Intended Audience:
Business Owners and Procurement Leads
When to Use:
Before hiring any external paid advertising agency or consultant.
Prerequisites:
Agency proposal and contract draft
Format & Access:
Open Markdown / Direct Copy (No form gating)
Actionable Resource ContentLast Reviewed: September 2026
## 15-Point Agency Vetting Rubric
### Account Ownership (Must Score 100%)
- [ ] Will our company retain master administrative ownership of the Google Ads account?
- [ ] Will ad spend be billed directly to our company credit card (not marked up by agency)?
- [ ] Will we retain our conversion tracking tags and data if we terminate the contract?
### Strategic Competence
- [ ] Does the agency discuss sales pipeline and lead qualification, or only clicks and impressions?
- [ ] Can they explain their methodology for negative keyword audits and search term hygiene?
- [ ] Do they build dedicated landing pages, or do they send ads to our homepage?
### Contractual Transparency
- [ ] Is pricing a flat management fee or reasonable tier, rather than an uncapped % of spend?
- [ ] Does the contract allow 30-day termination without punitive exit penalties?
- [ ] Do they guarantee zero performance promises (e.g. no fake 'Guaranteed 10x ROI')?