Before signing with a PPC agency in NYC, ask about the certifications and case studies specific to your industry and budget size, how often and how transparently they’ll report results, what the contract’s minimum term and cancellation terms actually are, who owns your Google Ads account, and exactly who will be managing it day to day.
New York is one of the most expensive and most competitive Google Ads markets in the country, and that changes the math on hiring a PPC agency here compared to almost anywhere else. In a smaller market, a mediocre agency wastes a modest chunk of your budget while you figure out something’s wrong.
In NYC, where cost per click in categories like legal, home services, and medical can run several times the national average, the same mistake burns through real money fast, often before you’ve even noticed.
That’s why a generic “questions to ask a PPC agency” checklist doesn’t really hold up here. Most of them hand you questions any agency can answer in their sleep, like whether they’re Google certified.
The questions below are built around what actually separates a PPC partner who can perform in a competitive NYC market from one who looks competent in the pitch meeting and then quietly underdelivers once your budget is live.
What to Ask About Certifications and Case Studies
A certification confirms someone passed a test. It doesn’t confirm they can manage a competitive NYC budget, and neither does a case study without real numbers attached to it.
Certifications
Ask which specific person on the team holds the Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising certification, not just whether the agency does. Certifications belong to individuals, not companies, and the person managing your account day to day may not be the person who’s actually certified.
Case Studies
A percentage on its own means very little. A 300% increase in leads sounds impressive until you learn it went from one lead a month to four. Before trusting any case study, ask for:
- The actual starting and ending numbers, not just the percentage change
- The exact timeframe the result happened over
- What specifically changed in the account to cause it
Learn what to look for when evaluating a PPC agency’s case studies if you want a full walkthrough of the difference between a real case study and a padded one.
What Good Reporting Actually Looks Like
Reporting cadence tells you how an agency actually works, not just what they say about transparency. Ask how often you’ll get a report, whether it’s a real conversation or a PDF landing in your inbox with no explanation, and whether you’ll have direct login access to your own account or only ever see what the agency chooses to show you.
Push past surface metrics too. Impressions and click-through rate are the easiest numbers for an agency to make look good, and the least connected to whether your business is actually growing.
Ask specifically how they track conversions, not just clicks, and ask them to walk you through what a bad month looks like in their reporting, not just a good one. An agency that only has success stories rehearsed hasn’t been honest with a client yet.
The Contract Terms Worth Reading Twice
This is the part most business owners skim past to get to the pricing, and it’s the part that matters most if the relationship doesn’t work out.
| Contract Element | What’s Reasonable |
|---|---|
| Minimum commitment | Around 90 days, enough time to build and optimize before being judged on results |
| Cancellation terms | A straightforward 30-day notice period, no penalty for leaving |
| Account ownership | Your business’s own Google Ads manager account, with the agency added as a user |
| Extra fees | Disclosed upfront and separate from your ad spend, no surprise charges |
That third row is worth pausing on. If the agency builds and owns the account instead of your business, switching agencies later means starting your keyword history, quality scores, and conversion data over from nothing, even if the campaigns themselves were doing fine.
If any of these answers come back vague, defensive, or rehearsed rather than direct, that’s worth paying close attention to before you sign anything. Here are the specific red flags to watch for in a NYC PPC agency.
Who Is Actually Going to Manage Your Account
The person who wins your business in the sales call is rarely the person running your campaigns day to day. Ask directly who will be managing your account once you sign, how many other accounts that person handles at the same time, and whether any part of the work, like ad copy, landing pages, or reporting, gets handed off to a subcontractor.
None of that automatically disqualifies an agency, but you deserve to know before you commit, not after your first strategy call turns into radio silence. It’s the same standard we hold our own PPC management work to, where you know exactly who’s handling your account and can reach them directly.
See the full breakdown of what’s actually included in professional PPC management so you know what to expect once the account is live.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a normal minimum contract length for PPC management?
A short initial commitment, often around 90 days, followed by a straightforward monthly notice period, is standard and reasonable. It gives an agency enough time to build and optimize a campaign before being judged on results. A 6 to 12 month lock-in with financial penalties for leaving early is less about protecting performance and more about protecting the agency’s revenue.
Who should own the Google Ads account, me or the agency?
You should. Your business should own the Google Ads manager account, with the agency granted access as a user. This protects your account history, your quality scores, and your ability to leave cleanly if the relationship doesn’t work out.
What happens if my campaigns aren’t performing during the contract period?
A transparent agency will define this before you sign, not after you’re frustrated. Ask specifically what triggers a strategy change, who decides that, and whether there’s a review point built into the contract before renewal.
Are there costs beyond the management fee I should ask about?
Your ad spend itself is always separate from the management fee, but ask whether there are setup fees, landing page costs, or charges for additional platforms beyond Google Ads. A clear answer here upfront avoids a confusing invoice later.
Does my PPC agency need to be based in NYC, or can they work remotely?
Physical location matters less than local market knowledge. A remote agency that understands NYC-specific competition, typical costs in your industry, and how demand shifts across boroughs can perform just as well as one with a Manhattan office. What actually matters is whether they can speak to your specific market with real numbers, not just where their desk is.
