Many agencies say the efforts seem designed to sow confusion, discredit agencies and ultimately cut them out of the picture. For example, agencies claim that when they reject Google reps’ misaligned advice, the reps go around them — directly to clients — discrediting the agency by implying they don’t understand how Google Ads work. PPC professionals also shared similar concerns in a recent Reddit thread, where one user likened the issue to “being told your house needs paint by the guy who sells the paint and does the job.”

Agencies have been left agencies scrambling, said Ian Harris, founder of Agency Hackers, a U.K.-based community of indie agencies. To address the problem, Agency Hackers has created a new “Don’t Be Evil” campaign for agencies to share their experiences and frustrations about Google’s ad-sales tactics. The goal is for 1,000 agencies to sign as a way to both address the issue and show agencies that their experiences aren’t necessarily an isolated incident. So far, he said more than 100 agencies have submitted stories, with a few on Agency Hackers’ website and other examples shared directly with Digiday.

Agencies suspect Google Ads sales reps are under pressure to meet quarterly sales targets, Harris said, citing agencies’ conversations and screenshots from reps’ pitches that were shared with him. Sales reps are even presenting themselves as PPC specialists instead of sales reps, Harris said, adding that reps’ advice often leads to wasted ad spend that forces agencies to “clean up the mess” — and get blamed along the way.

“It just seems wrong and bad form to go around the agency to contact their client and tell them they’re doing a bad job,” Harris said. “… No other industry would put up with this.”

In response to Digiday about the claims, a Google spokesperson defended the company’s AI-driven ad products saying tools like Performance Max and Demand Gen help advertisers optimize creative, media, and measurement while reducing time spent on repetitive tasks. 

They added that product evolutions are informed by advertiser needs and that Google is “committed to ongoing collaboration with advertisers and agencies.” The spokesperson also noted Google has published various resources such as guides about ad auction changes, including for recent Performance Max updates for advertiser controls and reporting transparency.

“We have a process in place to regularly review and resolve specific complaints when brought to our attention,” the Google spokesperson told Digiday via email. “The feedback matters, and we take it seriously.”

Agencies say they’ve already shared concerns with Google and that sales managers seemed receptive to feedback, but they also say it hasn’t changed. The way one agency put it’s just a small issue in the grand view of the ad giant — tens of thousands of dollars that individual advertisers spend on Google sometimes isn’t worth changing old habits.

What agencies are experiencing

Agencies say they suspect Google Ads reps are under pressure to meet quarterly sales targets for AI-focused ad offerings, which have resulted in recommendations that don’t align with client goals. The shift also could be part of broader cultural shift toward a more performance-driven, cost-cutting approach. Early last year, Google laid off hundreds of ad sales employees as part of a restructuring effort that reduced managerial layers and emphasized AI-driven automation. Google didn’t provide a direct response to agency speculation around sales reps being under pressure to meet certain targets on AI-focused products.

Multiple execs within agencies who are mired in these discussions say Google Ads reps’ calls have become more persistent, with numerous calls a day or week rather than the old quarterly check in. That’s led some to ignore sales calls while others face fresh client skepticism after interference by Google reps. On at least one occasion, an agency left the Google Partner Program as a result of these issues, while others have adopted a “defensive model” to shield clients from pressure to overspend on ads.

Google reps have long used carrot-and-stick approaches, said Jordan Brannon, COO of Coalition Technologies. While agencies weren’t necessarily okay with that approach, they took it for what it was because Google’s reps rarely interfered with their clients. Now, efforts have become much more aggressive and much more frequent, Brannon said, with Google agency reps calling the agency weekly instead of monthly while reps reach clients directly across between 10% and 15% of the agency’s accounts.

According to Brannon, something Google reps are pushing agencies is mixing branded terms into non-branded campaigns — which inflates performance metrics, distorts campaign effectiveness, and often benefits both agencies and Google more than the advertisers.

“If any other agency were running a campaign like that I’d call it maybe not malicious, but suspect,” Brannon said. “Every agency knows you shouldn’t do that.”

Faye Collins, marketing director at U.K.-based Statuo, is among those noticing Google’s shift from strategic guidance to aggressive sales calls that have sometimes led to lower ad conversions and dramatically increased ad spend. Collins also noted that dedicated agency support has been replaced by rotating account reps for each client.

“Given the number of clients we manage, this fragmented and constantly shifting support model is unmanageable and ineffective,” Collins said. “In some instances, we’ve even had to stop engaging with Google’s outreach altogether due to the aggressive nature of their approach.”

Mid-sized and large agencies also feel pressure

Some speculate Google’s more aggressive approach stems from increased competition in search advertising. As platforms like TikTok, ChatGPT, and Perplexity attempt to siphon ad dollars, Google is forced to fight harder for revenue despite its monopoly over search advertising. Despite disagreeing with the approach, some agencies see that Google’s sales team structure incentivizes questionable behaviors even if it doesn’t officially condone them. They also note that it seems like the tactics work.

“The really frustrating part of being an agency with Google is on the one hand they tell you how much they love you and they look after you,” said Nick Miller, CEO of Seed, which manages about 30 million pounds per year in Google ad spend across its portfolio. “And then on the other hand they’ve got their sales agents who will stab you in the back.”

Agencies feel stuck in a difficult position, turned off Google’s tactics but too reliant to walk away. One media buyer who controls a sizable budget described the antagonistic dynamic has been a “prisoner’s dilemma.” Although Google can still lean on its size in search, they noted CTV providers offer more transparency — and more palatable partnerships: “If you’re running a search campaign, you can’t say you’re going to pull from there and go to Bing. That’s an empty threat.”

Google and agencies have long had a symbiotic relationship, but agency execs don’t think Google ad sales reps don’t seem to fully appreciate the role agencies play, adding that providing value to agencies would allow them to upsell — or at least test — new products with clients.

Agencies need to keep moving upstream to avoid being commoditized, said Karl Loudon, chief commercial officer of Rise by Seven. Although he understands Google’s wants in pitching a single platform added that agencies have always had the trump card of providing advertisers with an independent perspective of media owners: “Why would any brand want to put all your media eggs in one big basket and lose sight of actually what matters to the consumer and to the business?”

Yet, agencies argue that Google has acknowledged the problem in the past, but so far little has changed. They also note smaller advertisers lack the spending power to demand better treatment.

“If you’re a high spender, they roll out the red carpet for you. But [Google sees] these lower spenders are ‘shit or get off the pot,’” one agency exec said. “They wouldn’t dream of putting these people in front of high spenders.”