The short answer
'You own your marketing' should mean three things in writing: every account is in the firm’s name and on the firm’s payment method, the firm holds the top level of access (owner or admin), and the firm can export its data and remove the agency any day. Log in to each account yourself to check.
“You own your marketing” should mean three things, in writing. Every account is in the firm’s name and on the firm’s payment method. The firm holds the top level of access. And the firm can export its data and remove the agency any day. Here is what to check, account by account.
Which accounts should be in your firm’s name?
All of them. Your Google Business Profile, ad accounts (Google, Microsoft, Meta), website and domain, analytics, call-tracking numbers and your client records. Each should be registered to the firm and paid on the firm’s card. An agency should work through access you grant and can remove.
| Account | Whose name it should be in | The access you should hold | How to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | The firm | Primary owner | People and access, in the profile settings |
| Google Ads | The firm, on the firm card | Admin | Access and security, in the account |
| Microsoft and Meta ad accounts | The firm, on the firm card | Admin | The account settings |
| Domain and website | The firm as registrant | The registrar login | Your registrar account, and the domain record |
| Analytics and call tracking | The firm | Admin or owner | The user list in each tool |
| Client records | The firm | Full export | Run an export yourself |
Who should own your Google Business Profile?
Someone at your firm, as the primary owner. Google allows “only one primary owner” per profile, and owners, unlike managers, can add or remove users (Google). An agency can do its work as a manager. If an agency is the primary owner, ask for it to be moved to you.
Who controls your Google Ads account?
Whoever holds admin access. Make sure a person at your firm has it. Then check one setting many owners miss. An agency’s manager account (the single login an agency uses to run many clients’ ads) can be given “ownership” of your account, which lets the agency change who has access.
Google’s help page says: “If the manager account has ownership, users with admin access to the manager account can also edit user access, managers, and product links within your account” (Google). Decide whether you want that, and write it into the contract.
Who owns your website and domain?
Whoever is listed as the registrant controls the domain and answers for it, so that should be the firm. ICANN tells registrants: “You will assume sole responsibility for the registration and use of your domain name” (ICANN). The website’s pages and content are a contract question: the contract should say the work you paid for is yours.
What should the contract say?
Four short clauses cover it: ownership, access, exports and exit. Your own counsel should adapt the wording to your state and your deal. The point is that each promise is written into the contract you sign, not just said on the sales call.
- Ownership. Every account, listing, domain, page and piece of content made for the firm is owned by and registered to the firm.
- Access. The agency works only through access the firm grants, and the firm can remove it at any time.
- Exports. On request, and when the work ends, the agency hands over every export, recording and report within a set number of days.
- Exit. A short notice period, no exit fee, and no hold on any account.
If you’re leaving, see leaving your marketing agency or leaving a lead vendor. Probative’s own terms read this way: every account is in your name and on your payment method, and you can remove our access any day.
What this means for your firm
- Log in to every account this week. If you can’t, you don’t own it yet.
- Check the Google Ads “ownership” setting on any agency manager account.
- Put ownership, access, exports and exit in the contract, in plain words.
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Questions about this guide
Who owns my Google Ads account if my agency set it up?
Whoever holds admin access and pays the bill, in practice. Check two things: that someone at your firm has admin access, and whether the agency’s manager account has 'ownership' of your account, which lets it change who has access. Ask for that to be switched off if you want full control.
Who owns my law firm website?
Start with two things: who is the domain’s registrant, and what the contract says about the site’s design, code and content. Make sure the domain is registered to the firm, and that the contract gives you the pages and content you paid for.
Do I own the leads from my ads?
If the ads run in your account, the form fills and call records come to your account. Meta’s lead-ad terms say an agency receiving leads for an advertiser may only use or share them on that advertiser’s behalf.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: owner and manager rolesAccessed October 25, 2026
- Google Ads Help: about access levels in your Google Ads accountAccessed October 25, 2026
- ICANN: registrants' benefits and responsibilitiesAccessed October 25, 2026
- Meta, Lead Ads Terms, section EAccessed October 25, 2026
- Probative: terms in plain EnglishAccessed October 25, 2026