Switching Google Ads agencies — the process, the deadlines, your account

By Mohammad Danyal Shahzad · Updated on 7 August 2026

Search "switching Google Ads agency" and you mostly find lists of warning signs and switching checklists — almost nobody describes what actually happens, technically, when an account changes hands. This guide relies only on Google's own Help Center pages plus named legal/practitioner commentary, and keeps both clearly separate from agency self-promotion. For how to judge a prospective agency in the first place, see our guide to Google Ads agency red flags; for cost, see our Google Ads agency pricing guide.

How does the account transfer actually work?

Google calls this process "Change Who Pays": "You might need to change the payment profile for your client account to a new one when an advertiser changes or leaves agencies. This process is called Change Who Pays." (Google Ads Help) This request is described from the outgoing agency's side — the manager account that currently holds billing — meaning it is initiated from the agency you are leaving, not unilaterally by you as the client (Google Ads Help).

An External Billing Transfer requires the new agency's 10-digit manager account ID, an optional contact email, the future payer name, and a transfer date — either a specific date or "as soon as possible" (Google Ads Help). On the receiving side, a second, separate process runs: the new agency is notified by email and in the "Notifications" section of its own account, and must supply the transferred account's customer ID plus its own manager account ID (Google Ads Help).

Two distinct deadlines apply to different parties:

In Google's own words on the second deadline: "Please note that the client account will need to be linked to your manager account within 7 days of the transfer, otherwise your ads will stop running" — and separately: "Otherwise, the transfer will be approved within 48 hours" (Google Ads Help). These are three distinct figures tied to three distinct steps; don't let a sales conversation blend them into one.

The backdating trap on a billing transfer

One detail almost no switching guide mentions: choosing a past date on the transfer request can trigger re-billing on invoices you already paid. Google states it plainly: "If you chose a date in the past, your open invoices might be eligible for an automatic rebill" (Google Ads Help). Practical takeaway: set the transfer date to "as soon as possible" or a future date, not backdated — otherwise you risk a duplicate charge for a period you already settled.

Do you lose your data when you switch?

The answer turns on one question: who created the account in the first place?

If you own the account (you created it; the agency only had access): Google is unambiguous here. Unlinking a single account from a manager account means: "The individual account won't lose its own account campaign history or access to any Google Ads features" (Google Ads Help). Two years of change history also stays visible in the account — a practical, Google-documented way to audit exactly what the old agency changed and when (Google Ads Help).

Two technical risks remain, though, if certain features ran through the agency's own manager account: if the unlinked account was using the manager account's remarketing tag or shared remarketing lists, "the lists that rely on the shared tag will no longer populate in that account, and the account will lose access to any of the manager's shared lists" (Google Ads Help). And if the account was using the manager account's cross-account conversion-tracking tag, "that tag will no longer record conversions for clicks that take place after the account was unlinked" (Google Ads Help).

If the agency created the account under its own manager ID: then the real issue is ownership, not data loss. Google's rule is direct: "A client account can only have one owner." "If a manager creates a new account, the manager will automatically become the owner of that account." (Google Ads Help) Some marketing-agency content circulates claims that switching in this scenario wipes out algorithmic learning history entirely and drives up costs for months — we have not found that claim backed by any Google documentation, and no figure for it appears in Google's own pages, so we are not repeating specific cost or duration numbers here. What Google does document is the fix: a user with administrative access to the owner manager account can transfer ownership to a different manager account, or the account can first be unlinked from its current owner manager before ownership is turned on for a new one (Google Ads Help).

On Quality Score, the evidence cuts neither way: the official page names three components (expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance, landing page experience) and historical impressions per keyword, but says nothing about what happens when an account changes owner or managing agency (Google Ads Help) — a genuine documentation gap, not evidence of loss or preservation either way.

Conversion tracking: what to check during the handover

None of the competitor articles we reviewed treat conversion-tracking handover as its own topic — yet it is the most technically fragile part of a switch. Three layers matter: conversion actions inside the Google Ads account itself, cross-account tracking managed at the manager-account level, and tags that live in Google Tag Manager or Google Analytics 4 and are administered separately.

Google documents the management-level piece directly: when a manager account takes over managing a client account's conversion actions, the client account can no longer use its own account-specific actions, but "existing conversion statistics won't be lost" (Google Ads Help). Important caveat: this describes switching between account-specific and cross-account tracking management, not an agency switch directly — treat it as a reasoned analogy, not a direct guarantee that conversion history survives every agency switch automatically.

In practice, before separating from the old agency, check whether the cross-account conversion-tracking tag runs through their manager account — if it does, it stops recording new click conversions the moment you unlink (Google Ads Help). If the account instead stays within the same overall account structure and is only moved internally, the tag keeps working (Google Ads Help).

Ending the contract is not the same as transferring the account

Two separate actions get conflated constantly. Ending your agreement with the old agency is a contract-law matter (see below). Moving the Google Ads account to a new agency is a separate, technical process at Google (see above). Canceling the contract does not transfer the account, and transferring the account does not end the contract — both have to be done, actively and separately.

Notice periods: what your contract actually says

Unlike Germany, no single statute sets a marketing-agency services notice period in the US, UK, or Australia. Every figure below describes a contractual convention that agencies and lawyers commonly build into a Master Service Agreement's termination clause — never a legal requirement.

United States: a New York-market law firm states it plainly: "Most advertising agency agreements require written notice for termination, typically ranging from thirty to ninety days depending on the engagement type and contract terms" (SJKP LLP). A marketing-industry publisher describes a narrower common range: "The most common structure requires written notice 30 to 60 days before you want to end the relationship" (Clicks Geek). One agency, Markitors, publishes its own policy as an example of the convention in action — self-interested, since it's describing its own contract: "our Termination clause gives either party the option to terminate an agreement at any time if a 90-day written notice is provided" (Markitors).

United Kingdom: a UK legal-services provider frames notice length as proportionate to the transition, not fixed: "A month-to-month service might justify 30 days." "The right length depends on the contract...what matters is whether the period is proportionate to the time genuinely needed to transition" (Sprintlaw UK). One near-miss statute is worth flagging precisely so it isn't misapplied: the Commercial Agents Regulations 1993 set statutory minimum notice periods, but a UK law firm is explicit: "The Regulations only apply to sales and purchases of goods and therefore do not apply to services" (Herrington Carmichael) — a PPC/marketing services agency falls outside their scope, so this statute does not govern your Google Ads management contract; it does not set a binding minimum notice period here.

Australia: a legal-services provider gives a general commercial-contract baseline: "Common periods are 7, 14 or 30 days, but it can be longer for critical services or long-running relationships" (Sprintlaw Australia) — a general-contract source, not one specific to marketing agencies, since no Australia-specific marketing-agency legal source on this point was found.

Whichever jurisdiction applies, check your own Master Service Agreement's termination clause first — none of the figures above override a specific term you already signed.

Switch checklist

1. Check your access level. Do you personally hold Admin access on your Google Ads account — not just Read-only or Email-only? Only Admin access lets you grant or revoke account access (Google Ads Help).
2. Confirm account ownership. Who created the account originally? Only that party is the automatic owner (Google Ads Help).
3. Identify who holds the paying manager account. If it's the old agency, they must initiate the Change Who Pays request (Google Ads Help).
4. Set the transfer date deliberately — not backdated, to avoid the rebilling trap (Google Ads Help).
5. Flag the 7-day approval window to the new agency so the request doesn't auto-cancel (Google Ads Help).
6. Complete the relink within 7 days of approval, or ads stop serving (Google Ads Help).
7. Check conversion-tracking and remarketing tags separately — anything running through the old agency's manager account is at risk the moment you unlink (Google Ads Help).
8. Export or document the 2-year change history while it's still visible in the account (Google Ads Help).

Timing the switch

An agency switch that comes bundled with account restructuring — a new campaign structure, new bid strategies, moved ad groups — can trigger a new Smart Bidding learning phase. Google states it can take "up to 3 weeks or 1-2 conversion cycles for the bid strategy to calibrate to the new objective, although it can be faster depending on the amount of conversion data present" (Google Ads Help). Switching right before the busiest stretch of the retail calendar — Black Friday through the December holidays — means that learning window lands exactly when budget and attention are highest. Switching in late summer or early autumn lets those three weeks settle before Q4 begins.

How we handle it

Digital Marketing Remote is a small, founder-led remote team — not a large agency. Campaigns run in the client's own account; we work through access rights, not account takeover. Pricing is published in full, from €349/month, flat, no percentage-of-spend model, with no setup fee, and every plan is month-to-month. Reporting is a monthly PDF. For a switcher specifically, the account audit is the natural first step, because it checks exactly the points above — access level, ownership, tracking setup — inside your existing account before anything is transferred. Full scope is on our Google Ads management page. Whether a switch even makes sense for you, or whether working with a freelancer would fit better, is something a free project analysis or account audit can clarify.

FAQ

Can I start the switch on my own, without the old agency's cooperation? It depends on who holds the paying manager account. If the old agency holds it, Google's process requires them to initiate the Change Who Pays request (Google Ads Help). If you hold Admin access on your own account, you can unlink it from any manager account independently of that (Google Ads Help).

What happens if the new agency doesn't respond within 7 days? The transfer request is automatically canceled and has to be re-initiated (Google Ads Help).

Will I lose my Quality Score when I switch? There's no evidence either way. The official Quality Score page doesn't address what happens when an account changes owner or managing agency (Google Ads Help) — a documented gap, not a reason for blanket worry or reassurance.

How long does Google's own review of the transfer take? 48 hours, provided the request isn't rejected and doesn't need to be resubmitted with updated details (Google Ads Help).

Should I expect a new learning phase after switching? Only if the account structure changes substantially — new or reactivated bid strategies, restructured campaigns or ad groups. When that happens, Google says recalibration can take up to 3 weeks (Google Ads Help). The account's underlying campaign history itself is not lost in the process (Google Ads Help).

All figures and quotes were retrieved from the cited source pages on 2026-08-07 and may have changed since. Agency self-promotion is labeled as such. This guide is not legal advice.