Switching agencies: Who owns the Ads, Analytics and Tag Manager accounts?

Your Google accounts should belong to your company, not to your agency. The agency only gets access. You can check this in the user and access settings of Google Ads, Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager: at least one person from your company must be listed there with administrator rights. If that is not the case, sort it out before switching, otherwise campaign data and tracking can be lost.

How to check ownership and access

• Google Ads: Under Admin, open Access and security. Is there an email address from your company with admin access? Does your company pay Google’s invoices directly?
• Google Analytics 4: In Admin, open Account access management. At least one person from your company needs the Administrator role at account level.
• Google Tag Manager: Under Admin, check the account’s User Management. Here too, you need at least one administrator from your company.
• Search Console and Merchant Center: The owner should be your company, not the agency.

Use a role-based address such as [email protected], or at least two people, so that access does not depend on a single employee.

If the account belongs to the agency

Some agencies create accounts in their own name. In Google Ads, the link to a manager account can be removed if you are an administrator yourself. If the account belongs entirely to the agency, ask in writing for your company to be given administrator access. If that does not work, you will have to build a new account. You then lose history, Quality Scores and learning data. That is why it pays to check before a dispute arises.

Checklist for a clean switch

1. Secure ownership and administrator access in all accounts.
2. Create exports: campaigns, reports, conversion settings, Tag Manager containers.
3. Ask for documentation: which tags, conversions and audiences exist, and what are they for?
4. Add the new provider before removing the old one.
5. After the handover, remove the old provider from all accounts, including manager accounts.
6. Check tracking on the day after the switch.

What your new contract should say

All accounts are registered to your company. Campaigns, data, Tag Manager containers and reports stay with you if you terminate. The agency documents everything it sets up.

Related reading: Google Ads audit: How do you tell an account is wasting money? and Google Ads freelancer or agency: When does outsourcing pay off?

FAQ

How do you transfer a Google Ads account to your own company?

The account itself stays the same; what gets transferred are the access rights. An existing administrator invites an email address from your company with admin access, you accept the invitation and then remove users who are no longer needed. You should also switch billing to a payment profile of your company so that invoices go directly to you.

Is any data lost when a Google Ads account is transferred?

No, as long as you keep using the same account. Campaigns, history, Quality Scores and conversion data are retained when only users, manager accounts or the payment profile change. Data is only lost if you have to create a new account because you cannot get admin access to the old one.

How do you link the account to the new agency’s manager account?

The new agency sends a link request from its manager account to your customer ID. An administrator of your account accepts the request in Google Ads under Access and security, in the Managers section. You can end the link at any time without losing any data in the account.

When to hand this over

• You want to switch agencies and do not know who owns what.
• Your current agency no longer responds or refuses access.
• You are taking over an account with an unknown history.

We take over accounts cleanly and with full documentation, without data loss. Learn more about our Google Ads management or book an appointment directly.