ICG · Pricing guide · Google Ads management fees
Google Ads management fees for healthcare in India (2026): the honest rate card
Healthcare Google Ads management gets priced in three ways in India — a flat monthly fee, a percentage of media spend, or a hybrid. This page walks a hospital marketing head, clinic owner, or pharma brand manager through the fair 2026 bands, what each tier delivers, and the honest split between media and management.
Fair pricing bands for healthcare Google Ads management (2026)
| Tier | Typical market fee / month (INR) | Fits which media spend |
|---|---|---|
| DIY | ₹0 | Solo clinic testing 1-2 campaigns, ₹20K-₹50K spend, 5+ hours a week to learn. |
| Starter | ₹20,000 – ₹40,000/- | Media spend ₹50,000 – ₹1,50,000/- monthly. |
| Growth | ₹50,000 – ₹90,000/- | Media spend ₹1,50,000 – ₹5,00,000/- monthly. |
| Scale | ₹1,00,000 – ₹2,50,000+/- | Media spend ₹5,00,000+/- monthly. |
Percent-of-spend model: 12-18% for accounts above ₹5L media / month; flat fee for accounts below.
What you should be getting at each tier
- Starter (₹20K–40K management): account structure, 2-4 campaigns (Search + Local), keyword + negative-list build, conversion tracking, monthly review call, one specialist reachable on WhatsApp.
- Growth (₹50K–90K): the above plus landing page A/B testing, call tracking, CRM integration, budget reallocation weekly, quarterly business review, competitor SERP monitoring.
- Scale (₹1L+): dedicated pod with a strategist, media buyer, landing-page owner, analyst; daily monitoring; enterprise conversion API; server-side tagging; CMO-level QBRs.
Eight red flags: your Google Ads fee is padded
- The agency will not share which keywords are converting — only shows total impressions and clicks.
- No negative-keyword list has been added since kick-off — you are paying for irrelevant traffic.
- Conversion tracking fires on "page view" instead of a real appointment or lead.
- All budget lives in a single Performance Max campaign with no Search or Local backup.
- Landing pages are the homepage, not a dedicated intent-matched page.
- CPL has been rising month over month with no explanation.
- The agency refuses to give you admin access to the Google Ads account.
- Reporting comes as a screenshot of the Google Ads dashboard, not a business review deck.
Agency vs freelancer vs in-house
| Option | Real cost / month | Fit / catch |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | ₹12,000 – ₹35,000/- | Solo clinic, small spend. One person, no analyst, no landing-page help. |
| Healthcare-focused agency | ₹40,000 – ₹2,50,000/- | Full pod, healthcare compliance instincts. Loss of daily control. |
| In-house | ₹2,00,000 – ₹4,50,000/- | Media buyer + analyst + landing-page designer + tools. Full control, slow ramp. |
The 70/30 rule for Google Ads spend
Common mistake: putting 100% of the budget into media and skipping management. Result: leaky campaigns, wasted spend, no landing-page owner.
Healthier split: 70% into media and 30% into management + landing pages + tracking. On a ₹3L monthly programme that is ₹2.1L to Google and ₹90K to the agency running it — which is where fair management fees land in the Growth tier above.
ICG's SEO programmes sit alongside this — custom-scoped, with retainers starting from ₹20,000/month. Ads add on top on a scoped basis.
What ICG charges
Retainers from ₹20,000/month, custom-scoped to your media band — Goals-Driven, with Performance-Linked Payout Models available. See our healthcare PPC service page, or WhatsApp ICG for a scoped quote.
Frequently asked questions
What are fair Google Ads management fees for healthcare in India?
Flat fees run ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 for accounts under ₹1.5L media, ₹50,000 to ₹90,000 for accounts up to ₹5L, and ₹1,00,000 and above for larger spends. Percent-of-spend sits at 12-18%.
Is the flat fee or percent-of-spend model better?
Flat fee is fairer for accounts under ₹5L media because it aligns effort to outputs. Percent-of-spend suits large accounts where the media grows quickly.
Do management fees include landing-page work?
A fair Growth-tier fee includes landing-page A/B testing but not net-new page design. Net-new pages sit at ₹15,000-₹40,000 per page.
How much media should a clinic start with?
₹50,000 to ₹1,00,000 per month is a fair test budget for a solo clinic. Below ₹30,000, the campaign cannot get enough data to optimise.
What is a realistic CPL for healthcare Ads?
Solo clinic Ads: ₹200-₹600 per lead. Hospital: ₹400-₹1,200. IVF and cosmetic surgery: ₹1,000-₹3,500. Insurance-empanelled tertiary care: ₹2,500-₹6,000.
Should I bundle Ads with SEO?
Yes if the agency is credible in both. Bundling reduces finger-pointing and shares keyword insight.
Should I have call tracking?
Yes — 60-80% of healthcare leads come by phone. Without call tracking your Google Ads reporting will materially undercount conversions.
Do I need conversion API / server-side tagging?
Yes at Growth tier and up. Cookie-based conversion signal is fading; server-side tagging is now essential for accurate optimisation.
What does ICG charge?
ICG retainers start from ₹20,000 per month, custom-scoped to your goals, with Goals-Driven engagements and Performance-Linked Payout Models available. Scoped on a call by spend band.
Is a 12-month lock-in normal?
Six months is the fair minimum because Ads accounts need 60-90 days to optimise past the learning phase. One-month kill clauses are reasonable to negotiate.
Related reads
Google Ads in the nine-stage patient journey
- 0Foundations
- 1Demand gen
- 2Capture
- 3Lead quality
- 4Lead mgmt
- 5Scheduling
- 6Show-up
- 7Conversion
- 8Retention
It works in demand capture. Spend should follow the searches that book, and every paid enquiry should be screened and called back fast. Our own software runs the work, and every stage is reported against a monthly target on Ichelon Agency OS.
See all nine stages and the tool behind each one →
