At some point, many ecommerce sellers reach a familiar conclusion:
“We’re spending on Google Ads, but the results aren’t clear. Maybe the problem is the agency.”
It’s an understandable reaction.
Changing a partner feels like taking action — especially when performance doesn’t meet expectations.
The issue is that switching agencies is rarely the first step that actually reduces business risk.
Why changing the operator feels like the obvious move
From a business owner’s perspective, the situation often looks like this:
- the advertising budget exists and keeps growing,
- reports become increasingly complex,
- it’s hard to tell whether ads are truly “working”,
- agencies talk about testing, optimization, and long-term horizons.
In that context, a natural question appears:
would someone else do this better?
It’s a healthy question.
The problem starts when it leads directly to a decision — without first understanding what is actually not working.
Changing the agency is not the same as solving the problem
In practice, a familiar pattern often follows:
- a new agency inherits the same constraints,
- the first weeks or months are spent “resetting” the account,
- performance becomes unstable,
- responsibility for weak results gets pushed into the future.
A few months later, the same question returns — just with a different agency name.
This doesn’t happen because all agencies are the same,
but because the root of the problem is not always execution.
Three questions worth asking before making any change
Before deciding to change your Google Ads agency, it’s worth pausing and answering three simple — but often overlooked — questions.
1. What is the real role of Google Ads in your business?
Are ads meant to:
- generate immediate sales?
- test demand?
- stabilize order volume?
- support other channels?
Many frustrations come from a situation where business expectations and campaign logic are not aligned.
Without that alignment, even a well-run account can look like a failure.
2. Is the issue execution — or context?
Google Ads often “doesn’t work” because:
- margins don’t support aggressive acquisition,
- pricing is constrained by marketplaces,
- the checkout converts poorly,
- the customer’s decision cycle is longer than the campaign assumes.
In these cases, changing agencies doesn’t remove the cause,
it only changes how the problem is reported.
3. Do you know what exactly you want to be different?
Change for the sake of change carries risk.
If the decision is simply:
“We want someone better” — that’s not enough.
Without clarity on:
- what should be different?
- how will we know it’s better?
the risk of disappointment remains high.
When changing an agency does make sense
It’s important to say this clearly:
changing an agency can sometimes be the right decision.
Most often when:
- data transparency is missing,
- decisions lack clear reasoning,
- communication is reduced to vague statements,
- business goals are ignored.
The key point is that this needs to be understood first, not assumed.
Sometimes the safest first step is… no change at all
For many businesses, the lowest-risk first step turns out to be:
- an independent review of the current situation,
- without taking over the account,
- without pressure for quick wins,
- without an execution agenda.
Not to replace anyone —
but to understand where the real risk actually lies.
Only with that clarity does a decision to change — or not change — truly make sense.
If a calm, independent second opinion would be useful before making your next move, this is exactly the type of work Marginia focuses on.