The honest answer depends on one thing: whose Google account the Ads account sits in. If it is yours with the agency added as a manager, this is straightforward. If it is theirs, you are negotiating rather than reclaiming.

First, find out which situation you are in

Log in to Google Ads with your own email address.

If you can see the account and you are an administrator, you own it. Remove the agency's manager link when you are ready and you are done.

If you can see it but you are not an administrator, you have access without control. Request admin rights.

If you cannot see it at all, the account sits in their Google account. This is the difficult case.

Check the account number on any report you have been sent, then check whether that number appears when you log in yourself.

If the account is in their name

Ask for administrative ownership to be transferred to your Google account. Technically this is simple: they add you as an admin, you accept, they remove themselves.

Ask while the relationship is still ordinary. "We are consolidating our accounts" is a perfectly reasonable reason and needs no elaboration. Access requests before notice are routine; the same request after notice is a negotiation.

If they refuse, your options are limited. Google's support will generally not transfer an account away from the Google login that created it, so there is no escalation path equivalent to a domain dispute.

What you lose by starting fresh

Transfers to a new account	Does not transfer
Campaign structure	Conversion history
Keywords and negatives	Bidding models and learning
Ad copy	Quality score history
Landing pages	Remarketing audiences
Your own knowledge of what works	Historical reporting

The practical cost is a learning period of roughly two to six weeks in the new account, during which conversions cost more than they did. That is the real price of not owning the original, and it is why ownership matters before it matters.

Rebuilding properly

Create the new account under your own Google login. This is the whole point of the exercise.

Use Google Ads Editor to export the structure from the old account if you still have read access, then import into the new one. Failing that, take screenshots of campaign settings, keyword lists, negatives and ad copy before your access ends.

Set up conversion tracking first, before anything runs. Then relaunch your best-performing campaigns only, at a modest budget, and let them stabilise before scaling.

Do not switch the old account off until the new one is producing, if you still have any control over it.

Secure everything else at the same time

The Ads account is rarely the only thing held elsewhere. Check and request, in this order: GA4 property, Search Console, Google Business Profile, the website admin, hosting and the domain registrar.

The Business Profile matters particularly for a local business, and Google does have a recovery process for it: you can request ownership, and if the current owner does not respond within a waiting period, access is granted.

Structuring it correctly next time

Create the Google Ads account yourself, under a business email you control. Then invite the agency as a manager account rather than handing over the login.

Google should bill you directly, with no markup on ad spend passing through an agency account. That way you can see exactly what was spent, and if you leave, the history stays with you.

Ask any prospective agency directly: will the account be in my name, and will Google bill me directly? The answer tells you how they think about the relationship.

Juicy Designs works this way as standard and takes over damaged or orphaned accounts regularly. See Google Ads management or a free account audit. Related: is my agency actually working and switching agencies.

Frequently asked questions

How do I take back control of a Google Ads account an agency owns?

If the account is in their name, you generally cannot take it. What you can do is request they transfer administrative ownership, or accept a new account and rebuild. Secure whatever access you can before giving notice.

Can I move campaign history to a new account?

No. Conversion history and machine learning stay with the account. You can copy campaign structure, keywords and ads into a new account using Google Ads Editor, but the performance history does not transfer.

What does starting a new account actually cost me?

A learning period, typically two to six weeks, during which conversions cost more while bidding re-establishes what works. That is the real price of not owning the original.

What should I secure before giving notice?

Administrative access to the Google Ads account if possible, plus your GA4 property, Search Console, Google Business Profile and the website itself. Access requests are routine before notice and difficult afterwards.

How do I stop this happening again?

Create the account yourself under your own Google login, then grant the agency manager access. An agency that insists on holding the account in its own name is holding leverage rather than convenience.