Once a broker decides Google Ads is worth trying, the next question is who runs it. You can do it yourself, hire a freelancer, employ a marketer, or use an agency that specialises in real estate. Each option can work, and each can fail. The right choice depends less on which is "best" and more on your volume of projects, your time, and how much control you want. This guide sets out the trade-offs honestly, including the questions to ask any agency, ours included.
1What Running Google Ads Actually Involves
Before choosing who does it, be clear about the work. For off-plan campaigns, it typically includes:
- Setup: account structure, keywords, negatives, ads, conversion tracking. See our guide to campaign structure and keywords.
- Landing pages: a fast, compliant, project-specific page per campaign, ideally in English and Arabic.
- Compliance: Trakheesi advertising permit and its display on ads and pages. See our Trakheesi checklist.
- Ongoing management: search terms review, bid and budget adjustments, ad testing, especially intense around launches.
- Measurement: tracking WhatsApp, forms and calls, and linking leads to deals. See conversion tracking.
- Follow-up: replying to leads fast. This stays with you whoever runs the ads.
2Option 1: Do It Yourself
Good fit if: you market one or two projects at a time, enjoy the technical side, and can protect a few hours a week for it.
Advantages: full control, no management fee, and you learn exactly how your leads are generated.
Risks: a learning curve paid for with ad spend; time taken away from selling; and the settings mistakes we list in 10 Google Ads mistakes brokers keep making. Building landing pages and tracking yourself adds more work.
3Option 2: A Freelancer
Good fit if: you want expert help on a modest scope and can manage the relationship.
Advantages: often flexible and cost-effective; direct contact with the person doing the work.
Risks: quality varies widely; a general Google Ads freelancer may not know Dubai property, off-plan launches or Trakheesi rules; and if they become unavailable during a launch, there may be no backup. Landing pages may need a separate supplier.
4Option 3: An In-House Marketer
Good fit if: you're a brokerage with a steady flow of projects and enough work to keep someone busy across Google, Meta, portals and content.
Advantages: full-time focus on your business, close to the sales team, builds knowledge that stays with you.
Risks: a fixed salary whatever the volume; one person rarely covers ads, design, landing pages and tracking equally well; and recruitment and training take time. Many in-house marketers still use outside specialists for parts of the work.
5Option 4: A Specialist Real Estate Agency
Good fit if: you want campaigns live quickly, market several projects, and would rather spend your time on clients than on ad settings.
Advantages: experience with property searches, launches and compliance; landing pages, ads and tracking from one team; cover during busy launch periods.
Risks: less hands-on control; management fees on top of ad spend; and quality varies, just like freelancers. Some agencies lock clients into long contracts or keep the ad account in their own name.
6Side-by-Side Comparison
- Your time: DIY highest; freelancer medium; in-house low (but management time); agency lowest.
- Cost structure: DIY ad spend only; freelancer fee per project or month; in-house fixed salary; agency management fee and/or service packages.
- Real estate expertise: depends on you; varies; depends on the hire; usually highest with a specialist.
- Landing pages and tracking: you build them; often separate; depends on skills; often included.
- Launch-week cover: you; one person; one person; a team.
- Control: full; high; full; depends on the agreement.
Whatever you choose, you still own two things nobody else can: replying to leads quickly and closing the deal.
7Questions to Ask Before You Hire Anyone
- Whose name is the Google Ads account in? Ideally yours, with them given access, so you keep the history if you part ways.
- What exactly is included? Setup, landing pages, tracking, reporting, ad copy, Arabic versions?
- How are fees structured, and is ad spend paid directly to Google or through them?
- What is the contract length and notice period?
- What do the reports show? Look for qualified leads and cost per qualified lead, not just clicks.
- Can they show verifiable work? Real pages you can visit, and results they can document, not just percentages on a website.
- How do they handle Trakheesi? The permit is your responsibility as the advertiser, but they should know where the details go.
- Who will you actually speak to, and how quickly do they respond during a launch?
Be wary of anyone who guarantees a fixed number of leads or sales. Auction prices, search demand and your own follow-up all affect results, and no honest provider controls all of them.
8Hybrid Models That Work
The choice isn't always one or the other. Many brokers combine options:
- Agency setup, in-house management. Pay a specialist to build the account structure, landing pages and tracking properly, then run day-to-day management yourself.
- In-house strategy, outsourced execution. Your marketer decides which projects to push and sets budgets; an agency builds pages and runs campaigns.
- Pages from a specialist, ads yourself. Buy project landing pages from a provider and run your own Google Ads to them. Our AED 249 landing pages can be bought on their own for exactly this.
- Agency for launches, DIY for the long tail. Bring in help for busy launch periods, then manage quieter post-launch campaigns yourself.
Whatever the mix, agree in writing who does what: who owns the account, who writes ads, who handles tracking, who replies to leads. Most problems between brokers and providers come from unclear responsibilities, not bad intentions.
Review the arrangement every quarter. As your volume of projects changes, the right model may change too.
Key Terms in This Guide
- Management fee: What an agency or freelancer charges for running your campaigns, separate from the ad spend paid to Google.
- Search terms report: The list of actual searches that triggered your ads. It is the main source of new negative keywords and new keyword ideas.
- Conversion action: Something you tell Google Ads to count as a result, such as a WhatsApp click, a form submission, a call or an imported qualified lead.
- Cost per qualified lead (CPQL): Ad spend divided by the number of leads your team confirmed as real buyers for the project. A more honest measure than cost per lead.
- Landing page: A page built for one project and one goal, such as a WhatsApp enquiry, as opposed to a homepage that covers everything you sell.
- Remarketing: Showing ads to people who have already visited your landing page, to bring back buyers who didn't enquire the first time.
- Trakheesi permit: The DLD advertising permit required for Dubai property advertising, including electronic ads and campaigns. Its number must appear on the ad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to run Google Ads myself?
You avoid management fees, but you pay in time and in ad spend while you learn. For many brokers, the real question is what their time is worth in sales.
Should the Google Ads account be in my name?
Where possible, yes. Owning the account keeps your data and history if you change provider.
Can I start with an agency and move in-house later?
Yes, especially if the account is in your name and the agency documents the setup. Many brokerages do exactly that as volume grows.
What should an agency report each month?
Spend, clicks, cost per click, leads by type, and ideally qualified leads and cost per qualified lead per project.
Who is responsible for the Trakheesi permit?
The licensed broker or brokerage that is advertising. A provider can help display and track it, but the permit belongs to you.
How do I know if my current agency is doing a good job?
Ask for access to the Google Ads account and look at the search terms report, the conversion actions and the change history. If searches are irrelevant, conversions aren't tracking real enquiries, or nothing has changed in weeks, raise it. Then compare their reports with the qualified leads in your own CRM.
Can a small brokerage afford a specialist agency?
It depends on the fee structure and how many projects you market. Start with a free consultation, ask for the full cost including ad spend, and compare it with what your time is worth if you run ads yourself.
See If Managed Ads Fit Your Business
Our Google Ads service for Dubai brokers offers a free consultation and flexible month-to-month contracts, with a project landing page (AED 249) as the starting point. Ask us anything on WhatsApp at +971 50 707 1591, including the questions above.
The Short Version
DIY suits brokers with few projects and spare time. Freelancers suit a defined scope. In-house suits brokerages with steady volume. Specialist agencies suit brokers who want speed, landing pages and tracking in one place. Whichever you choose, keep the ad account in your name, ask what's included, demand reports on qualified leads, and remember that fast follow-up stays your job.
