1. Do they actually manage the account themselves — or outsource everything?
Many “agencies” are just sales fronts. They close you, then hand the keys to overseas VAs or $5/hour freelancers who copy-paste bulk files.
Ask: “Who exactly will be logging into my Advertising Console every week?” and “Can I see the LinkedIn of the person making bid decisions?”
Evasive answers = run.
2. Can they show you real, recent PPC reports — not just revenue charts?
Anyone can screenshot sales going up in Q4. Demand unedited search-term reports, campaign-level ACOS breakdowns, bid history logs, and negative-keyword work from the last 30–90 days.
“Client confidentiality” excuses for everything usually hide the fact they have nothing real to show.
3. Do they charge a % of ad spend, flat fee, or hybrid — and are the incentives aligned?
Percentage-of-spend agencies profit when you spend more, even if you’re bleeding margin.
Look for a model with skin in the game: reasonable base fee + performance bonus tied to ACOS reduction or profit growth, plus a painless exit clause if KPIs are missed two months running.
4. Do they manage campaigns manually, or rely on third-party AI software and automation tools?
Most agencies today plug your account into off-the-shelf software (Helium 10, Perpetua, Sellics, etc.) and let the black-box AI make 95% of the decisions.
The problems with software-only management:
- AI uses the same rule sets everyone else has → zero competitive edge
- It can’t interpret catalog-wide issues (bad main image, pricing war, review drop) and will happily scale losing products
- It over-relies on broad match types and auto campaigns, inflating wasted spend
- When Amazon changes bidding logic (which happens multiple times per year), the tool becomes outdated, leaving the software broken for weeks or even months until it’s patched
- You lose transparency: you’ll never know why a bid moved or why an ASIN was paused
We manage every account 100% manually (bulk files + scripts for speed, but every decision is reviewed by a human specialist). That’s the only way to catch nuances, exploit short-lived opportunities, and protect margin when the algorithm would blindly throw fuel on the fire.
5. How sophisticated is their bidding and testing framework?
Ask:
- Do they run simultaneous same-SKU tests across Sponsored Brands video, Display, and DSP?
- Do they pull true COGS for profit-based bidding rules?
- Can they show you bid adjustment history, brand analytics reports?
- Do they use custom scripts for search-term harvesting and negation, or just the default tool reports?
If they’re still clicking around in Campaign Manager one bid at a time, they’re slow. If they’re 100% reliant on third-party AI with no human override, they’re lazy and dangerous.
Quick 60-second test: send them one underperforming ASIN and ask for a 5-bullet action plan.
A real specialist replies in 24–48h with specifics. Everyone else sends a pitch deck. Your margins deserve better than a software plugin and a monthly invoice. Ask the hard questions upfront. Hire slow, fire fast.
