How to Check if Your Google Ads Agency Is Actually Managing Your Account
The change history shows every modification and who made it. What real management looks like week by week, and the reporting that hides a lack of work.
How to verify from your own account whether a Google Ads agency is doing the work you are paying for.
TL;DR: Quick Answer
The change history shows every modification and who made it. What real management looks like week by week, and the reporting that hides a lack of work.
Key takeaways
- Very cheap quotes (under R5,000) almost always exclude copywriting, SEO, custom design and post-launch support
- Professional copywriting can represent 20-35% of a total website project cost, and is worth it for search visibility
- On-page SEO built into the website at launch costs a fraction of what it costs to retrofit after the site is live
- Hosting, SSL, domain and maintenance add R3,000-R10,000 per year on top of build cost
- E-commerce adds significant cost due to payment gateway integrations, product data, security requirements and checkout UX
- Timeline and client responsiveness directly affect cost: slow feedback rounds extend agency hours
You do not need to take anyone's word for this. Google Ads keeps a complete log of every change made to your account, who made it and when. Ten minutes in your own account tells you more than any monthly report.
Open the change history
In Google Ads, go to Tools, then Change history. Set the date range to the last three months.
You will see every modification: keywords added or paused, bids changed, ads edited, budgets adjusted, negatives added, settings altered, each with a timestamp and the account that made it.
If you cannot access this, that is finding number one. The Google Ads account should be in your name with the agency added as a manager, not the other way round.
What real management looks like
| Frequency | What you should see |
|---|---|
| Weekly or fortnightly | Negative keywords added |
| Monthly | Ad copy tests started or concluded |
| Monthly | Keywords paused or added based on performance |
| Occasionally | Bid or budget adjustments with a rationale |
| Quarterly | Structural work: new ad groups, landing page changes |
Not every account needs daily activity, and constant fiddling is its own problem because it resets the learning phase. But an account with no changes for six weeks is not being managed.
The pattern that gives it away
Look at when the changes happen.
If the log is empty for three weeks and then shows a flurry of activity in the two days before your monthly report is due, you are paying for report preparation rather than account management.
Genuine management is spread out, because search terms accumulate continuously and get dealt with as they appear.
Check the search terms work specifically
This is the clearest single test. Open the search terms report yourself for the last 30 days and sort by cost.
If you see obviously irrelevant queries that have cost real money and have not been added as negatives, nobody has looked at this report. On a small budget it is the most important routine there is, and its absence is conclusive.
Then check the numbers that matter
Cost per lead over six months. Not impressions, not clicks, not click-through rate. Is it flat, falling or rising?
Conversions by campaign. Is budget concentrated where conversions happen, or spread evenly regardless?
Wasted spend. Keywords with substantial cost and zero conversions over 90 days, still running.
Whether tracking works at all. Submit a test enquiry and confirm it registers. If conversion tracking is broken, every report you have received measured nothing, and that has happened for months in accounts we have taken over.
What a real report contains
Cost per lead compared to previous periods. Conversions by campaign. A specific list of what was changed and why. What is planned next month. And an honest note on what is not working.
Reports that lead with impressions, clicks, click-through rate or "optimisation score improved" are reporting activity metrics because the outcome metrics are not flattering.
Questions worth asking directly
What did you change last month, specifically? How many hours were spent on my account? What is my cost per lead and how has it moved? Which keywords are wasting money and what are you doing about them? What is the plan for next month?
A competent agency answers all five without discomfort. Vagueness in response to specific questions is the answer.
If you decide to move, secure account access before giving notice, because it is far harder afterwards.
Juicy Designs reports on cost per lead, works month-to-month, and keeps every account in the client's name. See Google Ads management or a free account audit. Related: taking back your account.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check whether my Google Ads agency is actually managing my account?
Look at the change history in your own account. It shows every modification, who made it and when. An account with no changes in six weeks is not being managed, whatever the report says.
Where is the change history?
In Google Ads under Tools, then Change history. Set the date range to the last three months and review by week. You need access to your own account to see it, which is itself worth confirming.
What should a well-managed account show?
Regular negative keyword additions, ad copy tests, bid or budget adjustments with a pattern to them, and new keywords or ad groups over time. Not necessarily daily activity, but visible work every week or two.
What are the warning signs?
No changes for weeks, changes only in the days before a report is due, reports full of impressions and clicks without cost per lead, and no search terms work at all.
What should a monthly report contain?
Cost per lead compared to previous months, conversions by campaign, what was changed and why, and what is planned next. Impressions and clicks are inputs, not results.