01Entry tier
Monthly spend
First €10,000
Fee on spend in this bracket
Applies only to spend inside this bracket.
Pricing · the market rate first, ours second
What Google Ads Management Costs at €10K, €30K, €80K, and €150K a Month
Agencies bill four ways. See the real cost of each model. Our full rate card is included.
Book a strategy callPrefer email? chris@zenoxmedia.com
4.8
Open for new brands. Every one picked by hand.
Written by Christopher Krassnig, Founder & CEO of ZenoX Media. Sets these rates himself. The full bracket table is below.
How Much Does a Google Ads Agency Cost?
Google Ads agencies charge in one of four ways: a percentage of your monthly ad spend, a flat monthly fee, an hourly rate, or a performance deal that pairs a small base fee with a bonus. Percentage of spend is the most common one for ecommerce. The rates agencies publish for it usually sit between 10% and 20% of spend, often with a minimum fee underneath. Nobody publishes a real industry average, so treat any number you see as a starting point, not a rule. Then check the extras: setup fees, a markup on your ad budget, tool charges, and 6 to 12 month lock-ins. ZenoX charges 10% on your first €10,000 of monthly spend, dropping to 6% above €150,000. No setup fee, no budget markup, no lock-in. Two tools are billed on top, at a fixed price we publish: a CSS partner at €24.90 and a feed management tool at €49.90, per store per month, and only once they are installed.
The Four Ways Google Ads Agencies Charge
Every quote uses one of these four models, or blends two. The price and fit are below.
- 01
Percentage of Ad Spend
You pay a set share of what you spend on Google each month. Spend more, pay more.
- What it costs
- Commonly advertised at 10% to 20% of spend, usually with a monthly minimum sitting underneath.
- Who it fits
- Fits ecom stores with steady spend. The agency only earns more when your account grows.
- Ask before you sign
- Ask whether the rate stays flat or drops as spend grows.
- 02
Flat Monthly Fee
One fixed number every month, whatever you spend on ads.
- What it costs
- Published fees vary by account size. Ask for the exact monthly fee and the work it covers.
- Who it fits
- Fits stores whose spend jumps around a lot. Easy to budget for.
- Ask before you sign
- Do the maths both ways. At low spend a flat fee can cost you more than a percentage deal.
- 03
Hourly Rate
You buy hours. The agency or the freelancer logs the time and bills it.
- What it costs
- Quoted rates run from roughly €50 an hour up past €200, depending on who does the work.
- Who it fits
- Fits one-off jobs. An audit, a rebuild, a second opinion on a mess.
- Ask before you sign
- Nobody can tell you what next month will cost. Get a monthly cap in writing.
- 04
Performance or Hybrid
A smaller base fee plus a cut of sales, leads, or profit above an agreed target.
- What it costs
- No standard rate. The base and the bonus get negotiated case by case.
- Who it fits
- Fits accounts with clean tracking, where both sides trust the same numbers.
- Ask before you sign
- Agree which number the bonus pays on before you sign. Revenue, profit, and tracked conversions are three different things.
What You Should Pay by Store Size
Percentage of spend is where most ecom stores end up, so here is the maths at four spend levels. The market column is what the common 10% to 20% ask works out to. The ZenoX column is our published rate, tiered.
| Monthly ad spend | Common market ask (10-20%) | What you pay ZenoX |
|---|---|---|
| €10,000 | €1,000 - €2,000 | €1,000 |
| €30,000 | €3,000 - €6,000 | €2,800 |
| €80,000 | €8,000 - €16,000 | €6,800 |
| €150,000 | €15,000 - €30,000 | €11,700 |
The market column is arithmetic on the 10% to 20% range agencies commonly advertise. It is a sanity check, not a survey. The ZenoX column is our bracket table below applied to that spend, where every rate hits only the money inside its own bracket.
Hidden Fees to Watch For
The headline rate is rarely the whole bill. These are the extras that turn up in agency contracts. Ask about every one of them before you sign.
Setup or Onboarding Fee
A one-off charge before a single campaign goes live. Sometimes it is an extra month of fees. Sometimes more.
A Markup on Your Ad Budget
The agency pays Google with its own card, then bills you more than Google charged. You never see the real cost. Pay Google directly and this cannot happen to you.
Long Lock-Ins
6 or 12 month contracts with a notice period on top. If the work slips in month two, you are still paying in month eleven.
Tool Fees You Only Find Out About Later
Reporting dashboards, bid software, feed tools, call tracking. Paid tools are normal. A tool charge you never agreed to is not. Ask which tools you get billed for and what each one costs before you sign.
Ad Creative Billed Separately
Copy and visuals quoted as their own line item after you already signed for management.
The Minimum Fee Nobody Mentions
The percentage looks small until you read the minimum below it. At lower spend, that minimum is what you actually pay.
ZenoX charges none of these. No setup fee, no markup on your budget, no lock-in, and ad creative is in the rate. You pay Google directly with your own card. Two tools do get billed on top, and here are the prices: a CSS partner at €24.90 and a feed management tool at €49.90, per store per month. You only pay for a tool once it is installed on your store.
Our Rates, Published in Full
ZenoX Media charges a monthly management fee based on your total Google Ads spend during the billing period. Each bracket rate applies only to spend within that bracket - not to the total. The effective rate decreases automatically as spend scales.
02
Monthly spend
€10,000 - €30,000
Fee on spend in this bracket
Applies only to spend inside this bracket.
03
Monthly spend
€30,000 - €80,000
Fee on spend in this bracket
Applies only to spend inside this bracket.
04
Monthly spend
€80,000 - €150,000
Fee on spend in this bracket
Applies only to spend inside this bracket.
05Best effective rate
Monthly spend
Above €150,000
Fee on spend in this bracket
Applies only to spend inside this bracket.
Worked example: a brand spending €12,000 - €16,000 per month pays a total monthly fee of €1,180 - €1,540 (10% on the first €10,000, then 9% on the rest). Invoices issue monthly based on the prior month's verified Google Ads spend, in EUR or USD, due within 14 days.
Fee calculator
See Your Exact Monthly Fee
Enter your monthly Google Ads spend. We split it across the brackets, charge each slice at its own rate, and show you the blended effective rate. No surprises.
€
Enter a monthly amount in euros between 0 and 300000.
€1,000€300,000+
Your monthly fee
Effective rate
At €15,000, you would pay 9.67% blended on your monthly Google Ads spend.
How the fee splits
First €10,000
€10,000 × 10%
€1,000
10% bracket
€10,000 - €30,000
€5,000 × 9%
€450
9% bracket
€30,000 - €80,000
Not reached at this spend
€0
8% bracket
€80,000 - €150,000
Not reached at this spend
€0
7% bracket
Above €150,000
Not reached at this spend
€0
6% bracket
Fees are charged monthly on the prior month's verified Google Ads spend. Each bracket rate applies only to the slice of spend that falls inside it - not to your total.
Proof Beside the Fee
Ivan on the Fee and Hands-Off Work
TrustScore 4.8 out of 5 - 38 reviews
Short excerpts from the linked profile. Trustpilot currently labels these reviews Unprompted, not Verified.
IP
Ivan P
I literally don't have to think about or manage Google at all. They take care of absolutely everything, and their fee is very fair.
Trustpilot
Trustpilot review01Returns on the fee
Same playbook, different stores. The brackets above are what these operators pay. The numbers below are what they earn while paying them.
Fashion · DTC
Was$0/mo
Now$100K/mo
60 daysFrom scratch
Fashion · Dropship
WasMeta only
Now3x revenue
Chasing €1M/moHands-off
Travel · 7-fig
Was$20K/mo
Now3x in 5mo
Month 1 doubledGoogle clicked
Fashion · 8-fig
WasPlateau
Now€10-15K/day
Q4 peakBlack Friday
Client-reported outcomes backed by first-name video testimonials and private account data. Brand names and source accounts are not public. These results have not been independently audited.
Receipts
Real Dashboards. Real Receipts
Shopify dashboards, ROAS shots, and Slack messages from operators paying these brackets right now.
From @ecomchrisx on Instagram
Three stores. $211k in 7 days.
97.8k toward a 100k target.
161k euros in one day. +226%.
514k euros BFCM. +186% YoY.
'Bro you are a MONSTER.'
0 to $193k in 20 days. Sessions +2,500%.
Almost a 100k day on one store.
100k day. Still warming up.
50k day in October. Next goal: 100k.
'Are you guys magicians?'
Featured as the Google goat. Savage Community.
First 10k day. 'Could not have done it without you.'
10k day at 3.24 ROAS.
Record day. 42k revenue, 3.5 ROAS.
0 to 100k pounds in 12 days.
1k day to 5k day in 3 days.
10k mission completed.
245k pounds in five weeks.
212k euros. Sessions up 324%.
What's actually in your fee
A Full Senior Team. In Your Fee
A senior operator leads your account from day one - nobody junior is ever left alone with your spend. Your fee buys that senior lead, in-house ad creative, and an AI engine that reads your account every hour. One bracket rate covers the work. Two tools are billed on top at a published price: €24.90 for the CSS partner, €49.90 for the feed management tool, per store per month.
We treat your spend like our own money. For the operators on our team, it has been. Still is.
Senior Strategist on Every Account, Day One
No account manager buffering you from the work. The person optimising your spend has scaled six to eight-figure ecom brands themselves.
Built-In AI Engine Watching Every Hour
The engine checks bids, feeds, and performance every hour. A senior operator decides what to change.
Daily Senior Optimisation, Not Weekly Check-Ins
Bids, budgets, negatives, asset rotation. Touched every working day. Quiet work, loud numbers.
In-House Ad Creative
Performance-shaped visuals and copy in your brand voice. Not stock images bolted onto your URL.
Profit-First, Not Screenshot-First
We optimise for what your accountant sees, not for a vanity number on Twitter.
Weekly Snapshot, Always-on Chat
Direct line to the team. No gatekeepers. No ticket queues. No 'we will get back to you Monday'.
You Own Every Account, Asset, and Pixel
Full handover from day one of offboarding. Nothing held hostage. Nothing locked behind our login.
Zero Spend Funding Risk
Your card pays Google directly. We do not advance, fund, or guarantee your ad budget. You are never on the hook to us for media.
02The honest comparison
What the Three Options Actually Cost
At fifteen thousand a month in spend, this is what each path actually costs. We did not soften the other columns.
ZenoX Media
How we do itPerformance fee, senior team, AI engine on every account.
- Monthly cost (at €15K spend)
- €1,450
- Senior strategist on the account
- Yes
- AI watching the account 24/7
- Yes
- Ad creative + copy included
- Yes
- Response time
- Hours, every day
- Lock-in contract
- No
- You own all accounts and assets
- Yes
Other agencies
Flat retainer, account managers, junior buyers behind the scenes.
- Monthly cost (at €15K spend)
- €1,500-3,000 retainer
- Senior strategist on the account
- Junior, after week 2
- AI watching the account 24/7
- No
- Ad creative + copy included
- Add-on fee
- Response time
- Next business day
- Lock-in contract
- 3-12 months
- You own all accounts and assets
- Sometimes
In-house team
Salaried hires, recruiting cycle, you train the senior buyer.
- Monthly cost (at €15K spend)
- €8,000+ in salary
- Senior strategist on the account
- If you can hire one
- AI watching the account 24/7
- No
- Ad creative + copy included
- Separate hire
- Response time
- Whenever they're free
- Lock-in contract
- Employment contract
- You own all accounts and assets
- Yes
What's included
Done-for-You Google Ads Management
- Google Ads campaigns across Search, Performance Max, Shopping, and Demand Gen
- Market, competitor, and product research before campaign decisions
- Account notes tied to the changes we make
- Ad visuals and copy in your brand voice
- Full account management - structure, keyword strategy, bidding, budget allocation
- Coordination with third-party specialists when needed for the agreed scope
- Continuous alignment of campaign management with your business goals
Not included
What We Do Not Do
- Website development
- SEO outside of paid advertising
- Email and SMS marketing
- Social media management beyond paid ads
- Legal or financial advice
- Conversion rate optimization beyond campaign-level recommendations
If you need any of the above, we'll point you to a trusted partner. Anything outside standard scope can be agreed separately in writing.
Before you book
Worth a look first.
Know your bracket? Get the exact number on a call.
Book a strategy callPrefer email? chris@zenoxmedia.com
Pricing FAQ
Quick Answers on Value, Billing, and Engagement
How Much Does Google Ads Management Cost?
It depends on the model. Published percentage fees often sit between 10% and 20% of monthly ad spend. Flat monthly fees vary by account size. Published hourly rates run from about €50 to over €200. ZenoX charges 10% on your first €10,000, then 9%, 8%, 7%, and 6% as spend climbs. A €30,000 account pays €2,800 a month.
What Is a Normal Google Ads Management Fee?
There is no official industry average, so be careful with any number that claims to be one. What you can check is what agencies actually publish. For ecommerce, percentage-of-spend deals in the 10% to 20% range are the most commonly advertised, usually with a monthly minimum underneath. Ours starts at 10% and falls to 6% above €150,000 of monthly spend. It is published on this page and written into our terms.
What Google Ads Management Fees Should I Watch Out For?
Six of them. A setup or onboarding fee before anything runs. A markup on your ad budget, which happens when the agency pays Google with its own card. A 6 or 12 month lock-in with a notice period on top. Tool fees for dashboards, bid software, or feed tools billed on the side. Ad creative quoted as an extra after you signed. And a minimum monthly fee hiding under the percentage. Ask about all six before you sign anything.
How Does Google Ads Management Pricing Work?
The agency picks a model and you pay on it every month. Percentage of spend means your fee moves with your budget. A flat fee stays the same whatever you spend. Hourly means you buy time. A performance deal pairs a small base with a bonus on results. Ours is tiered percentage of spend: each rate applies only to the money inside its own bracket. So your effective rate falls automatically as you scale.
Why a Percentage Instead of a Flat Retainer?
The fee moves with your Google Ads spend. Each rate only hits the money inside its bracket. At €150,000 a month in spend, the fee is €11,700. Spend above €150,000 enters the 6% bracket.
What Kind of ROAS Can I Expect?
The wrong question. ROAS is vanity. At seventy percent margin a 3x is great. At thirty percent a 5x can still bleed cash. Different niches sit at different margin floors. The number we optimise for is what your accountant sees at the end of the month, not a screenshot for Twitter. On the strategy call we look at your margins, your niche, and your account, and tell you what monthly profit is realistic. No fantasy numbers.
What Makes You Different from Other Google Ads Agencies?
Three things. One: a senior operator leads your account from day one - nobody junior is ever left alone with your spend. Two: a built-in AI engine watches your account 24/7 and flags issues in minutes, not at the next weekly review. Three: we are operators - we run real ecom brands ourselves, so we optimize for profit, not for ROAS screenshots.
How Is the Fee Calculated?
Tiered on your total monthly Google Ads spend, per client (not per individual store or sub-account). Each bracket rate applies only to spend within that bracket. First €10k → 10%. €10-30k → 9%. €30-80k → 8%. €80-150k → 7%. Above €150k → 6%.
When and How Do I Get Invoiced?
Invoices issue monthly, based on the prior month's verified total Google Ads spend as reported by the Google Ads platform. All invoices are due and payable within 14 days of the invoice date. Fees are invoiced in EUR or USD. Payments in other currencies are accepted at the prevailing exchange rate on the invoice date.
Are There Long-Term Contracts?
No. Engagements are month-to-month. Either party may end the collaboration at any time. There is no notice period from our side - the engagement ends as soon as the final invoice is settled. Once paid, we hand over all work product and revoke our access as part of offboarding.
Who Pays the Google Ads Budget?
You pay Google directly. ZenoX Media does not advance, fund, or guarantee your ad spend under any circumstances. We invoice our management fee, plus the two tool fees once those tools are installed. The ad budget itself is paid by you to Google.
Do You Charge Anything on Top of the Management Fee?
Two tools, at a fixed price, and only once they are installed on your store. The CSS partner is €24.90 per store per month, and it gets your Shopping ads more bidding power for the same click cost. The feed management tool is €49.90 per store per month, and it keeps your product data clean so Merchant Center stays healthy. Everything else is in the bracket rate: the senior operator, the daily work, the reporting, and in-house ad creative. No setup fee, no markup on your budget, no lock-in. Those two lines are the whole list, so nothing lands on your invoice as a surprise.
What Happens If a Payment Is Late?
Failure to pay invoices on time may result in suspension of services and withholding of work product, assets, and account accesses until balances are settled. Overdue balances accrue a 1.5% monthly late charge from the original invoice due date. Services resume in full once the account is current.
Send your monthly Google Ads spend. If your account is a fit, we will tell you the fee down to the euro and book the call. If it is not the right fit, we will tell you that too, straight.
We are open for new brands again. We still pick by hand, when we see a store we can grow big.
Book a strategy callPrefer email? chris@zenoxmedia.com
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Trusted by 200+ ecom brands worldwide.