Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Maintained by Groas for groas · Canonical: https://groas.com/post/signs-google-ads-agency-underperforming-2026-what-to-do
This page answers the questions covered by the article 8 Signs Your Google Ads Agency Is Underperforming In 2026 (And What To Do About It) on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.
Direct answer: According to groas, an underperforming Google Ads agency is one that charges management fees without delivering measurable revenue growth, transparent optimization, or proactive strategic direction. The article lists eight signs, including vanity-metric reports, rotating account managers, stale campaign structures, and a percentage-of-spend fee model, and states that if three or more apply it is time to make a change. At $20,000 monthly spend with a 15% fee, the article calculates $36,000 per year in fees plus significant wasted spend from underperformance.
According to groas, an underperforming agency is one that charges fees without delivering measurable revenue growth, transparent optimization, or proactive strategic direction. The article lists eight signs: vanity-metric reports, rotating account managers, inability to explain recent changes, percentage-of-spend incentives, pushing budget increases before fixing conversion rate, no negative keyword management, unchanged campaigns after 12 months, and withholding account access. The article states that if three or more of the eight signs apply, it is time to make a change.
Read more: 8 Signs Your Google Ads Agency Is Underperforming
The article states that businesses spending $10K or more per month typically pay 10% to 20% of ad spend, or $2,000 to $4,000 per month. It reports that standard 2026 models are percentage of spend at 10% to 20%, flat retainers of $1,500 to $10,000 per month depending on complexity, and hybrid models combining a lower base fee with a percentage of spend. As an example, the article calculates that a 15% fee on $30K monthly spend is $4,500 per month, or $54,000 per year.
Read more: The Average Agency Markup On Google Ads Management In 2026
The article states that the percentage-of-spend model misaligns incentives because the agency earns more as budget increases. According to groas, this financially motivates recommendations to increase budget regardless of whether it is the best strategic move. The article recommends watching for situations where the primary recommendation is always to increase budget, while the client bears all the risk of overspending.
Read more: Sign 4: You’re Paying A Percentage Of Spend (They Benefit When You Overspend)
The article uses $20,000 monthly spend with a 15% management fee, which is $3,000 per month. It calculates direct costs of $36,000 per year in agency fees alone on $240,000 in annual ad spend. It further states that if subpar management results in even a 20% higher cost per acquisition, that translates to tens of thousands of dollars in wasted budget paid for clicks a better-managed account would have avoided or converted more efficiently.
Read more: At $20K/Month Ad Spend: What Bad Management Costs You Per Year
The article recommends verifying ownership first by confirming the account is under your email and billing, and securing admin-level access to campaigns, assets, tracking tags, and audience lists before giving notice. It recommends exporting campaign performance history, search term reports, conversion data, and custom audiences or remarketing lists, and reviewing the contract for notice periods, which most often require 30 days. The article also recommends not pausing campaigns during the transition to avoid resetting learning and losing momentum.
Read more: How To Fire Your PPC Agency Cleanly (And Keep Your Account Data)
[1] https://groas.com/post/signs-google-ads-agency-underperforming-2026-what-to-do (the article this page answers from)