How do I know if my marketing agency is overcharging me? Overcharging usually shows up as media markup, inflated pass-through subscriptions, or scope you are paying for twice — not as a headline fee that is too high. Audit three consecutive invoices against the platform's own statements.
The fee is rarely where the overcharging is. It is in the lines beside the fee, and in the gap between what Google billed and what you were billed.
- Published pricing — $2,500, $3,500 and $4,500 a month, on the site.
- Month to month. No contract is holding you anywhere.
- A former attorney of 17 years who filed 5,000+ cases works your account.
- You see your rankings move for 14 days before you are billed a dollar.
- Law firms only — no other industries, ever.
| Attorney Pro Marketing | Scorpion | FindLaw | Typical legal agency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing published on the website | Yes — $2,500 / $3,500 / $4,500 per month | Not published | Not published | Rarely published |
| Contract term | Month to month, 30 days’ notice | Not published | Not published | Commonly 12 months |
| Who works on your account | A former attorney of 17 years, in every account | Assigned account team | Assigned account team | Account manager, often across industries |
| Your website is built on | Standard, portable code | Proprietary platform | FirmSite platform | Varies — ask before signing |
| See results before you are billed | Yes — 14 days, then you decide | No | No | No |
| Ad spend billed by Google directly to you | Yes, no markup | Ask | Ask | Often passes through the agency |
“Not published” means the figure does not appear on that company’s own website as of October 2026 — check for yourself before you sign anything, with them or with us.
Six Places Money Inflates
- 1. Media markup. Where the agency buys the advertising, a percentage may be added to the platform's cost. If Google bills the agency and the agency bills you, you cannot see the real number.
- 2. Pass-through subscriptions above cost. Call tracking, rank tracking, review software. Each has a public price. Compare.
- 3. Scope billed twice. A line item for something already inside the monthly fee. Common after a scope change, and usually an error rather than an intent.
- 4. Hours with no visible output. “Strategy” and “account management” are real work and also where unverifiable hours accumulate. Ask what was produced.
- 5. Renewal escalators. A fee that rose on the anniversary by a percentage nobody mentioned at signing. Check your current invoice against your first.
- 6. Rush and change-order premiums. Fair if disclosed, and worth checking against the agreement's stated rate.
The Three-Invoice Audit
An afternoon's work, and it either resolves the question or produces a specific conversation.
- Pull three consecutive invoices plus your original agreement and its scope schedule.
- Pull the platforms' own statements for the same months — Google Ads billing, Microsoft, Meta. If you cannot access these, that is finding number one.
- Compare the media line. Invoice figure against platform figure, month by month. A consistent gap is a markup, and it should be disclosed in the agreement. Find the clause.
- Price the subscriptions yourself. Look up the public rate for each tool you are billed for. Small amounts, but the pattern is informative.
- Match every line to the scope schedule. Anything billed separately that the schedule says is included is a question.
- Compare invoice one to invoice three. Any increase should trace to a documented change.
The Markup Question, Specifically
Media markup is the largest and least visible item, so it deserves separate treatment.
A markup is not improper. Agencies that front the media cost are taking on cash-flow risk and some charge for it, and a disclosed markup in an agreement you signed is simply a price. The problem is the undisclosed kind, and the structural problem is that you usually cannot detect it.
Three questions settle it:
“Am I billed Google's actual spend, or a marked-up figure?” A direct question with a one-word answer.
“Can you send me the Google billing statement for last month?” If the account is in the agency's name, it can. Whether it will is informative.
“Will you move the account into my firm's name with Google billing my card directly?” This removes the possibility of markup permanently, and the reaction to the request tells you what the current arrangement is worth to them.
Raising It Properly
You are better equipped for this than almost any other client the agency has. Three rules.
Lead with the document, not the suspicion. “Invoice three shows $4,100 in media; the Google statement shows $3,560. Can you walk me through the difference?” invites an explanation. Accusation invites defence.
Ask for a written answer. Billing questions resolved verbally recur.
Separate error from pattern. One duplicated subscription is an administrative mistake and most agencies will credit it without argument. A consistent undisclosed media gap across three months is a different conversation, and the answer you get is as informative as the money.
Attorney Pro Marketing is structured so most of this list cannot occur. Advertising is billed to your firm directly by Google, in your own account, with no markup — you receive Google's invoice, so there is nothing to reconcile. The monthly fee is published at $2,500, $3,500 or $4,500 rather than quoted, so there is no negotiated figure to drift from, and there is no setup fee and no renewal escalator. Month to month with 30 days' notice and no cancellation fee.
See it before you pay for it.
We snapshot your rankings on day 0, build and launch your site within three days, and show you the movement on day 14. If it has not moved enough to be worth continuing, you owe nothing for that period and you keep the Google Business Profile work.
Related Questions
Pull three consecutive invoices plus the original agreement and scope schedule, then pull the platforms' own billing statements for the same months. Compare the media line month by month, price each billed subscription against its public rate, match every line to the scope schedule, and compare the first invoice to the third.
It happens and is not improper when disclosed, since agencies fronting media cost carry cash-flow risk. The problem is the undisclosed version, which you generally cannot detect when the agency is billed by Google and bills you. Having Google bill your firm's card directly removes the possibility permanently.
Six: a gap between invoiced media and the platform's own statement, subscriptions billed above their public price, line items for work the scope schedule says is included, hours billed for strategy with no visible output, a fee that rose on renewal without a documented change, and rush premiums above the agreement's stated rate.
Lead with the document rather than the suspicion — cite the invoice figure and the platform figure and ask them to walk you through the difference. Ask for the answer in writing, since verbal resolutions recur. And separate a one-off administrative error, which most agencies credit without argument, from a consistent pattern.