What is white label PPC?
A plain-English definition of white label PPC, how the arrangement works, what it costs, and how to tell a good partner from a bad one.
How the arrangement works
An agency wins a client who needs Google, Meta or Microsoft Ads managed. Rather than hiring a specialist, buying the tools and learning the platforms, the agency brings in a white label partner. From the client’s side, nothing looks different. They are still working with their agency.
- The agency sells and owns the relationship. Pricing, contract, day-to-day contact and invoicing all stay with the agency.
- The partner builds and runs the campaigns. Account structure, keywords and audiences, ad copy, bidding, conversion tracking, ongoing optimization.
- Reporting comes back branded. The partner produces reports carrying the agency’s name and logo, ready to forward or present.
- The partner stays out of sight. Depending on the arrangement, they may join client calls as a member of the agency’s team, or never appear at all.
See how our white label PPC service works for how one of these partnerships is set up in practice.
What stays with the agency, and what moves to the partner
The split is the whole point of the model, and it is worth being precise about it.
- Stays with the agency: the client contract, the retail price, the strategy conversation, the relationship, and ownership of the ad accounts.
- Moves to the partner: platform certifications, campaign build, daily management, tracking setup, and the reporting work.
One point that decides whether an arrangement is healthy: the ad accounts should belong to the agency or its client, not to the partner. If a partnership ends and the accounts leave with the partner, the agency loses the campaign history that makes the advertising work.
What white label PPC costs
There is no single rate. The three structures you will be quoted are:
- A flat monthly management fee per account: predictable, and the easiest to price a retainer around.
- A percentage of ad spend: scales with the client’s budget, but ties the partner’s pay to spending more.
- Tiered pricing by spend band: a middle path, with a fixed fee inside each band.
Whichever applies, the partner’s fee is a cost of delivery: the agency sets its own retail price on top and keeps the margin. That margin is the reason the model works, the agency earns on PPC without carrying a specialist salary. Our own structure is on the pricing page.
White label PPC is not the same as referring the work out
These get confused, and the difference matters commercially.
- A referral hands the client to another agency. You take a one-time or trailing fee, and the client now has a relationship with someone else.
- White label keeps the client yours. You bill them, you own the account, and PPC becomes a service line on your own menu rather than something you send away.
The same distinction separates white label from simply hiring a contractor: a contractor works on your behalf but usually has no reporting, no branding and no coverage when they are on holiday.
How to tell a good white label partner from a bad one
Six things worth asking before signing anything:
- Who actually runs the account? Ask to meet them. An offshore team behind a domestic sales front is a common and expensive surprise.
- Who owns the ad accounts? The answer should be you or your client.
- What is the contract length? Month-to-month keeps the partner earning your business. Annual lock-ins do the opposite.
- Is the reporting genuinely white-labeled? Ask to see a real example with another agency’s branding removed.
- What is reported on, clicks, or leads and revenue? A partner reporting impressions and click-through rate is reporting activity, not results.
- What happens if performance does not improve? A partner willing to put something behind the answer is telling you what they expect of themselves.
Is white label PPC right for your agency?
It usually fits when an agency has clients asking for paid advertising but not enough volume to justify a full-time specialist, or when PPC is being handled reluctantly alongside other work and the results show it. It fits poorly when an agency wants to build genuine in-house expertise, or when clients expect direct access to the person running their account.
The honest test: if you are turning down paid advertising work, or taking it on and quietly dreading it, a partner solves a real problem. If you are already good at it, a partner just adds a margin you are paying for nothing.
Related questions
What are white label PPC services?
White label PPC services are the specific pieces of work a partner delivers under an agency’s brand: campaign build, keyword and audience research, ad copy, bid management, conversion tracking, landing page recommendations, and branded reporting.
What is white label AdWords management?
The same thing under the old name. Google renamed AdWords to Google Ads in 2018, so white label AdWords management and white label Google Ads management describe one service, a partner running Google Ads campaigns under an agency’s brand.
Does the client know a white label partner is involved?
That is the agency’s call. Some agencies present the partner as part of their extended team and are open about it; others keep the arrangement entirely behind the scenes. A good partner works either way and follows the agency’s lead.
Is white label PPC the same as PPC reselling?
They are used interchangeably. “Reselling” emphasizes the commercial side, buying management at one price and selling it at another, while “white label” emphasizes the branding. The arrangement is the same.
How long before a white label PPC account improves?
Expect a rebuild period of two to four weeks before meaningful data accumulates, and a first honest read on performance after roughly 90 days. Anyone promising a turnaround in the first fortnight is describing a change in numbers, not a change in results.
Thinking about a white label partner?
Send us an account to look at. We’ll tell you what we’d change and what it’s worth, useful whether or not we end up working together.