SEM Vendor Checklist: What to Confirm Before Signing a Search Engine Marketing Contract in Malaysia
Most corporate search engine marketing contracts in Malaysia are signed after a presentation, a proposal and a price negotiation. Very few are signed after a structured due-diligence process that confirms the operational, technical and commercial terms that will determine whether the engagement produces results. This checklist covers the 12 questions that should be answered in writing before any SEM or PPC agency contract is committed to.
TL;DR: Key Takeaways
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Most corporate SEM contracts in Malaysia are signed before the questions that matter most have been asked. MYSense audited a Kuala Lumpur insurance group that had signed a 12-month SEM agency contract without verifying account ownership, conversion tracking methodology or reporting definitions. After 11 months the account still belonged to the agency and the conversion data could not be verified as commercially meaningful. The group lost the account history when the relationship ended. This checklist prevents that outcome. ● Confirm in writing that the Google Ads account is created under the client’s own domain email and that the client holds admin access ● Verify the conversion tracking methodology before signing: what counts as a conversion and how is it connected to commercial data ● Ask for a sample report from a current client of similar scale before committing ● Define the notice period, data ownership and account handover process in the contract ● Google itself warns that no third party can guarantee ranking or paid search performance |
The starting point for any SEM vendor evaluation is Google’s own position on third-party search marketing services. Google’s own guidance on evaluating third-party search marketing services states that Google does not evaluate third-party services and that no tool or agency has access to Google’s internal ranking data. Any agency that implies a special relationship with Google, or that their methods are Google-approved, is making a claim that contradicts Google’s published guidance directly.
Why Most Corporate SEM Contracts in Malaysia Have the Wrong Terms
A search engine marketing contract for a corporate account covers more than a monthly fee and a scope of work. It governs who owns the advertising account, what counts as a successful outcome, who is responsible for each component of the delivery chain, and what happens when the relationship ends. Most SEM contracts in the Malaysia market are underspecified on all four of these dimensions.
MYSense reviewed the situation of a Kuala Lumpur insurance group that had been running a 12-month SEM contract with an agency. The contract specified a monthly management fee, the number of campaigns to be run and a monthly reporting commitment. It did not specify who held admin access to the Google Ads account, how conversions were defined, or what data would belong to the client at contract end. After 11 months, an account audit found that the Google Ads account had been created under the agency’s own domain email, the conversion tracking was recording all website sessions above 30 seconds as a conversion, and the campaign data going back 11 months was therefore commercially meaningless. When the contract ended, the account was not transferred because the agency held ownership. The client started from zero.
None of these problems were the result of fraud. They were the result of a contract that did not specify what should have been obvious requirements. The checklist below prevents this outcome.
The 12-Item SEM Vendor Checklist
Each item below should be confirmed in writing, either in the contract itself or in a formal scope of work document that is referenced by the contract. A verbal confirmation in a sales meeting is not sufficient. If a vendor declines to confirm any item in writing, that refusal is itself a useful signal.
Table 1: SEM vendor checklist for corporate accounts in Malaysia. All 12 items should be confirmed in writing before any contract is signed.
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# |
Checklist Item |
Question to Ask the Vendor |
Why It Matters |
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1 |
Account ownership |
Who holds admin access to the Google Ads account, and is it created under the client’s domain email or the agency’s? |
If the account is under the agency’s domain, you may lose all historical data if the relationship ends. |
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2 |
Conversion tracking definition |
What counts as a conversion in this account, and how is conversion data connected to the client’s CRM? |
Agencies that track all form submissions as conversions will report inflated performance against a meaningless benchmark. |
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3 |
Named account manager |
Who specifically will manage this account day-to-day, and what is their direct contact? |
Accounts managed by rotating junior staff consistently underperform accounts with a named, experienced senior manager. |
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4 |
Search terms review cadence |
How often is the search terms report reviewed and negative keywords added? |
Accounts without active negative keyword management waste 20 to 40% of budget on non-converting searches within 90 days. |
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5 |
Bid strategy and rationale |
Which bid strategy will be used, why, and at what point will it be changed? |
Smart Bidding requires at least 30 genuine conversions per month to work. An agency that runs Smart Bidding on a new account from day one does not understand the data requirements. |
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6 |
Landing page responsibility |
Who is responsible for landing page performance and what is the process if conversion rate falls? |
If landing page improvement is out of scope, the agency cannot be held accountable for CPA performance. |
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7 |
Sample report |
Can you see a redacted monthly report from a current client of similar scale and sector? |
A report sample reveals what the agency considers important metrics and whether they connect activity to commercial outcomes. |
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8 |
Benchmark CPA or lead target |
What CPA or qualified lead target does the agency commit to working toward, and over what timeline? |
Any agency that refuses to discuss CPA targets is managing to an activity metric, not a commercial one. |
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9 |
Budget allocation transparency |
How is the monthly budget split across campaigns, and can the client see this in the account at any time? |
Opaque budget allocation is a governance risk. The client should be able to verify spend by campaign at any time. |
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10 |
Notice period |
What is the minimum notice period to terminate the contract, and does it require 30 days or more? |
Notice periods above 30 days on a monthly retainer are excessive and create commercial lock-in without protecting the client. |
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11 |
Data and IP ownership |
Who owns the creative assets, landing pages, reports and keyword lists produced during the engagement? |
Some agencies treat all work product as their IP. Confirm in writing that everything produced belongs to the client. |
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12 |
Performance guarantees |
Does the agency offer any form of performance guarantee, and if so, what specifically is guaranteed? |
Google itself states that no third party can guarantee search performance. Any guarantee claim should be examined carefully. |
How to Use This Checklist in Practice
end the checklist to every shortlisted SEM agency in Malaysia before the final vendor meeting. Ask each agency to complete items 1 through 12 in writing and return the responses before any in-person presentation. The responses will tell you more about the agency’s operational maturity than any subsequent pitch.
Pay specific attention to items 1, 2 and 10, as these three carry the highest financial risk.
Item 1: Account ownership is non-negotiable
The Google Ads account should always be created under an email address on the client’s own domain. The SEM agency should manage the account through a linked manager account (MCC), not as the account owner. This structure means if the agency relationship ends, the account history, conversion data, keyword lists and Quality Scores all remain with the client. An agency that insists on holding account ownership, or that creates the account under their domain without explanation, is creating a dependency that benefits the agency at the client’s expense. This is the single most common cause of corporate advertisers losing 12 to 24 months of campaign data when a relationship changes.
Item 2: Conversion tracking definition determines everything
What the agency calls a conversion determines what Smart Bidding optimises toward, what the monthly report reflects, and what the CPA figure means. If an agency counts every form submission, every session above a time threshold, or every page visit as a conversion, the reported CPA is lower than the actual cost per qualified lead by a significant margin. The only meaningful conversion definition for a corporate account is a CRM-verified qualified lead, a completed purchase or a phone call of defined minimum duration that indicates genuine commercial intent. Ask specifically: what events trigger a conversion in your tracking setup, and how is each connected to a commercial outcome the sales team can verify?
Item 10: Notice period and data handover are contract terms, not afterthoughts
A monthly SEM retainer should carry a 30-day notice period. Notice periods above this are excessive and create commercial lock-in without any corresponding benefit to the client. The contract should also specify explicitly that all work product produced during the engagement, including ad copy, campaign structures, keyword lists, landing page content and reports, is the intellectual property of the client, not the agency. Data handover on termination should be addressed specifically: what data the agency will provide, in what format, within what timeline. These terms are far easier to negotiate before signing than after an unexpected termination.
For corporate teams that want to evaluate their current SEM agency against this checklist before contract renewal, MYSense provides a SEM account audit as part of its search engine marketing services for enterprise accounts in Malaysia.
What Should the Contract Itself Include?
A well-structured SEM or PPC agency contract for a corporate account in Malaysia should include the following as explicit written terms, not as verbal understandings from the proposal stage.
- Scope of work: Specific campaigns, ad groups, keyword categories and geographic targeting. Not a general description such as ‘management of Google Ads campaigns’.
- Named account manager: The specific individual responsible for day-to-day management, their role and their seniority. A clause requiring written notice if this person changes.
- Conversion definition: A precise description of the conversion actions tracked as primary in the account, and confirmation that these represent commercial value.
- Reporting schedule and format: Frequency, the specific metrics included, and how they connect to commercial KPIs. A sample report format attached to the contract.
- KPI targets: A target CPA or cost-per-qualified-lead with the methodology for calculating it. The timeline over which the target will be achieved.
- Account ownership: Explicit confirmation that the client holds admin access to the Google Ads account and that the account is created under the client’s domain.
- Data and IP ownership: All work product belongs to the client. Enumerated specifically: ad copy, keyword lists, campaign structures, landing page content, reports.
- Notice period: 30 days maximum for a monthly retainer. No lock-in period beyond the first month.
- Handover process: On termination, the agency will provide a complete account download and transfer management access within a specified number of business days.
For organisations that want a standard SEM contract framework reviewed against current market practice in Malaysia before negotiating with a vendor, MYSense’s PPC agency in Malaysia team can advise on contract terms as part of the engagement scoping process.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEM Vendor Evaluation in Malaysia
No, and any agency that does is making a claim that Google’s own published guidance contradicts. Google has stated that no third party can guarantee search performance and that third-party tools and agencies do not have access to Google’s internal ranking data. A credible SEM agency will commit to a target CPA they will work toward and explain how they will achieve it, not guarantee a specific result they cannot control.
In practice the terms are used interchangeably in the Malaysia market. Search engine marketing (SEM) technically covers all paid search activity including Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and other search platforms. Pay-per-click (PPC) describes the billing model. Most agencies using either label in Malaysia are primarily offering Google Ads management. When evaluating vendors, ask specifically which platforms and campaign types they cover rather than relying on the label they use.
Mid-market corporate retainers for Google Ads management in Malaysia typically range from RM 3,000 to RM 8,000 per month for a single account covering search campaigns. Enterprise accounts with Performance Max, Shopping or complex geographic targeting typically sit above this range. Fees below RM 2,000 per month for a corporate account covering multiple campaigns should prompt questions about team seniority and tool access.
Pull three figures from the account and your CRM: cost per CRM-verified qualified lead over the last 90 days, impression share on your highest-priority keywords, and the percentage of total spend going to converting search terms. If cost per qualified lead is above your target CPA, impression share on priority terms is below 60%, or more than 30% of spend is on non-converting searches, the account has structural problems regardless of what the agency’s monthly report shows.
If the account is under the client’s own domain email and the agency manages through a linked MCC, terminating the contract means the agency loses management access and the client retains the full account including all historical data, campaign structures, keyword lists and Quality Scores. If the account is under the agency’s domain, the client may not be able to access the account at all after termination, effectively losing everything built during the engagement. Confirm account ownership before signing.
For corporate accounts spending above RM 20,000 per month on search marketing, an RFP process is strongly recommended. A structured brief issued to shortlisted agencies produces comparable proposals against the same criteria, which is far more useful than evaluating unsolicited pitches against each other. The brief should include the account’s current CPA, the target CPA, the monthly budget, the conversion tracking requirements and this checklist as the required response format. An agency that cannot complete the checklist as part of an RFP response is signalling that they are not prepared for the account’s governance requirements.
The Checklist Protects the Budget Before It Is Spent
A search engine marketing retainer represents a significant ongoing commitment for a corporate account. The questions in this checklist take less than two hours to work through with a vendor before signing. The problems they prevent, including lost account data, meaningless conversion tracking, misaligned performance definitions and restrictive notice periods, can take months to resolve after they occur and cannot always be resolved at all.
The right SEM agency in Malaysia will not object to any of these questions. A credible agency with strong governance standards will have clear answers to all 12 items because these are the conditions under which they already operate. An agency that deflects, delays or refuses to confirm items in writing is telling you something useful about how the engagement will be managed after the contract is signed.
MYSense works with corporate and enterprise accounts across Malaysia on search engine marketing programmes structured around commercial CPA targets, clear account governance and transparent reporting. To discuss a structured vendor evaluation or a current account audit, contact the MYSense team.
