column.
On Meta, a partner with full control can manage everything but can't share your ad account with another business. Only the owner can.
With us, the accounts stay in your name, Google and Meta bill your card, and if you leave, the campaigns and their history stay with you.
Sources: Google Ads Help, About payment settings, About Google Ads manager accounts, About ownership of client accounts and About access levels. Meta Business Help Center, How Meta charges for ads and Give a partner access to business assets. Read October 22, 2026.
What the Google Partner badge tells you
Many agencies show a Google Partner badge. To earn it, the agency's manager account needs an optimization score of at least 70% and $10,000.00 of ad spend in 90 days across the accounts it manages. At least half of its employees who manage client campaigns must also hold a Google Ads certification. Google checks these requirements every day.
The badge says nothing about the agency's fees or its results in your industry.
Source: Google Ads Help, How to become a Google Partner or Premier Partner, read October 22, 2026.
What you pay on top of the fee
- The ad spend, including the days a platform spends over the daily budget. What a click or a lead costs depends on your industry: see Google Ads cost in Miami and how much Facebook ads cost.
- Landing pages. Many plans send the ads to a page you already have. A new page is often a separate project: with us, a landing page on Starter is an extra $1,500.00.
- Photo and video. Ads need images and short videos. Ask whether the agency edits what you send, films at your business or expects finished files.
- Call tracking. Google Ads can count calls from its own ads with a Google forwarding number. Counting calls from every source, such as your website or Meta ads, usually takes call tracking software with its own monthly bill and its own phone numbers. Ask who pays for it and whose account the numbers are in.
- Sales tax. Our prices don't include it. Where Florida applies it, it goes on the invoice.
Source on call reporting: Google Ads Help, About call reporting, read October 22, 2026.
Our PPC plans and prices
The entry plan on our pricing page is PPC Starter. It includes:
- $1,250.00 a month, plus a $500.00 setup paid once with the first month.
- One platform, Google Ads or Meta Ads, with up to 2 campaigns running at a time and 8 new ads a month, 2 of them video.
- Up to $5,000.00 of monthly ad spend covered by the fee, and 10% of anything above it.
- A 3-month minimum, then month to month.
- A weekly summary on WhatsApp.
- Ads in English, Spanish or both, at the same price.
- $150.00 a month off each other monthly service you add while the PPC plan is active.
Growth covers up to $10,000.00 of monthly ad spend and Pro up to $25,000.00, both with the same 10% above their cap; we give their prices on a call. Above $50,000.00 a month in ad spend, or with more than three ad platforms, we give a custom quote. Our PPC management page shows how we run the work.
Frequently asked questions
How much does PPC management cost?
That depends on the model: a flat monthly fee, a share of your ad spend, an hourly rate or a price per lead. Compare what each quote includes. Our PPC Starter plan costs $1,250.00 a month plus a $500.00 setup and covers up to $5,000.00 of ad spend a month.
What does a Google Ads management fee cover?
It pays for the work. Setup usually covers the account, conversion tracking and the first campaigns. The monthly fee pays for reviewing searches, adding negative keywords, writing and testing ads, adjusting bids and budgets, and the report. Google charges the clicks to the payment method in your own ad account.
Should I pay a PPC agency a percentage of my ad spend?
It depends on your budget. A percentage fee rises with every budget increase, so agree in writing on who approves increases; with a minimum fee, a small budget pays more than the percentage says. Ours is flat up to $5,000.00 of ad spend a month, then 10% of the excess.
Who should own the Google Ads and Meta ad accounts?
Your business. In Google Ads, keep an admin user of your own: only admins can manage users and unlink an agency's manager account. On Meta, the ad account and the Page should sit in your business portfolio, with the agency added as a partner. That way the history stays with you if you change agencies.
What does the Google Partner badge mean?
That the agency's manager account meets Google's requirements: an optimization score of at least 70%, $10,000.00 of ad spend across managed accounts in 90 days, and at least half of the people who manage client campaigns certified. It says nothing about the agency's fees or its results in your industry.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Whose name are the Google Ads account and the Meta ad account in, and who keeps them, with their history, if you leave?
- What access do you keep: admin in Google Ads, full control of your Meta business portfolio?
- What counts as a conversion: a call of how many seconds, a form, a booking? Can you see each one?
- How often does someone read the search terms and add negative keywords?
- Which report do you get, how often, and does it show what each lead or booking cost?
- Who writes the Spanish ads, and do they cost more?
- Does the agency pay Google or Meta for you, and does it add anything on top of the ad spend?
If your business is in Miami, see how we work as a Google Ads agency in Miami, a Facebook ads agency in Miami and a PPC agency in Miami.
