The answer is not in the monthly report. Agencies report on their own performance. The metrics in that report are chosen by the same people whose work those metrics reflect.
This does not mean your agency is doing a bad job. It means that you cannot determine whether they are doing a good job based on their own reporting alone. The structural conflict of interest is inherent — not a character assessment.
A Google Ads agency performance review requires independent data. Here is a framework for getting it.
Why Agency Reporting Has a Built-In Limitation
Imagine asking your accountant to audit their own work. The audit would be accurate — most accountants are honest — but it would not be independent. The limitations are structural, not personal.
Google Ads agency reporting works the same way. Impressions up 40% leads. CPA up 23% vs benchmark is in a table on page 4. The agency is not lying — impressions did go up 40%. But the report is not designed to surface findings that reflect poorly on the agency.
What Good Google Ads Agency Management Actually Looks Like
Conversion tracking
Correct setup. Primary conversion actions only. Counting method matched to account type. GA4 linked. Tracking is reviewed when numbers look inconsistent.
Regular account activity
Changes appear in the account history weekly or at minimum monthly. 'Ongoing optimisation' is visible as specific changes, not a phrase in a report.
Negative keyword management
Search term report reviewed monthly. New negatives added based on irrelevant queries.
Bid strategy appropriateness
Smart Bidding used where conversion volume supports it. Manual CPC or Maximise Clicks for newer campaigns below the learning threshold.
Performance vs benchmark
CPA and ROAS compared against Australian industry benchmarks — not just against the account's own historical data.
Transparent reporting
Reports include what went wrong, not just what went well.
5 Google Ads Reporting Red Flags
Red Flag 1: Impressions or clicks as the lead metric in every report
Impressions and clicks are activity metrics, not outcome metrics. An agency that leads with impression growth month after month without connecting it to CPA is optimising toward the metric they can most easily improve.
Red Flag 2: No account changes detected in 30+ days
Google Ads accounts require ongoing management. If the change history shows no activity for 30 or more days, 'ongoing optimisation' is a description without content.
Red Flag 3: CPA rising while non-CPA metrics improve
Impressions up, CTR stable, conversions flat, CPA rising — this pattern can indicate the account is spending in less efficient areas without the reporting making it visible.
Red Flag 4: 'Learning phase' is a recurring explanation
The learning phase is real. But if it appears in reports for multiple consecutive months across multiple campaigns, it may indicate the account is being restructured frequently enough that it never exits learning.
Red Flag 5: No benchmarks in the report
A CPA of $65 is good or bad depending on the Australian industry benchmark for your category. Without benchmarks, agency reports cannot be evaluated objectively.
8 Questions to Ask Your Google Ads Agency — and How to Verify the Answers
1. What is my account's current CPA, and how does it compare to the Australian benchmark for my category?
Verification: Australian industry benchmark data is available from Google's own benchmark reports and from platforms including viaCMO. If the agency cannot provide a benchmark comparison, that is itself information.
2. How many changes were made to my account in the past 30 days, and what were they?
Verification: In Google Ads, go to Change history. Filter by the past 30 days. Count the number of changes and their types. The agency's answer should match what you see.
3. What is my current conversion tracking setup, and is it recording accurately?
Verification: In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions. Check action types, counting methods, and primary vs secondary classification. Compare conversion count for the past 30 days against your actual sales or lead records.
4. What negative keywords have been added in the past 90 days?
Verification: In Google Ads, go to Keywords → Negative keywords. Check the date each negative was added. In Change history, filter for negative keyword additions in the past 90 days.
5. What is my impression share on branded search terms?
Verification: In Google Ads, go to Campaigns → Columns → Modify columns → Competitive metrics. Add Impression share and Search lost IS. Check branded campaign impression share specifically.
6. What percentage of my ad spend goes to informational or non-commercial search queries?
Verification: In Google Ads, go to Keywords → Search terms. Export the past 90 days. Manually classify the top 50 by spend into Transactional, Commercial, Informational, and Navigational. Calculate spend percentage by category.
7. What is my primary landing page for non-branded campaigns?
Verification: In Google Ads, check the landing pages report. Look at the URL driving the most clicks on non-branded campaigns. Check whether it is a specific service or product page — or the homepage.
8. Is my Google Ads agency doing a good job — and what evidence supports that conclusion?
A good agency will answer with specific data: conversion volume, CPA trend vs benchmark, structural improvements made, and evidence of recommendations implemented and outcomes measured.
Getting an Independent Score
The 8 questions above can be asked and the answers verified using native Google Ads access. The limitation is time and technical knowledge — working through them manually takes 2–3 hours.
viaCMO runs the equivalent assessment automatically on read-only access and produces a 100-point grade for the account managed by the agency. The grade does not assess the agency's team or processes. It assesses the account. This is the foundation of independent Google Ads accountability.
A Note on Agency Neutrality
viaCMO has no view on whether you should keep or change your Google Ads agency. The platform reports what the data shows. The decision about what to do with that information is entirely yours.
Many agencies do good work and the account grade reflects it. Some accounts are underperforming for reasons outside the agency's control. The data tells you what is happening in the account. You decide what to do next.
Run an independent audit and get an independent score for your agency's Google Ads work.