Do Google Adword pros make some money on PPC?

Our vendor says he makes no money

[monocle100]

Hello all!
Our prospective PPC vendor (Google Adword Pro) contends he makes no money on the clicks to our website. He says he will charge an up-front fee to set us up on Google in sponsored search and then a monthly maintenance scheduled fee.
We believe that he has to make more money on the clicks even though he says that the click charge checks are made out to Google.
His keywords quotes are much higher than what we research on Overture.
What gives?
Thanks very much in advance.

[poster_boy]

Depends on a lot of factors - including your site's conversion rate, your expectations on ROI, how optimized your landing pages are, how competitive your industry is, etc...

It's possible that the margins are quite thin or that your ROI goals are too aggressive given other constraints. If either was the case, I'd demand a compensation model that wasn't purely based on profit, too.

Then again, I'd give my clients - at least limited, if not full, access to the account. You should be able to confirm the costs and CPCs without trusting an individual who may be simply trying to line his pockets with a higher fee... If they refuse to allow you access to the account, I'd be suspicious.

[jtara]

Get your own account, and pay Google directly. Put the account under his management. The Adwords system provides for that. You can revoke his management of your account at any time.

You want to do this anyway. What if you are dissatisfied with him? Do you want to have to start over?

To my knowledge, Google has no program to "rebate" account managers for the accounts under their management.

[Kings on steeds]

google have lauched a new "best practice" program, meaning everyone who manages a large spend... or lots of small ones that make a big one, they gain commishion on that spend, so yes he could make money on your clicks!

[webpublisher]

Kings on steeds - tell me more, where is this documented? Thanks.

[joebiff]

AdwordsAdviser please comment on this, but I believe the "Best Practices" program (where there needs to be a minimum of two GAPs in the company) is not out yet and will only be available in Europe.

[jetboy]

monocle100, if you don't trust this person, even though you haven't yet worked with them, why are you even considering going into business with them?

Either he's given you reason to be mistrustful, or that's just your nature. Either way, move on.

[webpublisher]

I only manage a handful of accounts, but I would really upscale this if there was an easy way Google could pay me automatically for managing an account. Just a fraction of each click would do - that sounds exciting. I have always had trouble presenting my payment plan, so as it is streamlined and relates directly to the keywords I am managing.

[Kings on steeds]

The 3p program began on the 1st of Jan, and yes is only available in Europe.

You receive commission on all spend over 1,000,000 PA. I am not aware of the exact percentage rates, but I know me make a killing!

I don’t know if there is any documentation, ask your rep for more info and I you don’t have a rep…. then….. ask eWhisper!

[cline]

monocle100, the vendor you are talking to is telling you the truth. Adwords doesn't give agency commissions in the US, and CPCs on Adwords are usually much higher than they are on Overture.

[monocle100]

Thanks very much for the information everyone!
That really clears things up as we trust our vendor as much as you can in a new relationship, howver we did not understand the disparity of price between Google and Yahoo/Overture.
In addition, a directional marketing firm that we initially spoke with did mark up the keywords.

Again, I really appreciate the feedback.