What Does Ad Management Cost, and What Am I Paying For?
Ad management fees are the industry’s cloudiest line: some charge a percentage of spend, some a flat monthly, some blend the two. The fog works against the business. 💰
Short answer: three models exist, each favouring a different side. We work on hour capacity: effort is measured and your fee doesn’t rise automatically when your spend does. Our rates are published: 30/60/90 hours → 72,000 / 135,000 / 180,000 TRY per month (Türkiye rates, VAT excluded).
Below: the three models compared, what the fee buys, the hidden lines, and how to negotiate properly. 🔦
How do the three models work?
Knowing the model is half of reading the quote.
Flat monthly versus hour capacity
Flat monthly is predictable but breeds argument when scope is vague: “is this included?” returns every month. In the hour-capacity model, hours are allocated to jobs at month’s start and an hour log arrives at month’s end. Effort becomes visible and ambiguity ends. ⚙️
Which model suits which business?
For very large single-channel spenders, flat monthly can be practical. For work running across several fronts (search + remarketing + content), the hour model is fairer: how much effort went where is written down.
What are our rates?
We don’t hide numbers; we publish them with their scope.
What does the fee actually buy?
A fee conversation unfinished by a work list is half a conversation.
Are there hidden lines?
There shouldn’t be — but look for them in the quote.
How is this negotiated?
Healthy negotiation happens over dose, not over the figure.
📝 Field Notes
Since publishing the rates, meetings changed: the price question dies in minute one and the time goes to the work. The hour model produced a side benefit too — because our fee doesn’t rise when a client’s spend does, the advice “let’s increase the budget” is a judgement rather than an interest. 📐
📖 Quick Glossary
Management fee: the charge for the agency’s effort. Ad spend: the platform budget leaving your own card. Hour log: the record of which job consumed how many hours. Dose: the monthly capacity chosen for the need.
⚡ Quick Summary
Three models exist; the percentage model misaligns interests. ⚖️ Our rates are open: 30/60/90 hours → 72,000/135,000/180,000 TRY, VAT excluded. Ad spend is always separate. Reports run four lines. Negotiate dose, not price.
🎯 Next Step
Let’s size the right dose against your needs: the quote page, or explore the service on the Google Ads consulting page. Existing accounts get a free first review. ⚙️
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
The agency. The more you spend, the more they earn — while your goal is the same result for less. The model aligns interests in opposite directions. On small accounts the percentage is too thin for the agency, so attention fades. ⚖️
Core (30h · 72,000 TRY): one front — ad management and measurement order. Pro (60h · 135,000 TRY): ads plus conversion improvement plus content support in the same month. Max (90h · 180,000 TRY): full field — multiple channels, e-commerce or intense campaign periods. The dose follows the need; details on the AINEO page. International engagements are quoted on the same hour arithmetic. 📋
No, and it never should be. Platform spend leaves your own card; the management fee is invoiced separately. That separation is the foundation of transparency: whoever sees the spend controls it. When a quote says “all-inclusive”, always ask where the ad money goes. 🧾
Weekly search-term cleaning, bid and budget optimisation, ad copy tests, landing-page recommendations, a monthly report and a decision meeting. Every item is covered in hours and appears in the log. Work not done doesn’t reach the invoice. 🔧
Four lines: conversion count, cost per conversion, work done, next month’s plan. A report stacked with impressions and clicks describes activity rather than outcome; the reading guide sits in the profitability article. 📊
Initial setup is usually a separate line because it’s an intense one-off job. Landing-page build and content production are separate work too; in the hour model they get written into the plan and appear in the log. Surprise invoices don’t exist. 📄
Cut the hourly rate and what silently shrinks is effort: less optimisation, less testing. The right lever is scope — on a tight budget, Core loads one front, and the dose grows as proof arrives. The comparison method sits in the quote article, all questions in the 18-questions hub. ⚖️
It can be; then the Core dose focuses on one front and effort stays limited to ad management. With a small budget, setup and measurement can come first and management can run lighter. The real question is how many customers this effort wins you.
They’re separate lines in accounting: one is media spend paid to the platform, the other a service fee, and they appear separately on invoices. Plan your total digital budget, but don’t merge the two.
No effort-based model guarantees results, and you should be cautious of anyone claiming otherwise. Our commitment is effort, transparency and measurement: what was done appears in the hour log and what happened appears in the report. If results don’t come, we open the reasons together.
Source: McKinsey & Company