What Does Google Ads Cost? Budget, Agency Fees and Return Explained

Google Ads costs two things that often get blurred together: the ad budget, which you pay directly to Google, and the agency fee for setting up and managing the campaigns. With us, management starts at 4,990 kr/month, and we never mark up the media buy — your budget goes to Google in full. The right total budget depends on your industry and goals, but below a certain level the ads simply don't have enough data to become profitable.

In short

• Two costs: ad budget (to Google) + management fee (to the agency).
• Management with us: from 4,990 kr/month. No markup on the media buy.
• Ad budget: as a rule, we recommend at least a few thousand kroner a month so the optimisation has enough signal.
• What counts: revenue and cost per customer — not clicks and impressions.
• You pay Google yourself; we run the campaigns.

The two costs you need to keep apart

The most common confusion around Google Ads is people mixing up budget and fee. They're two different things:

Cost	What it is	Who you pay
Ad budget	The money that actually buys clicks and impressions	Google, directly
Management fee	Setup, optimisation, reporting, strategy	The agency

An honest agency doesn't mark up the ad budget. That means every krone you set aside for ads goes to ads — not into a hidden margin. That's how we work, and it should be the standard you demand.

What decides the ad budget?

There's no single right number, but these factors drive it:

• Competition in your industry. Some keywords are expensive per click, others cheap. Law and finance cost more than local trades.
• Your goal. Are you testing a market cautiously, or scaling something that already works?
• Geography. The whole country costs more than one city.
• Data. Below a certain level the campaign doesn't get enough signal to optimise. Then you're burning money without learning anything.

The rule of thumb: the budget has to be high enough that the system actually has something to learn from. A budget that's far too low gives you neither results nor insight.

What does the management fee buy you?

A good fee covers more than just "switching on" ads:

• The right campaign structure and keywords
• Tracking that actually works, so you measure customers and not just clicks
• Ad copy and ongoing testing
• Weekly adjustments based on what's working
• A report a human actually reads — revenue and cost per customer, not a wall of numbers

The gap between cheap and good here is wide. A setup without proper tracking can look like it's working while it's quietly bleeding money. You can read more about how we manage ads.

How to work out whether it pays off

Google Ads is easy to judge once tracking is in place. You need two numbers: what a customer is worth to you, and what it costs to acquire one. If a customer is worth 10,000 kroner and it costs you 2,000 kroner in ads to land one, the maths is obvious. If it costs 12,000 kroner, it isn't.

The point is that you should be able to see this in black and white. Advertising without tracking is guessing with a budget. With the right setup, you know exactly what every krone gives back.

Google Ads or SEO?

A common question. The short answer: they do different jobs. Google Ads gives you visibility today, but it stops when the budget runs out. SEO builds visibility that sticks, but it takes time. Most businesses benefit from both — ads for quick effect while SEO matures.

Want to know what a sensible budget and setup looks like for your industry? Have a quick chat, or compare the tiers on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

What does Google Ads cost per month?

It depends on two things: the ad budget (which goes to Google) and the management fee. With us, management starts at 4,990 kr/month, and we don't mark up the ad budget itself.

Does the agency take a share of the ad budget?

They shouldn't, and we don't. Your entire ad budget goes to Google. We charge a fixed management fee, not a percentage of the media buy.

How big should the ad budget be?

Big enough that the campaign gets enough data to optimise — usually at least a few thousand kroner a month. Too small a budget delivers neither results nor learning.

What's the difference between Google Ads and SEO?

Google Ads is paid visibility that stops when you stop paying. SEO is organic visibility that builds up over time. Most businesses use a combination.

How quickly will I see results?

Google Ads can deliver traffic and enquiries almost immediately. The first few weeks go to gathering data and adjusting, then the cost per customer stabilises as the campaign learns.