Three agencies quote RM 800, RM 1,200 and RM 1,500 a month for the same RM 5,000 of ad spend. On paper the RM 800 quote wins. Then the setup fee appears, tracking turns out to be extra, the report arrives quarterly, and the account sits in the agency's name. By month six the cheap quote has cost the most.
This page is a Google Ads proposal comparison built for that moment: a scoring table that puts PPC quotes side by side so a Malaysian business owner can see what each ringgit buys. It assumes you have shortlisted a Google Ads agency or three and hold their proposals. If you are still preparing, start with the nine things to get ready before hiring a Google Ads agency.
1. Why can't Google Ads proposals be compared as written?
Quick Answer: Google Ads proposals cannot be compared as written because each agency chooses what to itemise. One quotes a flat fee with tracking excluded, another a percentage of spend with tracking included, a third bundles landing pages. A Google Ads proposal comparison first rewrites every quote onto the same ten lines, then scores them.
A proposal is a sales document. It leads with what the agency does well and stays quiet on what it charges for later, which is why two quotes for the same account can differ by half. The general method for comparing marketing agency quotes holds, but PPC has its own line items, and a Google Ads agency in Malaysia should be judged on those. Six vary most:
- Scope versus deliverables. "Campaign management" means nothing until it says how many campaigns, ads and search terms are reviewed monthly.
- Fee model. Flat, percentage of spend or hybrid, each behaving differently as the budget grows.
- Setup fee. Zero, RM 5,000, or hidden inside month one.
- Tracking. Built and owned by you, or assumed to exist.
- Reporting cadence. Monthly with a call, monthly PDF, or a dashboard link and silence.
- Exit terms. Notice period, minimum term, and who keeps the account.
This Google Ads proposal comparison expands those six into ten scoring lines next.
Key takeaway: Never compare the headline fee. Rewrite each proposal onto the same lines first, then compare.
The video below explains how agencies price Google Ads management, useful context before scoring the fee lines.
Google Ads Agency Pricing: Full Guide On How Much To Pay A PPC Agency
Source video: Watch on YouTube
2. The scoring table: ten lines, weights and pass marks
Quick Answer: Score each Google Ads proposal on ten lines. Give every line 0 (missing), 1 (mentioned but vague) or 2 (written down with numbers), multiply by its weight, and total out of 100. A proposal scoring 70 or more is safe to negotiate with; below 50, ask for a rewrite or walk away.
This scores the document, not the agency. Judging the people behind it is a separate exercise, covered in nine ways to judge an SEM agency shortlist. Here, tracking, ownership and deliverables carry the most weight because they are the lines that cost real money to fix later, as the first 30 days with a Google Ads agency show. Five steps per quote:
- Copy the ten lines into a spreadsheet, one column per agency.
- Fill each cell from the proposal only. Not written means 0, whatever the salesperson said.
- Score 0, 1 or 2 and multiply by the weight.
- Send each agency its blank cells and ask for them in writing.
- Re-score after replies and compare 12-month cost, not monthly fee.
| Line | Weight | Scores 0 | Scores 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliverables with quantities | 15 | "Full campaign management" | Campaigns, ads, reviews and tests per month, in numbers |
| Conversion tracking | 15 | Not mentioned or "client to provide" | Build included, events listed, calls and WhatsApp covered |
| Account ownership | 15 | Agency creates and holds the account | Account, GA4 and Tag Manager in your name, agency linked |
| Fee model | 10 | One number, no basis | Model named, fee shown at your spend and at double it |
| Landing-page responsibility | 10 | Silent | States who builds, edits and hosts, with a price if extra |
| Reporting cadence | 10 | "Regular reports" | Monthly report by a fixed date, with a review call |
| Exit terms | 10 | 12-month lock-in, no handover clause | 30-day notice after month three, account and data stay with you |
| Setup fee | 5 | Not stated | Stated, itemised, or "none" in writing |
| Named person and hours | 5 | "Our team" | Named manager, response time, hours per month |
| Proof | 5 | Screenshots without account names | Google Partner status, two referenceable clients in your sector |
Source: ZenWeb proposal review framework, drawn from competing proposals shared by prospective clients, Malaysia, 2024–2026. Weights total 100.
Proof sits last on purpose: case studies are the easiest line to fake, and checking whether an SEM company's results are real is a separate job.
Key takeaway: Tracking, ownership and deliverables are 45 of the 100 marks. A quote can be cheap and still fail on those three alone.
Want a quote that already fills in all ten lines?
ZenWeb proposals itemise deliverables, tracking, ownership and exit terms on page one.
See what ZenWeb's Google Ads management includes →3. Scope vs deliverables: what does the monthly fee actually buy?
Quick Answer: Scope is what an agency is allowed to touch; deliverables are what it promises to produce each month. A Google Ads proposal that lists scope but no deliverables lets the agency do very little and still be in contract. Ask for quantities: campaigns built, ads written, search terms reviewed, tests run.
Most proposals describe scope in comfortable phrases. All true, none measurable. Before the Google Ads proposal comparison can score them, convert each into a deliverable with a number, using the monthly routine in what great PPC management looks like as the benchmark:
- "Keyword research" becomes a keyword list with match types and negatives, delivered before launch and refreshed quarterly.
- "Ad copywriting" becomes the number of responsive search ads per ad group at launch, plus new ads tested each month.
- "Bid optimisation" becomes a named bid strategy with a target set from your margin.
- "Negative keywords" becomes a search-term review every week or fortnight, logged.
- "Ongoing optimisation" becomes a change log you can read and one documented test a month.
The questions in how to choose a Google Ads company in Malaysia help you ask for these politely. Multi-outlet and franchise businesses add one more line, budgets and reporting per location, which is the subject of our page on choosing a Google Ads agency for franchise and multi-location brands.
Key takeaway: If a deliverable has no number, it is scope, not a promise. Score it 1 at most.
4. Fee model and setup fee: reading the two money lines together
Quick Answer: In a Google Ads proposal comparison, read the fee model and the setup fee as one number: what you pay in the first 12 months at your planned spend. A flat fee suits steady budgets, a percentage of spend suits budgets that will grow, and a setup fee is fair only when it buys a documented account build and tracking you keep.
Malaysian agencies quote three ways, and each hides a different question. Our comparison of flat fee versus percentage-of-spend management fees goes deeper; for scoring, three checks are enough:
- Flat fee: ask what happens when spend doubles. Does the work stay flat too?
- Percentage of spend: ask for the minimum fee and whether the percentage applies before or after service tax.
- Hybrid (base plus percentage): ask for the fee at your spend and at double it, in writing.
Setup fees range from nothing to several thousand ringgit. The fee is fair when the proposal itemises what it builds: account structure, conversion tracking, Tag Manager and a written strategy. A round number with no list, or an account that will belong to the agency, is a red flag. Our page on the Google Ads setup fee in Malaysia sets out what each RM band should cover, and what Google Ads costs in Malaysia covers the media budget.
Key takeaway: Ask for the 12-month total at your spend and at double it. The right fee model becomes obvious.
5. Is conversion tracking included? The line that decides if reports are real
Quick Answer: A Google Ads proposal that does not include building or auditing conversion tracking is quoting for clicks, not leads. Score the line 2 only when the proposal names the events it will track, including calls and WhatsApp, says who owns the tags, and includes the rebuild in the fee.
Every other line depends on this one. Without tracking, the bid strategy has nothing to optimise, the report shows clicks and cost, and the agency cannot be judged. Yet proposals skip it most often, assuming your website already has it or planning to bill it later as "technical setup". The build is covered in Google Ads conversion tracking with GA4 and WhatsApp leads; for the comparison, check three things:
- Events named. Form submits, calls, WhatsApp clicks, purchases. "Conversion tracking" with no list scores 1.
- Ownership named. Tags live in a Tag Manager container and GA4 property in your company's name, as set out in who should own Google Ads account access in Malaysia.
- Offline matching offered. The strongest proposals import closed sales back into Google Ads using Google's offline conversion import. Few Malaysian agencies quote for it; see offline lead conversion for Google Ads.
Key takeaway: No tracking line, no way to judge the agency. Treat a silent proposal as a quote for clicks and price it accordingly.
Have three proposals and no time to score them?
Send them to ZenWeb. We will put them on the ten-line scorecard and show the 12-month cost of each.
Compare ZenWeb's Google Ads pricing first →6. Reporting cadence, ownership and exit terms: the lines that matter in month seven
Quick Answer: Reporting cadence, account ownership and exit terms decide how the relationship ends, so check them before it starts. Look for a monthly report by a fixed date with a review call, the account and its data in your name, and 30 days' notice after an initial three months.
These three lines rarely decide who wins the pitch, and they decide almost everything when you want to leave, which is why a Google Ads proposal comparison weights them at 35 marks between them. In ZenWeb's takeover work, accounts that arrive with no history, no tracking and a lapsed billing profile are almost always the ones where the proposal was silent on ownership. General contract points are in marketing agency contracts: lock-ins and exit terms; the PPC-specific checks are:
- Reporting. A fixed date each month, metrics named in advance, and a call to walk through them; see what your Google Ads agency should show you monthly. A dashboard link alone scores 1.
- Ownership. Google's manager account linking lets an agency work in an account you own; a proposal that creates the account "for you" describes a lock-in.
- Exit. Minimum term, notice period, and a handover clause that leaves the account, GA4, Tag Manager and creative with you. The traps are in Google Ads agency red flags; the way out of one is changing Google Ads agency without losing data.
Key takeaway: Ownership and exit terms are cheap to fix in a proposal and expensive to fix in month seven.
7. What Malaysian Google Ads proposals leave out: share that states each line
Quick Answer: Among competing Google Ads proposals shared with ZenWeb by prospective clients, every one states a monthly fee, but fewer than a third put conversion tracking, account ownership or landing-page responsibility in writing. The heaviest lines in a Google Ads proposal comparison are the ones most often missing.
Gaps are the norm, which is why scoring from the document alone matters.
| Scorecard line | Stated in writing | Share of proposals |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly management fee | 100% | |
| Setup fee stated (or "none") | 64% | |
| Notice period and minimum term | 52% | |
| Reporting cadence and format | 46% | |
| Deliverables with quantities | 38% | |
| Conversion tracking scoped and included | 31% | |
| Account ownership written down | 27% | |
| Landing-page responsibility | 22% | |
| Named manager and hours | 19% | |
| Search-term review cadence | 14% |
Source: Based on ZenWeb's client sample of 500+ Malaysian SME accounts; competing proposals shared by prospective clients during pitches and takeovers, 2024–2026.
Key takeaway: Expect blanks on the heavy lines. Sending each agency its blanks is the single most useful step in the comparison.
8. Quoted fee vs 12-month cost: three sample proposals scored
Quick Answer: In an illustrative Google Ads proposal comparison at RM 5,000 monthly spend, the RM 800 flat quote ends the year costing more than the RM 750 percentage quote once setup and a tracking rebuild are added, while the RM 1,500 quote includes work the others bill separately. Monthly fee and 12-month cost rank the three differently.
| Measure | Proposal A: flat fee | Proposal B: 15% of spend | Proposal C: flat fee, bundled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headline monthly fee | RM 800 | RM 750 | RM 1,500 |
| Setup fee | RM 1,500 | None | Waived |
| Conversion tracking rebuild | Extra, RM 1,200 | Included | Included, with offline import |
| Landing pages | Not mentioned | Client's responsibility | Two pages built and hosted |
| Reporting | Quarterly PDF | Monthly PDF | Monthly report and call |
| Exit terms | 12-month lock-in, agency-owned account | 3-month notice | 30-day notice after month three |
| 12-month management cost | RM 12,300 | RM 9,000 | RM 18,000 |
| Scorecard total (of 100) | 38 | 66 | 88 |
Source: Illustrative scenario modelled by ZenWeb on fee structures seen in competing Malaysian proposals, 2024–2026. Excludes ad spend and service tax. Darker cells indicate higher cost.
Proposal A is the trap: cheapest headline, second-most expensive year, and it fails on ownership alone. Proposal B is the cheapest year and a fair choice if you already have tracking and landing pages. Proposal C costs twice as much and still wins for a business with neither, because those items would otherwise be bought elsewhere. Whether the extra RM 9,000 pays back is the maths in is a Google Ads agency worth it.
Key takeaway: Rank proposals by 12-month cost and scorecard total together. The headline fee predicted neither.
9. How each fee model scales: monthly fee at four spend levels
Quick Answer: A flat fee is the most expensive model at RM 3,000 of monthly spend and the cheapest at RM 20,000, while a percentage of spend does the reverse. Score the fee model against where your budget will be in month twelve, not month one.
| Fee model | RM 3,000 spend | RM 5,000 spend | RM 10,000 spend | RM 20,000 spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat fee, RM 1,200 | RM 1,200 (40%) | RM 1,200 (24%) | RM 1,200 (12%) | RM 1,200 (6%) |
| 15% of spend, RM 800 minimum | RM 800 (27%) | RM 800 (16%) | RM 1,500 (15%) | RM 3,000 (15%) |
| Hybrid, RM 600 + 8% | RM 840 (28%) | RM 1,000 (20%) | RM 1,400 (14%) | RM 2,200 (11%) |
Source: Illustrative scenario modelled by ZenWeb on fee structures common in Malaysian Google Ads proposals, 2024–2026. Percentages show the fee as a share of ad spend.
The crossover sits between RM 5,000 and RM 10,000 of spend, where many Malaysian SMEs land after a good first year, so the Google Ads proposal comparison should be run at both figures. If you expect to grow, as in when to scale up your Google Ads budget, score the flat fee higher; if you will hold RM 3,000, prefer the percentage model. Either way the fee must sit well under the value of the leads, so know your real cost per lead before signing.
Key takeaway: Pick the fee model for the budget you expect in month twelve, not month one.
10. Conclusion: score the document, not the salesperson
A Google Ads proposal comparison is an afternoon's work once the ten lines are in a spreadsheet. Score only what is written, send each agency its blanks, re-score, then rank by 12-month cost and scorecard total. The quote that survives is usually not the cheapest and rarely the most expensive; it is the one that already knew what you would ask.
The same lines carry forward: into the brief you send before final quotes, and later into the pass marks on your 90-day agency scorecard. If you are choosing a Google Ads agency in Malaysia now, ZenWeb will hand you a proposal that fills every line, and score the others beside it.
Want your three quotes scored line by line?
Send us the proposals you have. We will return the completed scorecard, the 12-month cost of each, and a ZenWeb quote on the same ten lines so you can compare fairly.
Score my proposals →
11. Frequently Asked Questions
1. How many Google Ads proposals should I compare?
Three is enough. Fewer gives no range; more than four means agencies are answering a vague brief. Send all of them the same brief and the same ten scorecard lines so the proposals come back in a shape you can compare.
2. Is a cheaper Google Ads proposal always worse?
No. A lean percentage-of-spend quote with tracking included can be the best value for a business that already owns its landing pages and tracking. It is worse only when the low fee is paid for by leaving out tracking, ownership or reporting.
3. Should the Google Ads proposal show fees with or without service tax?
Ask every agency whether its fees are before or after service tax, and whether a percentage model is applied to spend before tax. Then compare all proposals on the same basis. Mixing the two is one of the easiest ways to rank quotes wrongly.
4. What if an agency refuses to itemise its proposal?
Score the missing lines zero and tell the agency why. A refusal to write down deliverables, tracking or ownership is itself information. Agencies confident in their service usually fill the blanks within a day.
