Leave when you cannot administer the accounts, the report never reaches a reservation or a sent inquiry, or you cannot name who does the work. Owners also ask when a restaurant should fire its marketing agency. The useful version of that question is which red flag you can already see.
Published November 2, 2026 · Updated November 2, 2026
Google says a client account owns its data. A manager can be given ownership, and that does not remove the client's rights. An admin can unlink the manager. If you cannot sign in as an admin, you do not have that exit. Billing you cannot open is the same problem. The invoice for the Google Ads investment should be in the restaurant's name.
Red flags you can check this week
Google Ads Help: the client account owns its data, and an admin can unlink a manager.
In the ANA's 2022 study, 51 percent of respondents planned to change compensation agreements with full-service agencies, even though 85 percent were very or somewhat satisfied. That survey is national advertisers, not a quota for your restaurant to leave. The fee models are in what a restaurant marketing agency costs.
Ask for reservations you can trace, calls, direction requests, and a sent inquiry kept apart from a booking. The profile guide defines the local actions. The private dining guide keeps the event path in three columns. The services guide shows how those jobs come apart.
Most ANA respondents said they do not know whether a performance incentive improves the work. An incentive on a number you cannot audit is a fee you cannot judge. Tie any extra line to a result the booking system or the inquiry inbox can confirm.
Move admin, billing, and tracking before you send notice, if the contract allows it. Photos, the menu page, and the audience lists should stay with the restaurant. Then use the vetting guide on the next shortlist. The partner-selection guide separates a search partner from a PR firm or a brand studio. An employee or a freelancer is the other fork, in the in-house guide.
Questions before you give notice
Start that comparison on our restaurant marketing agency page. The same admin test applies to us.
Leave when you cannot see the account, the report never reaches a reservation or a sent inquiry, or nobody can name who does the work. One slow month is a reason to read the report. A locked account is a reason to end it.
A report that leads with views or clicks, and never with reservations, calls, direction requests, or sent event inquiries. Ask which source confirmed a booking. If the agency cannot show the path, the number is not a result you can use.
Google says the client account owns its data, and an admin can unlink a manager. Confirm you are an admin before you give notice. If the agency created the account, move ownership first. History that lives only in their login does not come with you.
Write the job that failed, then ask the next partner who does that job each week and what you will keep. Use the same questions on every firm, including us. Fee models belong in a separate conversation from the decision to leave.
Bring the logins you have and the last report. If you want to partner with us, request an introduction.
Published by Jay Street Media. Public rules above are cited to the source. Nothing on this page promises a sales outcome.