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PPC proposal scorecard

Score up to three PPC agency proposals against the same fifteen questions and see which have answered what.

By Antoine Martin, Founder, Web Marketing International.
Published 4 November 2026. Last reviewed 4 November 2026.

Short answer

Enter Yes, Partly, No or Not asked yet for each question and each agency. The score is the share of points earned on the questions you have answered, so an agency is never marked down for a question you have not yet put to it.

How to use it

Rename the three columns after the agencies you are comparing. Work down the list after each proposal, choosing Not asked yet for anything you have not put to that agency. If I am one of your three, score me the same way, and note that this site is published by Web Marketing International FZCO, which sells PPC management. The questions are mine, and they draw on public guidance: the ownership question follows how Google Ads describes owners of client accounts[1], the tracking questions follow how Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising describe conversion tracking[2][5], the budget question follows Google’s description of the average daily budget[3], and the two deal-breaker questions follow Google’s rules on improbable claims in ads[6] and on the Partner badge[4].

The scorecard

Proposals you are comparing

Scope

Does the proposal name the platforms it covers (Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising or both) and the campaign types?

Mark Yes only if the platforms you want are named. Vague wording such as PPC management is a No.

Does the proposal say what is excluded?

A blank on exclusions is a decision left until later.

Ownership and access

Will your business own the ad accounts, with the agency given access you can remove? Deal-breaker

A Google Ads client account has one owner. Your business should be it.

Does the proposal or contract say what you receive, and by when, if you end it?

Account access, campaign structure, ad text and reports are common items.

Conversion tracking

Will conversion tracking be set up and tested before budget is spent, on each platform in scope? Deal-breaker

Ask how you will see a test submission or call recorded in the account.

Has the agency told you in writing what it will count as a conversion?

The exact action, such as a form submission or a qualified enquiry.

Reporting

Will you be able to check reported figures against your own accounts?

If you cannot trace a figure, you are trusting a summary.

Does the proposal say how often you will be reported to and what the report contains?

Including what changed and what will change next.

Who builds the ads

Do you know the name and role of the person who will build and change your campaigns?

A name and a role, not a team description.

Has the agency said which parts of the work go to other suppliers?

Mark Yes if nothing is passed on and the agency has said so.

Fees and ad spend

Are the agency fee and the advertising spend stated as separate lines?

So that proposals can be put on the same basis.

Is it clear who sets and can change the monthly ad budget, and how you will be told if spend runs ahead?

Google describes the daily budget as an average, so ask for the monthly figure.

Are the minimum term and the notice period stated?

A blank here is a question to ask before signing.

Deal-breakers

Does the agency avoid promising a specific number of leads, sales or returns before seeing your account? Deal-breaker

Google bars ads with improbable results. Apply the same caution to a pitch.

Does the agency avoid presenting a Google badge or status as Google recommending it?

Google's guidelines say the badge cannot imply endorsement.

Results

Agency A
No answers yet0 of 15 questions answered. Score = weighted points / maximum points for the questions answered.
Agency B
No answers yet0 of 15 questions answered. Score = weighted points / maximum points for the questions answered.
Agency C
No answers yet0 of 15 questions answered. Score = weighted points / maximum points for the questions answered.

A score only compares the answers you entered. Treat any deal-breaker as decisive, and do not compare two columns until you have asked both the same questions.

How the score works

  • Yes earns the full weight of the question, Partly earns half, No earns nothing.
  • The score is points earned divided by the maximum points for the questions answered. If you answer two questions weighted 3 and 2, with Yes to the first and Partly to the second, the score is (3 + 1) / 5, which is 80 percent.
  • Questions marked as deal-breakers show a warning if the answer is No. Treat that as decisive.
  • The weights are my judgement, not a standard. Read them as a guide to what I think matters first.

The scorecard runs in your browser and stores nothing you type. It cannot tell you whether an answer is true, and a high score is not a recommendation. Verify anything that matters, and take professional advice on the contract.

What to do with it

Speak again to the two highest scoring agencies about the questions still marked Not asked yet. The method is in how to choose a PPC agency in Dubai, and the questions behind the card are in questions to ask a PPC agency before you hire it. If you want to put me through it, my Google Ads consultancy is described on my own site.

Sources

  1. Google Ads Help, Manager accounts (MCC): About ownership of client accounts. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  2. Google Ads Help, About conversion tracking. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  3. Google Ads Help, About average daily budgets. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  4. Google Ads Help, Google Partners badge guidelines. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  5. Microsoft Advertising, Conversion tracking tools. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  6. Advertising Policies Help (Google), Misrepresentation. Accessed 4 November 2026.