Ad Agency Selection: Fees, Partners and Contract Checks

An ad agency runs your ad account on your behalf. Before you hand it over, check three things: the agency is an official partner recognized by the platform, its fees are written in the contract, and you can see the ad account and performance data yourself. Naver, Korea's largest search engine, tells advertisers that if they find it hard to run ads themselves, they should use a partner that has an official contract with Naver. This guide uses the official guidance from Naver, Google, Meta and Kakao (a major Korean messaging and ad platform) checked on October 4, 2026. It covers where to verify partners, what to check on fees and contracts, and where to report impersonators.

What to know before hiring an ad agency

Naver explains that search ads are not sold at a fixed monthly price. You are charged for the number of clicks that actually happen (help page last edited June 2, 2026). Ad spend is the money set by clicks and cost per click. The fee you pay the agency is separate and is set in your contract. So these two amounts are the first things to write down separately in the contract.

If you cannot run ads yourself, you can use an official partner. Naver's official partner page warns that leaving ad management to an unofficial agency can cause harm. Naver's Clean Center states that many advertisers who signed with unverified marketing firms have had their ad access restricted for abusing (artificial clicks meant to burn budget or raise quality scores) and invalid clicks (meaningless clicks).

How to verify an official ad agency partner: where to look on each platform

Check an official agency in the platform's partner list, not by the name the company claims for itself. The verification place is different on each of the four platforms.

Platform	Where to check	What the official guidance says
Naver	Official partner page in the Naver Ads advertiser center	Naver selects agencies with strong advertising expertise and operating capability as official partners. Types are split by badge: Premier, SME Growth, Global Growth, Onboarding & Growth, and Awards winner.
Google	Google Partners directory	There are three tiers: Member, Partner and Premier Partner, and a Premier Partner is in the top 3% of Google Partners in its country. In the directory you can filter by area such as search, display, video, shopping and apps.
Meta	Meta Business Partners page	Eligibility is reviewed on a combination of the number and quality of projects done with Meta technology. Agencies that qualify receive the Meta Business Partner badge.
Kakao	Agency information in the keyword ad guide	You can check whether an agency is an official keyword ad agency (contracted or affiliated) on the agency guide page or through the keyword ad help center.

The order of Naver's list is not a ranking. The page states that the display order of partners refreshes every time you visit. So do not assume an agency is better because it appears near the top. Badges also use different selection criteria. Naver's partnership program evaluates ad performance, consulting skill and expertise, and the strength of strategic collaboration to grant Premier, Strategic and Awards status, so pick the type that fits your industry and advertiser size.

The Kakao guide recommends that after confirming the affiliation, you contact the agency you were pointed to and confirm that the named contact person actually works there. The guide classifies impersonating Kakao or its partners to push product sales as illegal sales activity.

What to check in agency fees and contracts

Fees differ by company, so no official document gives a standard rate. Instead, the platforms publish principles for advertisers, and offers that stray from those principles are the ones to check. Google says advertisers should clearly understand the full cost of advertising, including fees charged by a third-party partner. It also recommends that you keep an official copy of the written contract in case the agency does not spend your ad budget as the contract states.

Naver breaks down the offers advertisers receive most often. The table below comes from Naver's page on preventing illegal sales damage.

If you get this offer	What Naver's official guidance says
Pay a fixed amount each month and we will run your ads, or pay 6 months or 1 year up front	Performance-based ads such as search ads are charged per click, so they are not sold as monthly flat-fee plans.
We will pin your ad to the top of search results	Placement is set by real-time bidding, so fixed top placement cannot be guaranteed.
Pay only for website building or server costs and the ad cost is waived	Naver ads have no product that waives ad costs.
Pay us a separate agency fee	Official partners provide ad agency service with no separate cost other than ad spend. If you receive extra services beyond running ads, even an official partner may charge additional fees in some cases.

Kakao's keyword ad guide lists the same patterns as damage cases. A seller turns a pay-per-click product into a monthly flat-fee product and demands a deposit or fee that is excessive compared with the actual ad spend. When the advertiser asks to cancel, the seller avoids contact or charges an excessive penalty. These explanations apply to pay-per-click search ads. Services outside ad spend, such as website or content production, may have different contract terms.

Who owns the ad account and performance data

Google has written down the rights an advertiser should have when working with an agency. At minimum, advertisers have the right to know the clicks, impressions and costs of their Google Ads, and a third-party agency should set up a separate ad account so it can represent the advertiser fairly. The same document recommends that you review investment size and performance every month so you can calculate your return on investment.

Meta has a feature that opens business assets to a partner. The help article is titled Give partners access to business assets in your business portfolio. In this setup, you keep ownership of the ad account in your own business portfolio and give the agency access only, so when the contract ends you only need to revoke the access. This use is the author's recommendation drawn from the help article title, so check the actual setup steps in that article.

4 checks before signing with an ad agency

1. Find the agency in the official partner list. Search for the company name in the places listed in the table above. If it is listed, this step passes. If not, ask the platform's help center about the basis for the agency's claim before you sign.
2. Have fees and ad spend written separately in the contract. Ad spend is what you pay the platform. The fee is what you pay the agency. As Google advises, sign only after you understand the full ad cost including fees, and keep an official copy of the written contract.
3. Decide how the ad account is accessed. Ask whose name the ad account is created under and who has access. Either way, you should be able to open the clicks, impressions and costs that Google lists as advertiser rights yourself.
4. Compare the monthly report with the platform screen. Google recommends that advertisers review investment size and performance every month. Compare the ad spend and clicks in the agency's monthly report with the values for the same period in the platform's management screen. If they differ, ask the agency what the calculation basis is.

Where to report impersonating agencies

Naver states that it does not make advertising calls to business owners whose business information is registered. If you register business information on Smart Place or Smart Store and soon get a call from someone claiming to be a Naver employee and pitching ads, it is likely an impersonation. If you suffered damage or have doubts, check with the Naver Ads online help center and 1:1 inquiry. Report financial loss to the police, the National Police Agency Cyber Bureau, the Korea Internet Advertising Foundation's Internet Advertising Report Center (02-785-1372), and the Online Advertising Dispute Mediation Committee at the Korea Internet and Security Agency (dial 118 with no area code, ARS option 5). The Kakao guide also points to the Kakao help center and the Korea Internet Advertising Foundation as places to report.

Ad agency FAQ

Should I pick the agency with the highest ranking?

We could not find an official ranking published by any platform. Naver's official partner list changes its display order every time you visit, so do not read the order as a ranking. Compare two or three agencies by their type badge and experience in your industry.

Do I pay a penalty if I end the agency contract early?

Naver search ads are charged per click, so no ad spend penalty arises when you stop or cancel ad delivery. A company that demands an excessive penalty because you cancel the contract deserves caution. Penalty terms for separate services you signed with the agency follow what the contract says, so read them before you sign.

Does Google Ads have no monthly flat fee like Naver?

Google Ads uses a bidding model where you choose whether to pay for clicks, impressions or conversions, and with cost-per-click (CPC) bidding you are charged only when someone clicks your ad. The agency fee is set in the contract separately from this ad spend, so check the full cost including the fee.

Your task for today is to search the name of the agency you plan to hire in the places listed in the table above and see whether it is on the official partner list. If it is not, ask the platform's help center first, before you start talking about fees.