Is there a minimum fee?

Most UK agencies set one, whichever model they use, because a small account still takes the weekly hours. On a percentage model the minimum often makes the effective rate on a small account far higher than the headline percentage.

Should I pay for an audit before signing up?

If the account is already spending, a paid written audit from someone with no stake in it is the cheapest way to see what the fee would be buying. A free audit is usually a sales call with a PDF attached.

Does a higher fee mean better management?

No. The fee measures the agency's costs and pricing model, not the reading of your account. The change history and the Search Terms report measure that.

How Much Does PPC Management Cost in the UK?

How much does PPC management cost in the UK?

In the UK, PPC management is priced three ways: a percentage of ad spend, usually between ten and twenty per cent; a flat monthly fee, typically a few hundred pounds for a small account and stepping up as the spend and the campaign types grow; or an hourly or project rate for one-off work such as an audit or an account build. Ours is a flat fee set by the spend band, and the figures are on the pricing page rather than buried here.

Answered by Daniel Stoychev, Webso Digital · 4 September 2026

What each model rewards

A percentage of spend pays the agency more when you spend more, whatever the spend brings back, so the model rewards recommending a bigger budget. A flat fee pays the same whether the account spends a little or a lot, so it rewards nothing about the spend and leaves the agency free to recommend cutting it. An hourly rate rewards finding hours to bill, which is fine for a defined job and poor for ongoing management, where the best weeks are often the quiet ones.

What the fee should include

Whatever the model, the fee should buy a routine, and the routine should be written down: the Search Terms report read weekly by a named person, conversion tracking proven and checked, bids and budgets reviewed, ads maintained, and a written monthly report that leads with cost per lead. It should also buy the things that stay with you: the account in your name, the negative lists, the tracking and the landing pages. A low fee that leaves you with none of those when you leave was not low.

What is usually extra

The ad spend itself, which should go to Google on your card and never through the agency.
A one-off setup or rebuild when the account is started from nothing or from a mess.
New landing pages built from scratch, as opposed to changes to your existing pages.
Other platforms: Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok and Amazon are different auctions with different skills.
Photography and video, beyond a brief on what to shoot.

The questions that tell you whether a fee is cheap

Whose name is on the Google Ads billing, and can I remove your access myself?
How often is the Search Terms report read, and by whom?
What is in the monthly report, and does it lead with cost per lead?
What stays with me if I leave?
Do you take my competitors as clients?

Two agencies quoting the same monthly figure can be a long way apart on those five answers. The cheaper fee is the one attached to the account that leaks less, and you can measure that in your own Search Terms report before you sign anything.

Where this leads

The service this question belongs to is Google Ads management, and the longer read is our guide Management fee or a percentage of spend: which way of paying a PPC agency works against you.

Follow-up questions

Is there a minimum fee?: Most UK agencies set one, whichever model they use, because a small account still takes the weekly hours. On a percentage model the minimum often makes the effective rate on a small account far higher than the headline percentage.
Should I pay for an audit before signing up?: If the account is already spending, a paid written audit from someone with no stake in it is the cheapest way to see what the fee would be buying. A free audit is usually a sales call with a PDF attached.
Does a higher fee mean better management?: No. The fee measures the agency's costs and pricing model, not the reading of your account. The change history and the Search Terms report measure that.